How to Fix Corrupted SD Card in 9 Ways [Windows/Mac]

SD card is a micro storage device that helps to boost storage space on Windows and Mac. At times, an SD card may begin to malfunction due to corruption caused by an interruption during data transfer, virus attacks, frequent removal from the device, etc. Some sort of memory card corruption may lead to total loss of important data, leaving you with regrets especially when they haven’t been backed up.

This post aims to provide you with solutions on how to fix corrupted SD cards.

Why is My SD Card Not Working

When you don’t know how to tell if your SD card is damaged, you can refer to the following table. This table lists 7 common signs that can appear when an SD card is corrupted and why they happen.

Signs	Description
Fail to Access and Recognize	When your digital device is not able to access the SD card after it has been inserted.
Read/Write Issues	An error message that says “read/write issues” shows up due to virus attack or bad sector on the SD card.
Error Messages	Error messages, explaining the condition of your SD card whether it’s experiencing a file system error or disk corruption.
Data/File Loss	When your files suddenly disappear without deleting them.
Garbled File Name	An error message that says “read/write issues” shows up due to a virus attack or bad sector on the SD card.
Continuous Disk Checking	Happens as a result of drive letter conflicting or unstable USB ports.
Displays as RAW	Displays RAW under Disk Management because it cannot be accessed by Windows, due to file system error.

How to Fix Corrupted SD Card on Windows & Mac

Explained below are 9 simple methods that will help you on how to fix a corrupted SD card.

Check Connection Issues and Change the Adapter

🖥️ Applies to: Fail to access and recognize

In most cases, connection issues are the likely causes when your PC is unable to recognize or access your SD Card. To get it sorted, try any of these tips:

➤ Remove your SD card from the PC and insert it back.

➤ Change to a new card reader and connect to your computer.

➤ Try to switch to a new USB port.

➤ Try all over again using a new computer.

However, frequent insertion and removal of card readers can damage your USB ports. To prevent situations like this, you should always do a routine check on your card reader and computer USB ports to ensure they are in good shape.

Assign a New Drive Letter to the SD Card

🖥️ Applies to: Read/Write issues

This often comes up when the drive letter assigned to your SD card conflicts with another drive.

To be sure of the situation, search for your SD card’s drive letter under Disk Management. If you can’t find it there, then restart your computer so the operating system can update the drive letter, or you can assign it manually.

Here is how it is done:

Step 1. Open Disk Management on your PC.

Step 2. Choose your SD card in the “Volume” part and then select the option “Change drive letter and paths” from the menu.

Step 3. View the available drive letters, then assign them to an unused drive letter.

Changing drive letters manually may alter programs that can cause your PC not to boot properly. While assigning an unused drive letter manually, pay attention to Windows pop-up messages to know maybe it will function well.

It is worth mentioning that this method can even be available to recover the deleted partition on your SD card.

Recover Corrupted SD Card via CHDKSK Command

🖥️ Applies to: Error messages

Error messages usually occur as a result of disk corruption or file system error. CHDKSK is a command line used on Windows to find out the corruption in the file system and deal with bad sectors by removing it without formatting the SD card.

Here are the steps to follow to recover a corrupted SD card through the CHDKSK command:

Step 1. Connect the SD card to your computer.

Step 2. Type “cmd” into your search bar, select the “command prompt”, and then click on “run as administrator”.

Step 3. Enter chdksk d: /f /r (replace d with your SD card’s drive letter). Then, scanning will commence, followed by the fixing process.

This is a good approach that fixes your SD card without formatting it; however, some of your data can be lost in the process. To avoid this, you should use a data recovery tool to retrieve your data before using the command.

Related Post: >> Recover Permanently Deleted Files on Windows 11 Using CMD

Use Disk Utility for Corrupted SD Card Recovery

🖥️ Applies to: Read/Write issues

Disk Utility is an inbuilt tool on Mac that’s used to fix corruption that hinders your operating system from reading the SD card. It comes with an encryption and AFPS format feature that helps to keep your SD card safe.

On how to uncorrupt an SD card using Disk Utility, follow these steps:

Step 1. Launch Disk Utility and select “Show all devices”.

Step 2. Select the SD card you want to recover from the sidebar.

Step 3. Click on “First Aid” > “Run” to get the SD card fixed.

However, it is limited for use on MacOS alone. To get the best out of this service, make sure you stop storing new data on your SD card the moment you notice any form of corruption.

After the restoration of the SD card, you also need a free recovery program for Mac to help you get back lost files. Among all the optional tools, ONERECOVERY is an excellent choice.

Update or Reinstall the SD Card Driver

🖥️ Applies to: Fail to access and recognize

Whenever an SD card stops displaying under Windows Explorer or Windows Disk Management, it simply means it is no longer recognized by your PC. Situations like this occur when your SD card’s driver is antiquated, and the only way to fix it is to reinstall or update your driver to the latest version.

To do this, follow these steps:

Step 1. Go to the Device Manager.

Step 2. Click on your SD card’s drive letter and uninstall.

Step 3. Then, you need to restart the PC.

Step 4. Re-insert the SD card and Windows will get the latest version of SD card driver installed.

Certain problems like system crashes or data loss may arise if the installed update is not compatible with your PC. Therefore, before you install an SD card driver, check that it’s compatible with your device.

Uncorrupt an SD Card with Diskpart Command

🖥️ Applies to: Read/Write issues

If your SD card gets locked, read-only, or write-protected, the best way to solve this issue is by running a Diskpart command to clear the read-only state.

Follow these steps to get it done:

Step 1. Insert the SD card into your computer.

Step 2. Press the “Windows” + “X” key and then choose Command Prompt.

Step 3. Type Diskpart as a command line.

Step 4. Type the command lines below and press enter at the end of each.

List disk

Select disk 1

Attributes disk clear randomly

Step 5. Wait till the process is complete.

Running a Diskpart command gives you more control over SD card partitions. However, entering the wrong command may lead to further damage to the memory card.

Repair Corrupted SD Memory Card by Formatting

🖥️ Applies to: Displays as RAW

If the Windows Disk Management displays your SD card as RAW, or if your PC no longer supports the SD Cards file system, the best thing to do is to convert the file system to an available one, like NTFS or exFAT.

On how to repair a corrupted SD memory card by formatting, follow these steps:

Step 1. Put your SD card in a card reader and connect it to your computer.

Step 2. Open the “File Explorer” tool, select the corrupted card, and click the “Format” option.

Step 3. Select the file system you wish to convert to (NTFS, exFAT, FAT32, etc).

Step 4. Select format, then choose Start to repair the corrupted SD card.

This method will restore your SD card to full capacity. The only downside is that all data will be lost in the process. To be on the safer side, always create backups for your data.

Related Post: >> How to Restore NTFS Partition

Repair Corrupted SD Card with Troubleshooter

🖥️ Applies to: Fail to access and recognize

Troubleshooter is an inbuilt Windows tool used to locate/fix hardware and driver-related issues. When your PC fails to access an attached SD card, troubleshooting is a good option to go for.

To troubleshoot a corrupted SD card, follow these steps:

Step 1. Connect the SD card to your Windows computer.

Step 2. Go to settings, select update & security, then click on troubleshoot.

Step 3. Choose to run the troubleshooter and wait till it locates and fixes the problem.

This approach lets you know the exact area the problem is from and helps to fix it. However, troubleshooting might not be able to do much if the SD card is badly corrupted.

Fix SD Card Using Data Recovery Software

🖥️ Applies to: Data/file loss, Garbled filename, and Continuous disk checking

Using SD card recovery software like ONERECOVERY will fix all issues like data loss, display of strange names, and continuous disk checking. This software is compatible with Windows and Mac making it a versatile option.

Follow these steps to fix the SD card that gets corrupted using ONERECOVERY:

Step 1. The memory card should be connected to your PC.

Step 2. Open ONERECOVERY and choose the memory card storage.

Step 3. Automatically, the scanning process will be initiated to determine the issues.

Step 4. Preview the files and click “Recover” to fix the problem.

ONERECOVERY software is also good at restoring SD cards that are damaged by other causes, such as the recovery of formatted SD cards.

Conclusion

The solutions explained above are your best bet to fix corrupted SD cards. Following the description of the signs you notice, choose the best solution to repair your SD card. Fixing a corrupt SD card is possible, but you can avoid the worries by regularly backing up your files.