Fix SD Card Not Formatting Error

Eleanor Reed

Dec 23, 2022 • Filed to: SD Card Solutions • Proven solutions

Introduction:

SD card is one of the handiest inventions of modern times, which enables us to carry vast amounts of data anywhere we like. But it is an extremely delicate piece of hardware, which is frequently vulnerable to outside threats like virus/malware attacks and physical damage. Due to such issues, you will not be able to read or write data on the memory card, which includes not being able to format the SD card or error for preparing the SD card checking.

However, they are several methods to remedy such issues and make the memory card as good as new. Stay with us and read our complete guide to know the causes behind such a problem and the proper solutions to fix them. You will learn to recover the data if you accidentally formatted your SD card.

Part 1. What Causes SD Card Not Formatting Error?

Although a memory card is a useful device, it is a very delicate electronic item. It will stop working under even a slight bit of glitch or physical damage, which can erase all the valuable data inside in an instant.

A damaged SD card prevents you from reading or writing data under any circumstances. There are several factors behind the malfunctioning of the SD memory card, but one of the most common errors is the likelihood of change in file format during the data transfer process. If you do not handle it with caution, the file format of the SD card can turn RAW, which does not allow the PC to access the data inside. It can also develop some bad sectors, which usually hinder the normal functioning of the memory card and causes the "SD Card Not Formatting Error."

You can view some of the other common causes that can cause the same error on the SD card:

• Physical damage to the SD card due to carelessness while moving the device from one place to another.
• The file system of the memory card can get Corrupt if you remove from the computer by not following the proper external device ejection protocol. It is necessary to press the eject button before removing the card from the PC.

• The SD card can also get corrupt if you remove it from a PC during the file transfer action. It will disrupt the working of the card and create bad sectors in the process.
• Using a memory card on multiple is not advisable, as frequently plugging the device in and out can damage it.
• If your computer has a virus/malware in it, then there is a huge possibility that it will infect the memory card, which will result in causing the "not formatting issue." You should install an active antivirus to prevent such a mishap from happening and not download any strange software from the internet without any proper security check.

Part 2. Rescue Data from a Damaged/Corrupted Micro SD Card:

Whenever an SD card becomes damaged, corrupted, or formatted, the data inside gets erased or inaccessible. Nevertheless, all the files remain in the same location on the SD card until you overwrite the data by adding new items, and you can quickly retrieve every bit of your valuable data with the help of a file recovery software.

Wondeshare's Recoverit Data Recovery program is designed for the sole purpose of fetching all the lost photos and other important files(Videos, Documents) from your camera, phone's memory card like Kingston SD card. It offers a 95% recovery rate and recovers all file types, including photos, videos, documents, and zip files.

• It is available on both Windows and macOS with full features and affordable rates.
• Recoverit application provides a simple interface for average users who do not wish to get into technical elements of the data recovery function.
• It offers recovery on every type of external storage devices such as a USB, SDD, memory card, HDD/SDD, camera, Drone, mp3/mp4 player, RAID, SAN, DAS, camcorder, and much more.
• Recoverit allows you to create a bootable disk/USB through its "Recover from Crashed Computer" feature. The removable device can be used to boot into a crashed system to recover the data with ease.
• You can recover data from a drive with the RAW file system.
• It supports a variety of notable file systems such as FAT, NTFS, Ext2, Ext3 HFS, HFS+, and HFSX.
• Other incredible characteristics include performing recycle bin recovery and virus attack recovery.
• You can recover a total of 100MB with the free version without paying any additional fee.
• You can recover every last file regardless of the format by following the application's three-step recovery protocol, which is mentioned below.

Step 1: Select a location

After installing the application on the PC, click on its icon, and run the program. Once you see the display window of Recoverit, select the location of your SD card, and click on Start. The program will initiate the data recovery scan on your memory card.

Step 2: Scan the Location

Depending on the amount of formatted/lost data in the memory card, the scan will take a few minutes to complete the scan. You can stop or pause the data recovery function at any time to check the items that are already retrieved. You'll receive a pop-up message once Recoverit finishes its work. The dialogue box will also feature some helpful tips to increase the lost file recovery efficiency.

After the recovery scan, you will see a list of recovered content on the application, which is usually divided into different categories.

Step 3: Preview the Files

Recoverit allows you to check every retrieved file with the help of its preview feature. After reviewing the authenticity of all the retrieved data from the software, select the files, and click on the Recover button. If you intend to save your content to a different location, then you are in luck as Recoverit allows you to extract the recovered files to any folder/device of your picking.

Advanced Video Recovery:

Moreover, You can check your video files by clicking on the Advanced Video Recovery option during the file preview to access the feature and recover the fragmented video file in the SD card quickly. Here are some of its unique characteristics:

• As far as video recovery is concerned, the program Scans and matches your video fragments and merges the pieces from the same video, and it keeps 95% of them intact to watch.
• You can recover and repair unlimited video files without corruption through Recoverit Data Recovery Ultimate.

Video Repair by Recoverit:

Video files are different from any other type of data. Sometimes, you might find the video corruption after you complete all the recovery work on the software. If you fear of losing the important video file forever, do not worry as Recoverit has the means to fix your problem for good.

Recoverit scans and matches the fragments of your corrupt videos. It ensures video repair with high accuracy from any external gadget out there. Below are some of its unique features:

• You can repair multiple formats of videos simultaneously to save time.
• Recoverit offers free scanning for corrupt videos and the option to preview repaired videos before saving them.
• You can repair videos of multiple formats, including MOV, MP4, M2TS, MKV, MTS, 3GP, AVI, and FLV file formats.
• It supports two repair modes. Quick Repair is to repair various video errors. The Advance Repair mode can fix your corrupt videos by analyzing the data and technology of the sample video shot by the same device.

If you find the video files to be corrupted or broke after recovery, then you can use Recoverit's to Repair Corrupted Video with Recoverit's Video Repair function. Here are the steps to repair broken video files:

Step 1: Add your corrupted videos
Launch the application on your computer. To repair your corrupted video files, you can add it through clicking the Add button or "Add video and start repairing" area.

Step 2: Repair your videos
As soon as you have added all the corrupted videos, click on the Repair option to start the video repair process.

Step 3: Preview the videos
It will take some time to repair and once it has finished the repair process, a reminder showing info of successful fix will pop up on the screen. Press OK to close the operation.

Step 4: Advance mode for severely corrupted video (optional)
If the videos are severely corrupted and not repaired successfully, please go to the advanced repair mode. Just click the Advanced Repair button.

Then add a sample video and repair it now.

Step 5: Save repaired video
The advance repair will perform the repairing process and prompt a success message when the process is completely done. Now, you can play these videos and you will not see any error on the screen.

Part 3. Methods to Fix SD Card Not Formatting Issue?

There is more than one way to format a memory card if you are unable to format it through Windows explorer. Here are some of the most prevalent solutions to fix the "sd card, not formatting issue."

Method 1- Format SD Card with Command Prompt on Windows:

If you are trying to format the memory card by clicking on its icon through Windows explorer and instead you're getting the message "SD Card not Formatting," then you can quickly format it by entering a few basic commands on Windows Command Prompt. Here are the instructions to perform such an action.

• Plug the SD card to the PC and type cmd in the taskbar's search tab. Run the application as an administrator.
• Once you see the command prompt display, enter Diskpart from the keyboard to enable the disk partition mode.
• Enter the list disk to view all the internal and external drives of the PC.
• Select your SD card by entering select disk 2.
• Enter clean to wipe the disk completely.
• Enter "create partition primary."
• Type and enter format FS=exfat to keep the file format of the SD card in exFAT and format the memory card.
• Once the formatting finishes, assign the newly formatted SD card a letter by typing "assign letter J:"

Method 2- Format SD Card using Windows Disk Management Utility:

Windows Disk Management Utility is extremely handy to check the status and health of the computer's internal and removable storage device. You can create partitions, format the disks, and change the file system formats of any drive you want. Here is the step-by-step guide to wipe the memory card with Disk Management.

• Plug your SD Card into the computer.
• You can open Disk Management on the PC by typing "dskmgmt" in the taskbar's search bar.
• Locate your memory card from the list of drives.
• Right-click on your memory card from the list and click on Format.

• Change the name of your disk or its file system and click on OK to complete the format.

Method 4- Format SD Card with SDFormatter software:

If you do not want to take advantage of the services of Windows' built-in utilities, you can always acquire the help of third-party formatting applications to do the job. However, we advise you against using such programs that are not developed by well-known brands. Here is the method to perform memory card format through an SDFormatter.

• Download SDFormatter and install it on your PC.
• Connect the card with the computer and open the application.
• The program will automatically identify the SD card, if it doesn't, click on the Refresh tab.
• Click on Format to start the cleaning process. It will notify you after completing the scan.

Conclusion:

In this day and age, it is less probable to keep tabs on the health of a gadget as small as a memory card. Due to its delicate built, the card is vulnerable to both physical and internal damage, which can easily cause errors like "SD Card not formatting."

Now you know the main culprits behind such an error and the safest methods to fix any problem to SD card formatting. Moreover, if you accidentally erase any content from the memory card or intend to repair its video file, you can use the Recoverit data recovery application and its advanced video repair feature to resolve it. Feel free to share the guide with your friends and family if they are dealing with a similar problem.