SD Card Won't Read or Open on My Computer

In the following, you will find comprehensive solutions for "SD card won't read or open" error on Windows PC. If you are having this issue, follow and fix it to rescue your data now:

What to Do When SD Card Won't Open or Open on Computer

Many users are complaining that their SD card always worked fine, but suddenly cannot read or open on their computer and are asking for help online. Here's a real story of a user from the Microsoft community:

"Today I've been trying to use my Toshiba SD card on my laptop, but the computer won't recognize it. Nothing comes up on my computer or anything. Any idea on how to fix it?"

If you are suffering from the same issue and worrying about the unreadable SD card, you are in the right place. We provide tried-and-true solutions to fix the issue without data loss.

Part 1: Recover Data When the Computer Cannot Read or Open SD Card 

Before you get down to fix the "SD card not opening" issue, you should recover data first to avoid further data loss. How to recover your data? now Qiling disk data recovery software can help!

When you find your SD card can't be read on your computer, right-click This PC > choose Manage > select Disk Management. Check if the memory card is listed there. If yes, Deep Data Recovery can help you retrieve your valuable data by following a few simple steps. Besides, it also can repair corrupted files on SD card after data recovery, including photos, videos, and documents.

• Free Download
• Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

After data recovery, you can go to Part 2 to learn how to repair a Micro SD card that can't be read. 

Step 1. Connect the SD card, memory card, or CF Card to your computer and launch Qiling memory card recovery software on your PC. Select file types and click "Next" to start.

Step 2. The SD card will be listed under the Devices section. Choose the SD card and click "Scan" to start looking for your lost data.

Step 3. The software will start a scan automatically. The scan is powerful enough to find all lost files that even lost file names. After the scanning process, you can find deleted items from the tree-view panel on the left. Then, click "Filter" if you are looking for a specific file type, like photos, documents, videos or emails.

Step 4. You can directly double-click the files to preview the content. After this, you can choose wanted files and click "Recover" to restore them to a secure location on your PC or other external storage devices.

Part 2. Fix SD Card Won't Read or Open on My Computer

After retrieving all your data, you can fix the "SD card can't be read or opened on the computer" issue step by step. 

1. Not Opening SD Card Becomes RAW

Your SD card can be recognized under Disk Management, but it's inaccessible. That is to say, the device becomes RAW. You can fix it in two ways - use CHKDSK or format the SD card.

Run CHKDSK to Fix SD Card Not Reading (Fix the File System Error)

If the SD Card is detected but cannot open, run CHKDSK to scan for errors! Note that CHKDSK will permanently remove all saved data so make sure that you recover all files first with reliable file recovery software.

Step 1. Connect the SD card to PC via an SD card reader.

Step 2. At the start, type cmd and right-click Command Prompt. Click "Run as administrator".

Step 3. Type chkdsk h: /f. Replace h with your SD card drive letter.

After this, you can try again to see whether you can open it or not. If not, format the SD card.

Qiling CleanGenius is a user-friendly computer fixing tool that is both safe and lightweight. It's a perfect alternative to CHKDSK command. Use this one-click tool to fix the damaged file system easily.

Step 1. DOWNLOAD Qiling CleanGenius on your computer and complete the installation.

• Free Download
• Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

Step 2. Run the software. Click "Optimization", and then choose "File Showing" . 

Step 3. Select the drive with a corrupted file system. Tick the "Check and fix file system error" option and click "Execute".

Step 4. Wait the tool performs the repairing task. After that, click the "here" button to check the drive.

Format the SD Card (Can Also Solve Lost Partition Issue)

SD card can be recognized under Disk Management, but it's inaccessible or the partition is lost. SD card formatting can solve it easily:

Step 1. Connect the SD card to your PC. Right-click on This PC/My Computer, select "Manage".

Step 2. Click "Disk Management", locate and right-click the SD card, then choose "Format".

Step 3. Select the wanted file system for the SD card and click "OK" to confirm.

2. SD Card Shows No Media

If your SD card shows 0 bytes in Disk Management, you'll need to take your device to a local data recovery service center and ask for help.

But you can still try to update the drivers to fix it. Most users say it works.

Step 1. Connect the SD card to PC. Right-click on "This PC/My Computer" icon, select "Manage" and go to "Device Manager".

Step 2. Expand "Disk drivers", find and right-click on the no media sd card, choose "Update driver".

Step 3. Select "Search automatically for updated driver software" and wait patiently till the process completes.

3. SD Card Showing as Unallocated

If the device is showing as unallocated, the computer certainly cannot open the sd card. For this case, things could be easier. All you have to do is create a new volume for the SD card. The steps below are manual steps. If you prefer to using the software, refer to this page - create a new partition using the software

Step 1. Connect the unallocated SD card to PC. Right-click on This PC/My Computer > Manage > Disk Management.

Step 2. Locate and right-click on the unallocated space of the SD card, select "New Simple Volume".

Step 3. Set partition size, drive letter and file system (NTFS), etc. Click "Finish" to complete the process

4. Other Fixes for SD Card Won't Read Issue

If the SD card partition doesn't show up in Disk Management but can be found in Device Manager:

• Update the SD card driver
• Change SD card reader, adapter, or USB port

If both the Device Manager and the Disk Management cannot recognize your SD card:

• Send it to a local device repair center
• Give up this SD card and buy a new one

That's all about how to fix the "SD card won't read or open" issue. 

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