If you have damaged your Micro SD card accidentally or it got corrupted due to any logical issue and now you are worried about the data inside it, then you have come to the right place. In this article, we will discuss how to repair damaged Micro SD card without losing the data stored in it.
The digital electronic devices like cameras, smartphones, tablets, minicomputers (Raspberry Pi), and several other devices use Micro SD card to store data.
These removable flash storage cards are most popular among smartphone and camera (Point & Shoot/DSLR) users to store pictures and videos.
However, Micro SD cards are easily prone to damage due to file system corruption, which can occur when you remove the Micro SD card without ejecting, or writing data on it.
This is a very common mistake done by the users and a very common reason for Micro SD card corruption. Also, improper insertion and removal of the card can damage the golden connectors on SD card and can permanently damage it.
In most cases, a damaged Micro SD card can be repaired and data can be retrieved. However, it is not always guaranteed with general solutions. If your SD card is damaged, you should handle it carefully to avoid permanent data loss.
Things you’ll need:
Before we proceed to repair Micro SD card, there are some prerequisites.
- A Working PC or Laptop (Windows preferably).
- A Micro SD Card reader or Micro SD card adapter for Laptops
- Basic knowledge of Computer
Different Methods to Repair a Micro SD Card
Method 1. Change Drive Letter
Sometimes, the system is not able to assign a drive letter to the Micro SD card. This makes SD card inaccessible. To repair a damaged SD card by assigning a drive letter, please follow these steps:
- Insert the SD card in a USB card reader and connect it to your computer.
- Next, Right-click on ‘My Computer‘ or ‘This PC‘. Choose ‘Manage’ from the options. A Computer Management Window appears.
- On the left side, click on ‘Disk Management‘ under ‘Storage‘ option and wait for a few seconds while your system loads Virtual Disk Service.
- Right-click on SD card drive and choose ‘Change Drive Letter and Paths…’.
Figure 1: Changing Drive Letter – Computer Management Window
- Click Change and then, select the drive letter from the drop-down list.
- Click OK to finish assigning a drive letter.
Method 2: Re-Install drivers
At times, drivers that run flash drives get corrupt. In such a situation, you can try re-installing the device drivers. Follow these steps to re-install device drivers:
- Insert the Micro SD card in card reader and connect it to your PC.
- Next, Right-click on ‘My Computer’ or ‘This PC’ and then, choose ‘Properties’. A system Window will appears.
- Click on ‘Device Manager’ from the left penal on system Window.
- Click on ‘Disk drives’. Under Disk drives, Right-click on the SD card drive and choose ‘Uninstall device’.
Figure 2: Uninstalling the Device drivers under Computer Management
- When done, disconnect your SD card adapter and restart your computer.
- After the restart, connect the SD card using a card reader. Check if it’s working.
Method 3: Run ‘Chkdsk’ command
Windows has an inbuilt disk error checking and repair utility called “Chkdsk” which scans the drive for errors and fixes them simultaneously. The Chkdsk utility repairs the file system metadata and logical file system errors which often corrupt the Micro SD card. To repair Micro SD card with Chkdsk, follow these steps:
- Type cmd in search box and Press ctrl + shift + enter.
- Click ‘Yes’ to grant Admin access. A cmd Window appears.
- Type command chkdsk X: /f where X is the drive letter. Alternatively, you can type chkdsk X: /F /X /R for the rigorous scanning process.
- Hit Enter and wait until ‘Chkdsk’ utility repairs the disk errors.
Figure 3: Chkdsk CMD Window after Scanning drive
After disk checking process completes, you can try accessing your SD card again. If you are able to access the SD card, copy data from it and format the SD Card by following next method.
Method 4: Format the SD Card
This should be the last solution which you may consider when none of the above-explained methods work for you. Formatting Micro SD card fixes the issue by erasing the data stored in it. If the data inside it is valuable to you, then you should go with a professional Data Recovery tool like the Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery – Home that can recover data from a damaged Micro SD card and other storage devices. Once data is recovered using Data Recovery tool, you can format the card by following these steps:
- Insert the SD card in a USB card reader and connect it to your computer.
- Next, Right-click on ‘My Computer‘ or ‘This PC‘. Choose ‘Manage’ from the options. A Computer Management Window appears.
- On the left side, click on ‘Disk Management‘ under ‘Storage‘ option and wait for a few seconds while your system loads Virtual Disk Service.
- Now right click on the SD card drive and choose ‘Format’.
Figure 4: Formatting the Drive
- A pop up appears. Click ‘OK’ to format the connected SD card.
If the drive is not formatted using these steps, use CMD as administrator and run DiskPart to forcefully format the SD Card.
PLEASE NOTE: Above-mentioned solutions may or may not work depending on certain device specific issues. These are general solutions used to fix a damage Micro SD card. However, a professional data recovery tool can work great in such situations. Good luck!
