How to Fix SD Card Not Detected in Android Phone/Windows Error [2022 New]

Applies to: Fix SD card is not detected in Android, sd card is not showing up in mobile, SD card is not reading, etc. errors.

SD card not detected in Android

Are you at your wit's end figuring out "how can I fix my micro SD card not detected" or "why is my SD card not reading on my phone"? Don't worry if your SD card is unreadable on your phone.

To make the memory card detected on your Android phone, you have two workarounds to try:

Part 1. Make SD card detected on Android phone
Part 2. Repair unreadable Android memory card on PC

Here are the specific methods to make the SD card detected and repair undetected SD cards on your Android phone and PC without losing any data:

Solutions	Ways to Make SD Card Readable
Re-insert SD Card into Your Phone	If the memory SD card is not detected in Android mobile phones, first, try to reinsert the SD card...Full steps
Un-mount and Remount SD Card	Then, try to unmount and remount the SD Card to make it detected on your Android phone...Full steps
Change SD Card Reader and Connect to PC	If the SD card can't be detected on your PC, try to change the SD card reader and reconnect it to the PC...Full steps
Recover Data, Format SD Card to FAT32	If the file system of the SD card is corrupted, it won't show up. Recover data from SD card and format...Full steps
More Effective Methods	To make the SD card be detected, update the card driver, run CHKDSK, show hidden files, and clear ...Full steps

Note that if your SD card is damaged, you'll have to send it for repair. The fixes on this page only work to make a "physically healthy" SD card readable. It doesn't matter whether you know the causes for SD cards not detected on Android phones.

Follow the methods in Part 1 first to make your SD card showing up. If the error still occurs, try fixes in Part 2 to make the SD card readable and work normally again. Let's see how to make your Android SD card detected on your phone and PC without losing any data.

Part 1. Fix SD Card Not Detected on Android Phone

Applies to: Fix memory SD card not detected an error in Android mobile phones that support extending storage space.

What do I do if my SD card is not detected on my phone? Relax! Try the two methods here to make your SD card show up on your phone:

Fix 1. Re-insert Memory SD Card into Your Phone

Step 1. Turn off your Android phone and unplug the SD card.

Step 2. Remove the SD Card and check if it's clean. If not, clean dust from the SD card.

Step 3. Put the SD card back to the SD card slot and re-insert it into your phone.

Step 4. Turn on your phone and check if your memory card is detected now.

Insert sd card back to phone

If the card is still not recognized, proceed to Method 2.

Fix 2. Un-mount and Remount SD Card on Android

Step 1. Tap "Settings" on your phone and select "Storage".

Step 2. Tap on "Storage" > "SD Card" > "Mount".

Mount SD Card to make it detectable on Android phone

After this, restart your phone and check if you can access the SD card normally. If it doesn't work, use the following procedure to unmount and remount the SD card:

Step 1. Go to "Settings" on your Android phone.

Step 2. Tap "SD Card" and tap on "Unmount SD card". Click "OK" to confirm.

Unmount SD Card

Step 3. Now re-mount the SD card, power off your phone, unplug and re-insert the memory card back into your phone.

Step 4. Reboot the phone.

After this, your mobile phone should be able to read the SD card and you can use the saved files again.

Android SD Card Mounted As Read-Only

If the SD card shows it's read-only after mounting, use this walkthrough to clear the Read-Only state.

If the SD card still doesn't show up on your phone, take the SD card out of your phone and connect it to your computer. Then try the fixes in the next part to make your SD card detectable again.

Part 2. Fix Android SD Card Not Detected, Not Showing Error on PC

Applies to: Fix Android phone SD card not detected, not showing, not reading error on PC without losing data.

If the SD card is not recognized after you've tried the methods in Part 1, don't worry. By following the fixes listed in this section, you'll make the SD card work again.

Fix 1. Change SD Card Reader and Connect to PC
Fix 2. Recover SD Card Data and Format It to FAT32
Fix 3. Update SD Card Driver
Fix 4. Run CHKDSK to Fix Android SD Card Not Detected Error
Fix 5. Show Hidden Files on SD Card and Clear Virus

Let's now start repairing your SD card detectable on your PC without losing any data.

Fix 1. Change SD Card Reader and Connect Memory Card to PC

Step 1. Insert the memory SD card into an SD card reader and connect it to your PC.

Step 2. Check if the SD card shows up on your computer.

Step 3. If not, use another SD card reader. Re-connect the SD card to your PC.

This will help you quickly determine if the issue is with your phone or with the memory/SD card itself.

If you see all data on the card, the SD card is working properly. The problem is with your Android phone. You should send it for repair.
If the memory card is unreadable on your PC, follow the fixes below to repair your SD card without losing any data.

Fix 2. Recover SD Card Data and Format It to FAT32

When an SD card is correctly mounted but not showing on a phone, a likely reason is that the SD card has a file system unsupported by the phone. The best solution is to format the SD card to FAT32.

Since formatting erases all files on the SD card, you should recover data from the SD card before formatting it to FAT32. To do so, you have two options:

Recover Data from Android SD Card

Deep Data Recovery will help you restore and extract all Android memory/SD card data in three steps.

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

Follow the steps below to get all your personal files out of the SD card:

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

Select file types that you want to recover

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.

Format Memory SD Card to FAT32

You can now format the memory SD card to FAT32 and make it readable on your phone again. Here, we'll show you how to format SD card to FAT32 using the "Disk Management" utility:

Step 1. Insert the SD card into your PC, right-click "This PC" and select "Manage".

Step 2. Go to "Disk Management", right-click the memory card, and select "Format".

Step 3. Set the SD card file system as FAT32 and click "OK".

format sd card to reair not detected issue

Step 4. Save the previously recovered data to the SD card, safely unplug it and re-insert it into your Android phone.

Step 5. Restart your phone and check if the files and the SD card show up. If they don't, revert to Fix 2 in Part 1 to mount this card.

Once you follow these steps, the memory card or SD card can now be read and detected by your Android phone. You can continue using the previously restored data on your phone again.

Fix 3. Update Memory Card/SD Card Driver

If the SD card driver is outdated, as a result, your memory card can't be detected on mobile or PC. Follow the steps below to update the memory SD card driver and make it readable again:

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

Step 2. Right-click on "My Computer" or "This PC" and select "Manage".

Step 3. Click "Device Manager" and expand "Disk Drives".

Step 4. Right-click on your SD card and choose "Properties".

Step 5. Go to the "Driver" tab as shown below, and click "Update Driver".

Update SD card drive driver

Wait patiently for the latest driver to be installed and reboot your computer.

Step 6. Unplug and insert the SD card into the phone, reboot to check if your mobile detects it.

Note: If the driver update process fails, contact your SD card manufacturer or manually download the driver from its official website.

Fix 4. Run CHKDSK to Fix Android SD Card Not Detected Error

If the memory card or SD card has an internal error or bad sectors, it will not be readable on your mobile phone or PC. Fortunately, you can run the CHKDSK command to repair and fix this issue.

Note: Running chkdsk has the possibility to result in data loss. So, perform data recovery in advance, and then continue with the CMD method.

Follow these steps to make an SD card readable now with CHKDSK command:

Step 1. Press Win+R keys to bring up the "Run" dialog and type cmd. Hit Enter.

Step 2. Type chkdsk D: / f and press Enter. (assuming that D is the drive letter of your memory card)

Or you can type chkdsk D:/f /offlinescanandfix and hit Enter.

Step 3. If the above command lines don't work, type chkdsk D: /f /r /x and hit Enter.

Step 4. After this, unplug and insert the SD card back into your phone and reboot the mobile.

This should fix the memory SD card error and make the card detectable again.

Fix 5. Show Hidden Files on SD Card and Clear Virus

Note that sometimes viruses or malware infections may cause your files on the SD card to be hidden, making you think that the card is undetectable on your phone or PC. Don't worry if you don't know how to get around this obstacle.

If you follow the guidelines below, you'll get hidden files back on your SD card and clear all viruses with ease:

Show Hidden Files on 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.

Remember to save the files to another secure device and continue with the following steps.

Clear Virus from SD Card

Step 1. Connect the SD card to your PC.

Step 2. Download and run anti-virus software on your computer.

Step 3. Scan your device for viruses or malware and remove the detected items.

As soon as the process is completed, you can save the data back on your SD card. You can safely insert the card back into your phone, make use of it and the data again.

Share to Help:

By sticking to the above solutions, you can make your Android phone memory card show up again without losing any data. If you are satisfied with the result, please share your experience on Facebook and help more friends out:

Why Is SD Card Not Detected, and How to Avoid This Error

Some of you may wonder what causes the SD card to be undetectable on your phone. Some may also want to know how to avoid this error from happening again. Check out the reasons first and here we have some tips to help you make sure the SD card is detectable on your mobile phone at all times.

1. Causes of SD Card Not Detected Error:

The memory SD card slot has a loose spring.
The SD card is not mounted properly.
The SD card file system is not supported by the phone.
SD card has a file system error or contains bad sectors.
SD card driver is outdated.
SD card is damaged or corrupted.
Virus or malware infection.

2. Tips to Keep SD Card Detectable on Your Phone:

Format the SD card with an Android compatible file system to the SD card - FAT32 by default.
Mount the SD card correctly on your Android phone.
Run antivirus scans on your phone.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we compiled 7 practical solutions in two parts to help you make your Android memory card detectable, plus we explained the causes for the Android SD card not showing error.

To avoid unnecessary data loss on your Android memory card while fixing this error, we suggest you recover data from the SD card as a backup measure first using reliable Qiling data recovery software.

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

By following through with fixes provided on this page, you should be able to use your SD card normally on your phone again.

If you have further questions about this issue, check out the answers to the following frequently asked questions that may shed light on the information you are looking for.