Note – If you’re using a Micro SD card, please insert the Micro SD card into the SD card adapter that came with card. Connect the SD card adapter to your computer by using an external card reader. Also note – Mac OS 10.6.5 or earlier does not support exFAT format, which most 64 GB SD. If you have an SD or micro SD card you want to reformat with your Mac it’s a pretty easy process. Read on to learn how. Before you start, you need to mount the SD or micro SD card on your Mac. Launch this SD Card Data Recovery on Mac. Download it on your Mac, and run it to start after its.

Unable to Format SD Card That Needs Formatting

'I need help with my SanDisk 64GB SD card, which I use in my Samsung phone for music and pictures. The card seems to be corrupted or perhaps infected with viruses, or somehow when I connected it to a computer, Windows says the card needs to be formatted. I tried so, but failed due to the error message Windows was unable to complete the format.'

SD card won't format, SD card not formatted error or let it be Windows was unable to complete the format SD card, are becoming more and more popularly discussed these years. We are all looking for a response for a reason why we can't format an SD card and an answer to how to format a memory card that cannot be formatted.

General Causes for SD Card Won't Format

When a memory card runs into problems and needs to be formatted to function again, to a large extent, something goes wrong with the file system.

For example, only the FAT32 SD card can be used on some specified devices; the SD card file system suddenly turns raw, and Windows cannot recognize it; the SD card does not show up as a mass storage device but unallocated space, etc.

However, it says formatting SD card will fix problems like these, but why did we fail to format the SD card eventually? We arrived at some simple conclusions that may cause the issue of SD card won't format.

• SD card is write-protected so that Windows is not allowed to make changes to it;
• SD card is with bad sectors on it, so it becomes corrupted. Windows can't format a corrupted SD card.
• Using the portable SD card storage media across multiple computers or card readers can be easily infected with a virus, it makes Windows hardly be able to format the card to eradicate the virus.

How to Fix SD Card Won't Format Error on Windows 10/8/7 Computer (6 Methods)

So, what are the solutions to unable to format an SD card? How to format an SD card that won't format? Altogether, we introduce six quick fixes that are supposed to solve the problem. When you're facing a similar case that a memory card won't format on a Windows PC or an Android phone device, feel no hesitate to troubleshoot the error using the suggested methods.

Method 1. Format SD Card in Windows Disk Management

For many of us who are unable to format the SD card for the first time is using the Windows File Explorer. It's a quick access for us to perform a quick format of a removable hard disk and a hard drive partition, however, with chances of Windows was unable to complete the format. At this moment, you need to turn to a more advanced disk formatting method. Here, try to format your SD card in Windows Disk Management, the other Windows default program that is able to format a disk.

Step 1. Open Disk Management in Windows 10/8/7 by going to This PC/My Computer > Manage > Disk Management.

Step 2. locate and right-click on the SD card, and choose Format.

Step 3. Choose a proper file system like FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, and perform a quick format. Click 'OK'.

Method 2. Run Diskpart to Clean SD Card That Won't Format

Step 1. Press Windows key + R keys at the same time, type cmd in the Run box, hit Enter to open the command prompt(cmd.exe).

Step 2. Type diskpart to run Diskpart Utility.

Step 3. Type list disk to list the drives on the computer.

Step 4. Type select disk 2 (The number should be replaced by the exact drive number of your SD card).

Step 5. Type clean to run the clean utility (this will wipe all data on the SD card so make sure you saved a copy or backup of the card data).

Step 6. Type create partition primary to create a new partition on the SD card.

Step 7. Type format fs=ntfs （or format fs=fat32）to format the partition to the desired file system.

Method 3. Format SD card Using Third-party SD Card Formatter

Alternatively, if you didn't overcome the SD card won't format error in Disk Management, and you're afraid of the command prompt complexity, another way out is to utilize a third-party free partition manager. EaseUS Partition Master is a reputable third-party SD card formatter that works flawlessly in formatting a memory card that is corrupted, damaged, inaccessible, and won't format in all Windows platforms.

Comparing with the Diskpart utility, it's more like an intuitive, wizard-based, simple, and straightforward SD card formatting software that makes every ordinary user with little computer knowledge troubleshoot the SD card won't format error without much effort.

Step 1: Launch EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the partition on your external hard drive/USB/SD card which you want to format and choose the 'Format' option.

Step 2: Assign a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3), and cluster size to the selected partition, then click 'OK'.

Step 3: In the Warning window, click 'OK' to continue.

Step 4: Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting your external hard drive/USB/SD card.

Method 4. Change Drive Letter and Paths to Detect The SD Card

Sometimes, we are unable to initiate the format due to SD card is not showing up at all. To resolve such kind of SD card won't format issues, we need to make it recognizable at first. To do this, here is the procedure:

Step 1. Connect the won’t format SD card to PC.

Step 2. Right-click on This PC/My Computer> Manage > Disk Management.

Step 3. Locate and right-click on SD card, select Change drive letter, and paths.

Step 4. Re-select a new drive letter for your SD card and click OK to confirm.

Method 5. Remove Write Protection from Not Formatted SD Card

Once a hard drive, memory card, or USB flash drive is write-protected, it means that you can no longer use the storage devices like before nor formatted it. Write protection is responsible for most of the SD card won't format error in Windows PC and mobile devices. If this is the case you're faced with, try to remove write protection from the SD card using cmd, or the easiest method recommended here.

If you are not professional in computing management and not familiar with command lines, don't worry. EaseUS R&D team has promoted a fresh kit for helping you resolve the write-protection issue on your hard drive, external hard drive, USB or SD card, etc., devices.

EaseUS Tools M is a practical computer fixing tool that is safe and light-weighted. It's a perfect alternative to the command line.

Use this one-click tool to solve the write-protection issues on your own:

Step 1: DOWNLOAD and install EaseUS Tools M for free.

Step 2: Run EaseUS Tools M on your PC, choose the 'Write Protection' mode.

Step 3: Select the device which is now 'Write-Protected' and click 'Disable' to remove the protection.

Method 6. Check and Repair Bad Sectors

Bad sectors on your storage media are invisible, but they will prevent you from smoothly accessing your device and using the files. One of the common troubleshooting to fix bad sectors is to format the disk. What if you cannot directly format the SD card with bad sectors in Windows? You need to run command lines to check how many bad sectors are there, and then repair them all. After removing bad sectors from the SD card, you can easily format it by any means.

Step 1. Press Windows key + R keys at the same time, type cmd in the Run box, hit Enter to open the command prompt(cmd.exe).

Step 2. In Command Prompt, enter the command: chkdsk E: /f /r /x. Replace E with your SD card's drive letter.

The Other 3 Cases for You Can't Format SD Card

#1. How to Fix The RAW SD Card Won't Format

When you checked the SD card showing as RAW in Disk Management, you must convert the RAW file system to a usable file system like NTFS or FAT32 for normal use. To convert a RAW SD card to NTFS or FAT32, you need to perform a disk format. You can easily troubleshoot the RAW SD card won't format error in Disk Management by using the other recommended ways:

• Format RAW SD card using Diskpart cmd
• Format RAW SD card using EaseUS Partition Master

#2. How to Repair SD Card Won't Format on Android/Cannon Camera

First of all, remove the card from the mobile phone or camera, and re-insert it again.

Still can't format the SD card? This time take out the SD card and connect it to a Windows PC or laptop. choose one of the methods to format the SD Card on Windows 10/8/7 computer:

• Format Android SD card using Disk Management
• Format an external SD card using cmd
• Format a not formatted SD card using EaseUS Partition Master

#3. How to Fix SD Card Won't Format to FAT32

Windows won't allow you to format an SD card over 32GB to FAT32, which is due to the file system limitation. The only approachable and simple way to let you format a 64GB, 128GB or 512GB SD card to FAT32 is using EaseUS Partition Master, which can achieve a successful formatting result, at the same time, won't affect the usable storage on the SD card.

by Shirly Chen, updated on 2018-05-16 to Mac Data Wipe

SDHC and SDXC are commonly used SD cards. Sometimes, you need to format the SDHC/SDXC card on Mac to remove all data information, or just want to create new file system on the SDHC/SDXC card. And in some cases, you not only need to format the SDHC/SDXC card on Mac, but you need to permanently erase all data information on the SDHC/SDXC card to prevent data recovery. For example, before you sell, donate, give away or dispose SDHC/SDXC card device, you have to permanently erase your private photos, videos, etc on the SDHC/SDXC card.

Mac Disk Utility can help you format SDHC/SDXC card on Mac. It is very simple, just connect the SDHC/SDXC card with your Mac and open Disk Utility. You can see the SDHC/SDXC card, click Erase to format the SDHC/SDXC card on your Mac. But, the Disk Utility can’t permanently erase the data on the SDHC/SDXC card. Free Mac data recovery software can easily restore formatted data from the SDHC/SDXC card which was formatted by Mac Disk Utility. (Check how to recover lost data from SDHC card, how to recover lost data from SDXC card? ).

If you want to securely format SDHC/SDXC card on Mac and permanently erase data from SDHC/SDXC card under Mac OS, you need Mac data erasure software. DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac is the most powerful Mac data eraser. It can help you securely format SDHC/SDXC card on Mac and permanently erase all data from the SDHC/SDXC card to avoid data recovery.

Easy steps to format/erase SDHC/SDXC card on Mac

Step 1: Download and install Mac Data Eraser.

Best Format For Sd Card

Download and install DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac on your Mac computer. Then launch it from Launchpad.

Step 2: Connect the SDHC/SDXC card with your Mac.

Connect the SDHC/SDXC card with your Mac via card reader or USB cable. And back up important data to another hard drive or device. (Once the SDHC/SDXC card is formatted by Super Eraser for Mac, all the data on the SDHC/SDXC card will be erased forever, can’t be recovered by any method.)

Step 3: Format and erase the SDHC/SDXC card on Mac.

Choose the mode Wipe Hard Drive. Then select the SDHC/SDXC card and wipe it by click on 'Wipe Now' button.

DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac will securely format the SDHC/SDXC card on Mac and permanently erase all data information on the SDHC/SDXC card, beyond the scope of data recovery.

Format Sd Card Mac Command Line

This is the most secure way to format SDHC/SDXC card on Mac. It will permanently erase all data on the SDHC/SDXC card under Mac OS, and it will never shorten the service life of the SDHC/SDXC card. Don’t let the sensitive data falls into the wrong hands, just trust DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac. It is the right tool for you to reformat SDHC/SDXC card on Mac and get your data lost forever.

Format Sd Card Mac Couldn't Modify Partition Map

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