How to Fix SD Card Saying Full When Empty in Windows 11/10/8/7

Format SD Card If SD Card Says Full (Quick Access)

Most of the time, formatting is used to fix SD card errors or disk-related issues. If the SD card is empty but says it is full is caused by the incorrect file system issue, then it is better to reformat the SD card to its normal state

• Open Qiling Partition Master
• Find your SD card and right-click the partition...Read More>>

How to Fix SD Card Empty But Says Full (6 Tips)

"I was trying to take a photo on my Canon camera; however, it was saying my SD card was full. I plugged the card into my computer, dragged the four photos on there to my desktop, and deleted the file "100 CANON". I usually do this when downloading and emptying my SD card, but I am unsure if it's the correct way of doing it as I have never been taught! Any help would be appreciated!"

According to many SD card and memory card users, it seems that SD card saying full when empty issue often happens. If you have a similar problem with your SD card, you can apply the solutions below for help. You may not need to try them all, work your way down until you find the one that works for you.

Fix 1. Show Hidden Files Using CMD If SD Card Says Full

Like the mentioned case, the user has deleted the files, and your SD card still shows full. There might be hidden files on your SD card. In many cases, the data stored on the SD card not showing is caused by hiding files. Follow the steps below to show hidden files if the SD card saying full when empty.

Step 1. Press Windows + X keys and select Command Prompt (CMD) as an Administrator. 

Or you can click the Windows icon, select "Search" and type the command prompt. Right-click it and choose to open Command Prompt as Administrator.

Step 2. Determine the SD card or storage device where the files are hidden.

Step 3. Type attrib -h -r -s /s /d G:\*.* and hit "Enter". (If it's drive D, then replace G: with the drive letter for your device).

You can also apply this command to show USB drive hidden files and more.

Fix 2. Show Hidden Files Using CMD Alternative

Manual execution of the command line is suitable for computer professionals, since incorrect commands can do more harm than good. Therefore, for security and usability, we strongly recommend you try an automatic command line alternative - Qiling CleanGenius. It is a practical tool that enables you to check and fix file system errors, enable/disable write protection and update your system with one-click instead of typing intricate command lines.

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

Follow the simple steps below to show hidden files with this 1-click-fix software. 

Step 1. DOWNLOAD Qiling CleanGenius for Free.

Step 2. Start Qiling CleanGenius, choose "Optimization" on the left panel. Next, click "File Showing" on the right panel. 

Step 3. Select the hard drive and click "Execute".

Step 4. After the operation completes, click the here link to check the hidden files. 

Fix 3. Check SD Card Error to Fix SD Card Showing Full

You may also encounter an empty SD card full error if the memory card has file system errors. You can run CHKDSK to fix SD card errors. Here are the steps to fix SD card error:

Step 1. Press Windows + R keys to bring up the Run box. Type cmd and hit Enter. 

Step 2. In the Windows Command Prompt, type chkdsk [drive letter]: /f /r /x. For example, the Dive F in the beginning scenario is with the problem, so we replace the F's drive letter parameter.

Then, you can check your SD card to see if the error has been solved.

Fix 4. Recover SD Card Data Before Formatting

Besides, you can run reliable SD card recovery software to scan your card to find more data. Then, recover wanted data to another location. All you need is Deep Data Recovery. With it, you can recover photos, Word documents, Excel files, and videos from any device.

Step 1. Select file types

• Download and install Deep Data Recovery on your Windows PC.
• Use the proper way to connect your SanDisk/Lexar/Transcend SD card to the computer. 
• Open Qiling SD card recovery software. Select file types and click "Next" to start.

Step 2. Select the SD card to scan

• All connected drives will display here. Select your SD card and click "Scan".

Step 3. Check for scan results

• Wait for the scanning process to complete.
• Click "Filter" and specify one or several file types to show up, like Pictures, Word, Excel, PDF, Videos and so on.
• Click "Preview" to check if they are the wanted files.

Step 4. Recover SD card data

• Choose desired files and click "Recover".
• Choose a different location to save the recovered files instead of the original SD card.

Fix 5. Format Your SD Card to Fix the Empty SD Card Says Full

A simple choice to fix the "empty SD Card but it says full" is to format the SD Card. This helps you reclaim lost or unallocated space and safely and efficiently restore the SD card to full capacity/original size. Here we recommend you Qiling Partition Master, a powerful disk management tool that allows you to format hard drives and multiple removable storage devices. 

Now you can try the following guide to reformat SD card and restore SD card to full capacity with this tool in simple steps.

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

Step 1. Find your SD card and click the partition you want to format and choose "Format".

Step 2. Set a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT), and cluster size to the selected partition, then click "Proceed".

Step 3. Click "OK" on the pop-up window to start formatting your SD card.

Fix 6. Restore SD Card to Full Capacity with CMD

If format the SD Card fails to solve the "empty SD Card says full" error, just run this command to restore your SD Card to full capacity.

Step 1. On Windows 11/10, press Windows + X, select "Search", and type command prompt, right-click on it and choose "Run as administrator".

Step 2. On the Command Prompt black window, type diskpart and hit "Enter".

Step 3. Now type list disk and press "Enter".

All the disk drives will be listed, including your external drives that connected to the computer.

Step 4. Refer to the list disk information, type select disk + disk number, for example, select disk 2 and press enter.

You're telling DiskPart to locate and lock disk 2 so as to clean and format it with the continuing steps.

After this, you can use the Disk Management tool in Windows 11/10 or other Windows PC to create a new partition on the SD card so to make it available for storing data with the full capacity again.

Conclusion

You have learned various ways to tackle the SD card when it returns an empty or full error without losing your data. Qiling data recovery software and Qiling partition manager can do you a great favor if sd card is empty but says it is full.

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

SD Card Saying Full But Empty FAQs

If you other questions about the SD card, you can read the following questions and answers.

Why does my SD card say full when it's empty?

Here are the reasons:

• There are files on the SD card, but the files are invisible or hidden, so the SD card shows full but no files.
• The SD card is not correctly formatted.
• Your camera goes wrong.

How do I know if my SD card is full?

If your mobile is using the Android operation system, then follow the steps to check the available space:

• Go to the Home screen.
• Select the Menu key.
• Select Settings.
• Select SD card & phone storage.
• At the top, under the SD card, you will find the Total space and Available space on your SD card.

How can I tell how fast my SD card is?

An SD card's speed class is identified on the SD card itself - look for the logo. You'll also see the speed class on the online store listing or the card's packaging when purchasing it.

Related Articles

• How to Reformat Windows 11/10 PC/Laptop | In-depth tutorial
• How to Perform an SSD Health Check on Windows 11: Tips and Tricks for Maximizing
• How to Secure Erase SSD or HDD for Free
• Download the Best Free Transcend Format Tool for USB/Memory Card