Is your Android phone not reading your memory card (TF card or micro SD)?

Don’t worry. You’re not alone.

This can happen sometimes, but the good news is that it is easily fixable. If you find yourself wondering, “How do I fix my micro SD card not detected issue?” or “Why is the SD card not reading”, then this post is just for you.

We’ll share 7 easy, DIY solutions. So cheer up because we’re pretty sure at least one of them will work for you.

Workaround Methods to SD Card Not being Detected on My Android Phone

Right off the bat, we want to tell you that there are two workarounds that you can try to solve the issue:

Part 1 – Make Android Phone Detect the SD card

Part 2 – Repair the unreadable memory card on Windows PC

Note: All the solutions discussed here are for an SD card that is physically healthy. In case the SD card you are using is physically damaged, these solutions will not work. You need to send the damaged SD card for repair.

First, follow the solutions listed in Part 1 to make the SD card readable. There are two solutions in Part 1. Give both of them a try in the order they appear below.

If the problem still persists, give the fixes in Part 2 a try. There are five fixes in Part 2. Try all of them one by one in the order of their appearance.

Part 1: Resolve SD Card Not Being Detected on Android Phone

These solutions apply to memory SD card is not being detected on Android Phones which support extra storage space.

How can I fix the problem of SD card not being detected on Android phone? Give these two methods a try.

Solution 1 – Reinsert the SD Card into the Android Phone

• Turn the Android phone off
• Unplug your SD card
• Take out the SD card and check whether it’s clean or not. In case it has dirt on it, wipe it off
• Put back your SD card into its slot. Then, reinsert it into the Android phone
• Turn on the Android phone
• Check if the memory card is now showing up

Don’t fret if the card is still not showing up. Move on to Method 2, instead.

Solution 2 – Un-mount the SD Card and Remount it on Your Android Phone

• First, tap “Settings” on the phone and then choose “storage”
• Tap Storage | SD Card | Mount

Now restart the Android phone. Check whether you are able to access your SD card. If not, try unmounting and remounting your SD card using the steps given below:

• Go to your Android phone’s Settings
• First tap on “SD Card”. Next tap “Unmount SD card” and then tap “OK”
• Remount your SD card. Then, power the phone off. Next, unplug and reinsert your memory card
• Reboot your Android phone

Now, your SD card should be readable. If it is still not showing up, take it out and connect it to a Windows PC. Once you have done this, try the solutions discussed in Part 2.

Part 2: Resolve SD Card Not Reading or Showing up on Windows PC

These solutions apply to these errors: Android SD card not reading, showing up, or detected on Windows PC.

In case your Android phone SD card is not detectable after you’ve given the solutions in Part 1 a try, don’t lose hope. Follow the solutions mentioned in this subsection to make your SD card working again. These methods will make the SD card detectable on your PC without any loss of data.

Solution 1: Change SD Card Reader before Connecting Your Memory Card to Windows PC

• First, insert your SD card into the SD card reader. Next connect it to the Windows PC
• Check whether your SD card is showing up on the Windows PC
• If your PC fails to detect the SD card, try using another SD card reader. Now reconnect your SD card to the Windows PC

By performing these steps, you can quickly find out whether the problem lies with your Android phone or with your SD/memory card itself.

• In case all the data on your SD card is showing up, you can safely assume it is working fine. It is your Android phone which has a problem. Consider sending the phone for repair.
• In case the memory card is unreadable on your Windows PC, give the solutions mentioned below to repair it without suffering any loss of data

Solution 2: Recover Data on Your SD Card before Formatting it to FAT32

More often than not, Windows failure to read an SD card which has been properly mounted is a file system in the card that the phone doesn’t support. Formatting your SD card to FAT32 works like charm in this situation.

However, there is something you should know before going ahead with this solution. Formatting will erase all data on your SD card. This means it is necessary for you to recover data before formatting to FAT32. You can recover your data using either a professional data recovery software or data recovery services.

Once you’ve recovered data, format the SD card to FAT32.

Formatting SD card to FAT32

You can use “Disk Management” feature in Windows to format your SD card to FAT32

• First, insert your SD card into the PC. Then, right-click on “This PC”. Now, choose “Manage”
• In the left pane, click “Disk Management”, and then right-click on the memory card. Next choose “Format”
• In the File system drop-down menu, select FAT32. Now, click the “OK” button

• Save the data you recovered previously to your SD card
• Safely unplug the SD card
• Reinsert the SD card into the Android phone
• Restart the Android phone. Now, check if your phone is reading the SD card and if the data stored in it is showing up. In case they don’t, follow the steps in the Solution 2 in Part 1

After you’ve followed these steps, your phone should be able to detect and read the SD card or memory card.

Solution 3: Use the Check Disk utility to resolve “Android SD card not detected error”

In case the SD or memory card has bad sectors or some internal error, your PC or mobile phone will not be able to read it. But this is something you can easily fix by running CHKDSK command. The command helps repair as well as fix such kind of issues.

Note: Running CHKDSK may lead to data loss. Therefore, we recommend you back up your data before running this command.

Here’s how to use CHKDSK to fix bad sectors and ensure your SD card is readable.

• Open the “Run” dialog box by pressing Win+R on your keyboard
• Type cmd in the Run dialog box and press Enter
• Type chkdsk X: /F (X denotes the drive of your memory card. This means if data is stored on D drive, you should replace X with D)
• Alternately, you can type chkdsk X:/F /offlinescanandfix and press Enter (X denotes the drive of your memory card)
• In case the command lines mentioned above don’t work, then try the command chkdsk X: /f /r /x and press Enter (The first ‘X’ letter denotes the drive of your memory card. For example, if it is D drive, replace it with the letter D)
• Now unplug your SD card and insert it into your Android phone. Then, reboot the phone

The SD card error should be fixed now and your card should be readable.

Solution 4: Show Files that are Hidden

Because of a malware infection or virus, files on SD Card may become hidden. This may give you the impression that SD card in not readable on your Android phone or Windows PC. You can fix this issue with the help of an advanced third-party fixing tool.

Once you’ve fixed the damaged files on your SD card, run a virus scan by connecting the card to a Windows PC.

Solution 5: Update SD Card/Memory Card Driver

Outdated SD card drivers may prevent your Android phone or Windows PC from detecting the memory card.

To fix the issue, you need to update the driver for your SD card. You can do so in two ways: using the Device Manager utility or an advanced driver update tool. Most people prefer the second option, as it fast, easy, and automatic. However, we have shared both the manual and automatic method for updating device drivers. You can pick the one you like better.

• Connect your memory card to Windows using a SD card reader
• Now right-click “My Computer”. Choose “Manage”
• Next, click “Device Manager” and then expand the entry “Disk Drives”
• Right-click the SD card. Select “Properties”
• Click “Driver” tab, and then click on the “Update Driver” button

• Once Windows have finished updating the SD card driver, then restart the PC

Alternatively, you can update the SD card drivers automatically using a reliable driver update tool. We recommend you give Driver Updater a try. It is one of the best driver update software on the market and will update your drivers in a jiffy.

 

By following the solutions listed above, your SD Card will become readable again without your having to lose any data.

The last section of this post answers some of the frequently asked questions related to SD card.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my SD card not being detected? What I can do to avoid this problem?

Your SD card may become undetectable for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to the following:

• SD card is mounted improperly, making it unreadable
• There’s a loose spring in your SD card
• The driver for your SD card is out of date
• There are bad sectors in your SD card
• Your phone doesn’t support the file system used by your SD card
• Your SD card is either corrupted or damaged
• Malware or virus infection

Now that you know the main reasons of SD card not readable problem, it’s time to see how you can ensure this problem doesn’t surface.

• Make sure SD card is mounted correctly on the Android phone
• Make sure SD card’s file system is supported by Android, which by default is FAT32
• Scan your android phone for malware or virus infections

Files are not showing up on SD card. How do I fix this problem?

You can use the following tips to ensure files are viewable and fix this issue:

• Unhide files
• Check the lock switch
• Scan your phone for virus infections
• Format your SD card
• Recover files that are lost or not showing

Why my SD card is not showing on the Windows PC?

This can happen due to many reasons, the most common ones being:

• Problematic connection
• The driver of the SD card is outdated
• SD card file system is invalid
• SD configuration is such that it is not detectable

Some of the common fixes, which are discussed in detail above, are:

• Update the drivers of your SD card (the easiest way to do this is by using the Driver Updater tool)
• Repair damaged files on the SD card by running CHKDSK
• Fix the file system of SD card using a third-party software
• Format the SD card

What should I do if SD card is not being recognized by my laptop?

Try these workarounds when your computer or laptop fails to recognize your SD card:

• Change SD card reader and then reconnect the SD card to your laptop
• Fix file system error by running CHKDSK
• Format SD card file system to FAT32
• Change SD card drive letter
• Update the driver of your SD card

When it comes to updating SD card driver, the easiest method is to use a reliable driver update software tool, such as Driver Updater.

Automatic driver update tools offer many benefits, the most important ones being:

• You can update device drivers automatically
• The software scans and updates all outdated or missing drivers at one go
• The tool picks the right drivers for your device and operating system, so you won’t have to worry about installing an incorrect driver by mistake
• Automatic driver updates are 100% safe

Driver Updater is one of the best driver update tools out there. Outbyte Driver Updater will give you access to a database of over 1 million drivers. It will regularly scan your PC, suggesting new driver versions to install. Driver Updater contains drivers for a variety of Windows devices. With just one click, you can update drivers in your system.

Step 1
Click here to Install and launch the app

Step 2
Scan all devices

Step 3
Install or update drivers automatically

 

Start Download