SD Card Not Accessible – Simple Solutions to Resolve the Error
Suppose you are taking some pictures from another mobile and suddenly, SD card not accessible error is displayed, you may not understand what is happening in such a case.
You calm down and think that this issue may be caused due to low memory of the card. After checking the available space, you find out that there is space available to download your favourite tv series.
Confusing situation? Well, don’t worry.
We will help you understand things pretty well and give solutions to resolve SD card inaccessible issue.
Uninstalling applications may not help in such a situation as this issue is not with the memory or space available in the SD card.
Your SD card could be corrupted causing such an error. But, for what reasons? Find out below:
Reasons for Corruption Causing SD Card Not Accessible Issue
The most common reasons among dozens for SD Card corruption are:
- Transfer Procedure (to or from) being interrupted
- Bad Sectors growing in the SD card
- Inserting SD card improperly
- Virus Attack
- Corruption in file system
- Defect in manufacturing process
Now, you must be thinking of formatting your SD Card. That wouldn’t be a wise option as once your data is gone, it cannot be recovered. There is no possible way to retrieve your data manually. For it, you will have to use a third-party tool. If you want to format your SD card, you will again need to use this tool as the corrupted data will not be of any use and the backup will fail.
First, check how you can determine the available space in the SD card using another way.
Check the Available Space to Understand SD Card Inaccessible Error
You can check the availability of sufficient space in the SD card by using this way.
- You have to first connect your SD card to the system.
- Create a zip file and add some files to it.
- Copy the folder to the SD card and insert it.
- Reconnect your SD Card and extract the files from the zip folder.
If you are not able to extract zip files, your SD Card is corrupted due to which you see the SD card not accessible issue. These electronic storage devices are prone to get damaged or corrupted with time. It would be suggested that you always have a backup of your data.
If you have not taken a backup of the data stored in your SD card, you can only recover the data as the only possible way out. Since there are no ways to backup your files once the card is corrupted, and there are no manual methods to retrieve lost data, use the automated tool as mentioned above.
Find out which tool you should take support from that is capable of solving your issue in the following section.
Fix SD Card Inaccessible Error Using Advanced Tool
To get your data recovered from the corrupted SD card, use the USB Drive Data Recovery Tool. This application will restore all your deleted data including images, videos, documents, etc. If you have deleted data permanently by pressing shift + delete, it can be restored using this tool.
The software provides a category filter that helps you to save only the required data from the SD card. It allows to recover data from exFAT, NTFS, and FAT file systems.
The interface of this wizard is self-explanatory and supports recovery in all the Windows OS versions.
Let’s check out the steps to recover the data to overcome the SD Card not accessible error:
Step 1 – Download the tool and launch it.
Step 2 – Choose the “Device” you want to recover data from and hit “Scan”.
Note: If you are not able to see your device, click “Refresh View” option.
Step – Now, select the “Complete Recovered Data” option and choose the folder you want to repair. Click “Save”.
Step 4 – Browse for the destination location or choose “Make new folder” to save the resultant file and click on the “OK” button.
Your data will be recovered within short time span only with a few clicks. Now, let’s move forward to the manual methods to resolve the corruption issue.
Manually Fix SD Card Inaccessible Issue
Here, we have given all the possible manual methods to solve the error. These solutions are as follows:
Case I – Insert SD Card in Different Device
You should check if your SD card is just not working in your smartphone or it is not working at all. Insert it in another smartphone and if it is not accessible, connect it to your computer via a card reader. Then copy use the software mentioned above to retrieve your files and then format you SD Card by following the below steps:
- Find the SD Card connected under the “Devices and Drivers” menu.
- To format the SD Card, right-click on it and select the “Quick Format” button.
- Choose the “Start” option to format and hit “OK”.
If this method doesn’t fix the SD Card not accessible error, you might need to perform the next task.
Case II – Cached Data Clearance from Smartphone
The SD Card inserted in your smartphone may not be accessible due to the cached data stored in your mobile’s internal memory. The cached data is just the junk data or temporary data present in your smartphone occupying space which is deletable. You just have to go to the “Settings” option icon on your phone, select the “Storage” option and hit “Clear Cached Data” option.
In case clearing the cached data doesn’t help either, use the command prompt method as mentioned in the following section.
Case III – Command Prompt
To Solve the SD Card inaccessible error, first of all you have to check the drive letter assigned to your SD Card. To do so, open the “This PC” windows and choose the “Devices Management” option. There you will find the drive letter for your card.
Once you know the letter, enter cmd in the search box and input “chkdsk m:/r” command (m being the assigned drive letter here).
Still not able to solve the error? Use the next solution but it has some limitations to it.
Case IV – Cleaner Software
This software is used to clean all the junk or temporary data from the SD Card and also monitor your system browse safely. The temporary files are removed that take up most space the SD card causing SD Card not accessible error.
However, there comes a limitation with this utility i.e. it deleted some of the required multimedia files from the card.
You can also use the following solution to resolve this issue.
Case V – Corrupted SD being Scanned
If there is any virus or malicious code, it will be eliminated using the anti-virus software. It will scan the programs and remove any type of virus from the removable devices as well that are connected.
All the types of malware along with the virus corrupting your SD Card will be removed but, again, the risk of data being deleted will still be there.
On to the Final Say
The SD Card inaccessible issue is caused due to corruption in your SD Card. You can recover your data from the corrupted card and not take a backup since the data is also corrupted.
There are no manual methods to retrieve the corrupted data which is why it is recommended that you use the software for safe and quick recovery.
