Repair and Format Corrupted Android SD Card Without Losing Data

Quick Guide - What To Do for SD Card Repair:

• 1. Make a backup of all data on the card.
• 2. Format the card using a computer.
• 3. Reinsert the card into the Android device.
• 4. If the card is not detected, format the card on the Android device.
• 5. Insert the card into the computer and restore the data.
• 6. Insert the card into the Android device.

As we all know, an SD card plays an essential role in saving data and extending storage space on an Android phone, which makes it an indispensable storage device for most Android users. However, when a problem occurs to the Android SD card, serious data loss problem will occur. Android SD card corruption is a typical problem.

If you are having one of the below-listed problems on your Android memory card, it means that your Android SD card has been corrupted.

- Clear Error messages:

• SD card unexpectedly removed
• SD card is damaged. Try reformatting it.

- Symptoms without warnings

• SD card fails to show up on the Android phone
• SD/memory card becomes undetectable/unrecognizable on the Android phone
• SD card with saved data shows as 0 bytes on an Android phone
• SD card cannot be read by the Android phone nor the PC

Sometimes your SD card in your Android phone malfunctions frequently, resulting in problems like this: SD card cannot be accessed, corrupted or not detected by the phone. To repair the SD card in trouble, you should fix it step by step: [1] export data; [2] quick format; [3] run chkdsk and repair file system corruption.

First. Extract/Restore Data from Corrupted Android SD card

To save all stored data on the corrupted SD card, we highly recommend you extract or restore data from the card first. Professional SD card recovery software can help you recover data from inaccessible SD card with ease. You can simply download and install Qiling card recovery software on your computer for free and then follow the below guidelines to restore data out of corrupted Android SD card.

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

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.

Second. Format Android SD Card to FAT32

For an Android device, the compatible file system of external storage is FAT32 or exFAT. When your memory card ran into bad sectors or its file system corrupted, re-formatting would rectify the problem. There are three typical ways to format a memory card, USB flash drive, or HDD, including Windows built-in tools, CMD and third-party free SD card formatting tool. Take Windows Explorer for an example:

Step 1: Connect/insert the Android SD card to your PC.

Step 2: Open the File Explorer and locate the corrupted SD card (displays as a removable disk in general).

Step 3: Right-click on it and select Format.

Step 4: Reset the SD card's file system to FAT 32 and click Start to start formatting the card.

Step 5: Wait for the formatting process to complete and then click OK to keep all changes.

Third. Repair Corrupted Android SD Card with CHKSDK Command

Caution: CHKDSK command can fix Android SD card corruption error but will remove all saved data permanently. Before you start this process, make sure that you recover all SD card files with reliable file recovery software. 

Step 1: Connect the Android SD card to your PC.

Step 2: Right-click on Start and select Command Prompt (Admin).

Step 3: Sign in as an administrator, then type: diskpart and hit Enter.

Step 4: Type: chkdsk f: /r/f and hit Enter; (Replace f with the drive letter of your own Android 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.

Wait for the process to complete and then you can check whether the computer can open the SD card or not. If not, continue with the corrupted memory card repair software for further troubleshooting.

You can now insert the SD card into your Android phone and reuse it for saving important files and personal data again. 

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