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How to recover an sd card on android. Three ways to recover SD memory cards

To do this, you need to remove the drive from the connector and insert it into another phone or laptop using a special adapter. If the computer was unable to open the contents of the flash drive automatically, then you need to search for it manually in Explorer in the “Removable media” section. Even the phone does not see the map, then do not despair, since this may be a consequence of the lack of drivers or incorrect formatting. It is necessary to repeat the operation several times; if it is not detected by any device, then we can conclude that it is inoperable.

When the flash drive is found, you should try to open and run some files. If they are displayed correctly, then the problem is not in the card, otherwise difficulties with finding may be the result of errors in the file system or a separate file.

The following sequence of actions must be followed:

1. Copy the entire contents of the SD card to a separate folder on your computer.
2. Right-click on the flash drive shortcut and select “Format” from the menu.
3. Confirm the operation with the “Start” button; you do not need to make any changes to the standard parameters.

Hardware faults

If the memory card is working, you should reinsert it into the slot; sometimes it happens that it does not fit tightly, causing contact to be lost. If this does not help, then you need to try inserting another flash drive. When the phone does not see the memory card in this case, the problem lies precisely in the connector; perhaps debris has gotten into it or the contacts are clogged; you should carefully wipe them with an eraser. Another reason may be the characteristics of the slot itself - connectors on old or very cheap smartphones cannot work with large SD cards (32 GB and above). Unfortunately, this cannot be corrected.

If the above methods did not help solve the problem when Android does not see the memory card, you should contact the service center for help.

Having problems with your SD memory card? Can't read all the data from it? Or does the phone not see them at all? You can try to recover a damaged SD card using a computer - check it for errors and completely format it.

Problems with SD memory cards are not uncommon. If a lot of data is recorded on it and you actively use it, for example, on your phone, then there is a possibility that after some time problems may arise with reading the contents. However, this does not mean that it can be immediately thrown into the trash.

There is always a chance to restore it. It doesn’t always come down to problems with the memory card controller - sometimes the solution may be, for example, checking for errors in the saved files, restoring damaged sectors, formatting, or completely clearing the partitions (structure) and creating them again. Let's consider the listed solutions.

What will you need to recover an SD memory card?

To recover data from a memory card, you need to connect it to your computer. Therefore we should have accordingly:

computer or laptop with Windows system;
An affordable option for connecting an SD card to a PC.

There are several ways to connect it to your computer. This can be done via the card reader built into the laptop. If this is not the case, then you can purchase a USB card reader. In appearance, it is no different from a regular flash drive, with the only difference being that there is an additional input into which we first insert a memory card, and only then connect it via USB to the computer.

Method No. 1: Recovering a damaged file system using Chkdsk

The first and easiest way is to use the system hard drive recovery tool Chkdsk. This is a utility from Microsoft, which means it is only available on PCs with the Windows operating system. Of course, this program is not always enough to recover data from SD cards, but you can check for damage in the file structure without losing data. In this method we will restore the SD card via the command line.

To begin, insert the memory card directly into your laptop or PC and click on the “My Computer” or “This Computer” icon (Windows 8 and above). In the list of drives, find the connected SD card and remember which letter was assigned to it. For the example, let's assume that it is assigned the letter "E:".

Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run window. Type the following command to open Command Prompt:

In the Command Prompt window, you need to enter the appropriate command, which will scan the drive and fix errors on it. The command looks like this:

chkdsk E: /f

Of course, instead of E: we enter the drive letter that your system assigned (not forgetting the colon). After pressing Enter, the scanning process will begin. Please note that the /f parameter is added at the end of the command, that is, Chkdsk not only finds problems, but will also try to repair them.

After scanning, we check the memory card again and see if it works properly.

Method No2: Formatting the SD memory card

In this method, we will try to restore the drive using formatting, during which all data will be deleted. This operation may solve the problem if restoring the memory card using Chkdsk did not bring a positive result and problems still occur (for example, errors in reading individual files). Of course, we will lose all the data, but there is a chance that restoring this method will prevent damage to new data, which we will later copy to the SD drive.

Let's look at simple formatting that doesn't break the partition structure. Connect the memory card to your PC, and then open My Computer on your desktop. In the list of drives, find the SD card and right-click on it.
From the drop-down menu, select "Format". Click on the “Standard Cluster Size” button and make sure that the file system is set to “FAT32”.

The operation can be performed with the Quick Format option. But for a better effect, we recommend unchecking this checkbox - it will take more time, but it will be done more thoroughly and may solve the problem.

Once completed, reinsert the SD memory card into your phone, tablet, digital camera or other device and check if it now works correctly.

Method No3: Deleting partitions or low-level formatting

An SD memory card is not much different from a regular disk - it can have one or more partitions. By default, one section is always allocated. You can format the device in such a way that the partition is completely deleted and there is unallocated space left. This is the so-called low-level formatting.

Important! Like regular formatting, low-level formatting will delete all data from the SD card and there will be no way to recover files. Therefore, before restoring, copy the data or part of it that is still readable by the system to the PC.

You can create a new partition again on the unallocated space that appears after formatting. It very often helps in a situation where, when connecting an SD card, it is displayed as “RAW” and the sections that can be entered are not shown. One of the best is the HDD Low Level Format Tool.

Connect the recoverable SD drive to your computer and run the HDD Low Level Format Tool program. A list of installed hard drives will be displayed. Find the SD drive in it and mark it.

Make sure to select the memory card and not, for example, the second or third hard drive on the computer. If in doubt, pay attention to the Capacity column, which displays the full capacity of this disk/flash drive or micro SD card.

Once selected, click on Continue and go to the “FORMAT THIS DEVICE” tab. The drive will be completely formatted, and the partitions will be deleted - only the unallocated area will remain. Exit the HDD Low Level Format Tool SD card recovery program.

But that is not all. The SD card is not usable yet. Open the Start menu and look for Disk Management. Or type “Creating and formatting hard drive partitions” in the search bar.

A window will appear in which all drives will be displayed - both installed on the PC and connected via USB. Find the connected SD memory card here, the strip of which will be highlighted in black.

Right-click on the black unallocated area and select Create New Volume." A partitioning wizard will appear on your screen and will guide you step-by-step through the process of creating partitions. Pay attention to the File System field and make sure FAT32 is selected and not NTFS.

Confirm the creation of the new partition. This completes the SD recovery and will now appear in the “My Computer” window with an automatically assigned drive letter. Then insert it into your phone or tablet.

Rostislav Kuzmin

Greetings, dear reader! Today we will touch upon a topic that is pressing and, at times, delicate. We will talk about how to restore a micro SD memory card. Why is the topic sensitive, you ask? Yes, because we sometimes store files of a very personal nature, near and dear to our hearts. We don’t want to lose them or expose them to human judgment. If something is wrong with an important micro SD, is it possible to recover the information? Can an ordinary user handle it himself or does he need to go to a service center? Let's figure it out.

The miniature dimensions of microsd have made it so popular that it is widely used in smartphones, tablets, cameras and other gadgets. Its device is extremely simple. There is essentially nothing to break there. But, there are several main reasons why a flash drive may become inoperable.

This can be either mechanical damage or software malfunctions:

Manufacturer's defect
Constant temperature changes
Failures in the reader
Damage to the reading program
Exceeding the service life.

Often, one of the main reasons is the constant change of location of the flash drive - from the camera to the phone and back, several times a week. So, friends, it is better for each device to purchase its own “native” minimap.

Helper programs

Available programs help you reproduce data on a micro SD memory card. They can recover data on any hard drive, conduct diagnostics and find possible errors in operation.

I'll tell you about the most popular of them:

CrystalDiskMark. Universal Japanese development for any type of solid drive. Quite easy to use. Easily and quickly performs a test check of the actual write/read speed of the card.
Check Flash. A software tool with wide capabilities. Easily finds errors and displays them on the screen. The settings allow you to work both without formatting and with it. Does not require installation on a computer.
HD_Speed. The miniprogram runs on Windows OS. Quickly diagnoses flash memory and demonstrates its speed characteristics. Issues a scan report for the selected file, where you can easily determine where the card is damaged.
Flash Memory Toolkit. You can take full advantage of the program's potential only after purchase. Advantages include the ability to recover deleted files and create backup copies. Carefully scans the drive for errors and stated speed.

It is worth noting that all these programs work successfully on a PC. In order to diagnose removable memory with their help, you need to purchase an additional card reader.

Formatting on PC

If the memory card is not detected on the device, the first thing you need to do is format it. The procedure will clean and determine the presence of bad sectors on it.

If the micro sd does not work you need to:

Insert the card into the card reader and wait until the computer detects it.
Find the card in the My Computer menu. Right-click on it.
In the context menu that pops up, select the “Format” function and click “Start”.
Wait for the process to complete.

If you enable the “Quick Format” option, then the process of recovering files from a formatted miniflash drive will proceed without problems. Completely clearing the card takes a longer time, as it involves completely overwriting the information.

What to do if the computer does not see the drive? You just need to rename the drive in the Disk Management menu and format the micro SD using utilities.

If you don’t have a special card reader, you can try connecting a device with a solid drive via a USB cable to a PC and work that way.

Formatting on your phone

There is no need to remove additional memory from your smartphone; formatting is easy to do directly on Android:

After formatting, the files will be completely erased.

If the smartphone does not see the additional device, there may be several reasons for this:

Mechanical failure or damage. In this case, recovering files from a mini flash drive becomes impossible.
Incompatibility with the device. If the technical characteristics of the micro SD are higher than the capabilities of the smartphone, then it simply does not recognize it. Buy a card that matches your device
The SD and phone contacts do not match. Make sure the card contacts are working properly. If everything is ok, reinstall it again. If it is damaged, buy a new one
Software read error. You need to find out which program is not reading the micro sd and in the settings specify the card as the storage location for the files.

Recovery after formatting

You ask me: “How to recover photos and videos after completely clearing the card?” For an answer, as always, you should contact the developers of smart programs. They came up with something interesting! Special utilities will help you recover lost files only if no new ones have been written to the card. Saving new files will overwrite old information and it will be impossible to restore deleted information.

You can even recover photos from a micro SD that is damaged and unreadable. Such programs are not cheap, so before thoroughly cleaning the card, you should once again make sure that a backup copy has been created from it.

Famous manufacturers

If the question is “How to restore a damaged micro SD memory card?” becomes unsolvable, it’s worth purchasing a new one.

Here are proven manufacturers with affordable prices:

Transcend. Specializes only in the production of memory cards. It is distinguished by reasonable price and high reliability. Headquarters - Taipei, China.
Kingston. An American manufacturer specializing in the production of RAM and permanent memory. All cards have high speed characteristics.

We reduce risks

A memory card, like any other device, has its own technical characteristics. Before purchasing it, you need to understand how it will be used, in which device it will be used. Don't skimp on extra memory. Purchase media that meets your device's requirements.

Remember! The norm for any mini-flash drive is the amount of rewriting no more than 20% per day of the total volume. This means that you cannot overwrite more than 6 GB of information per day from a 32 GB card. This way you will maintain good performance properties for the entire warranty period.

Buy media only from trusted suppliers and well-known brands. Chinese manufacturers often deceive consumers by providing deliberately incorrect information about the characteristics of the card. Always check the actual capabilities of these drives with special utilities before using them for the first time.

Bottom line

Any solid electronic storage medium can fail at the most inopportune moment. To avoid losing files saved on it, act promptly. Under no circumstances should you record new photos and videos on top of previous information. Otherwise, this will result in the loss of old important files.

Data from a card that has just undergone deep formatting must be restored using special paid programs in service centers. Quick formatting treats data in a more gentle way. An ordinary user can also restore them.

After the data from the card is recovered, you must check it for serviceability. Repeated recording of seized files onto damaged media will lead to their inevitable loss!

All smartphone models suffer from the fact that they get very hot while recording video. The mini-memory slot is often located near the processor, so the card can simply melt. It would be better to buy two 32 GB drives than one 64 GB drive. Consistently use two cards of smaller capacity and you won’t have to ask yourself how to recover photos from a burnt flash drive.

I would be very glad if I helped save more than one of your valuable files. Subscribe to my blog news and tell your friends about it, dear readers.

Bye everyone!

Thank you for your attention! See you again on my blog. Sincerely, Rostislav Kuzmin.

Cool

MicroSD recovery is a very popular topic these days, because flash drives break very often, and you don’t want to lose information from them.

Therefore, many are looking on the Internet for information about the easiest way to obtain information from a media that does not work.

Moreover, the problems can be very different - for some, the flash drive simply cannot be restored, for others, errors appear, and so on.

And the answer to the above question is very simple - there is a special program for restoring MicroSD, and not just one.

The user only needs to use the most suitable one.

MicroSD recovery programs

CardRecovery

This program does an excellent job of restoring photos, videos and audio content from storage devices.

Unfortunately, it does not restore ordinary files, which is why it is intended only for those flash drives that are used in mobile phones, cameras and players.

How to use CardRecovery:

Download the program from this link. We launch it, read the greeting and click Next.
Select the flash drive in the Drive letter section, the device type in the “Camera Brand and File type” section (we also check the boxes next to the types of files that will be recovered) and the folder where the recovered files will be saved in the Destination Folder section. Click Next.
We are waiting for the restoration process to complete. Click Next.
We see a list of recovered files. We put a tick next to those that we want to save. Click Next one last time. The process is over.

PC Inspector Smart Recovery

This is a much more functional program that recovers almost all file types available today.

It works for both non-removable hard drives and removable media. To use it, you need to do the following:

Download the program from this link. Open it.
In the start window, select the “Recovery of logical files” item. You may need to click on the tab with the green up arrow on the left.
Next, you need to select the desired drive on one of the tabs (it can also be among the logical drives). Click on the checkmark on the right.

Hint: You can find out the letter and name of the flash drive in Windows in “My Computer” (“Computer”, “This Computer” depending on the OS).

Select the starting and ending sectors. This must be done so that the scan size matches the media size. Click on the checkmark on the left.
Next we will see a list of all files. Green indicates those that can be restored, and yellow indicates those that do not require restoration. After this, you need to click on the floppy disk icon on the left.

R-Studio

On the official website they write that today this is the most “comprehensive” file recovery software.

Users do not resist this conclusion. To recover data using R-Studio you need to do the following:

Download the program (here is the link) and run it.
In the Drivers section, click on the media from which data will be recovered. Its properties will be displayed in the Properties section.
Next, the folders will be displayed in the Folders section, and the files in this folder will be displayed in the Contents section. To restore them, you need to click on the Recover button on the top panel of the program window.

Easy Recovery

Many experts say that this is a really good file recovery program. There is only one way to check this:

Download the free version of the program from this link and run it.
In the start window, click “Continue”. Next, select “Memory cards”.
Click “Continue” again. Select “Data Recovery” and check the box next to the file system of this media at the bottom.
Click “Continue” again. Wait for the scanning of deleted files to finish and the window with a report on the list of deleted files and folders to appear. On each one you can right-click and select “Save as...”.

Flash Memory Toolkit

This is a very multifunctional program.

In addition to recovery, it can also perform the functions of testing, destroying confidential information, backup and obtaining detailed information about the device.

To recover data, you just need to select the flash drive in the Device section, click on File Recovery in the menu on the left and follow all the instructions of the program.

Clue: All of the above programs can be downloaded for free on the non-commercial resource flashboot.ru.

Read our other articles about flash drive repair:

Sometimes restoring a MicroSD flash drive using the above programs does not go as smoothly as you would like - some problems may arise.

Let's look at the most common of them.

Problems with MicroSD recovery

MicroSD is not detected

It happens that you need to restore a MicroSD card, but the computer simply doesn’t see it.

It’s interesting that this usually happens completely unexpectedly and for no apparent reason: the user inserts the card again, and suddenly the computer stops seeing it (previously he inserted it, and everything was fine).

In this case, there are three options:

1. The letter of the drive name matches the letter of the already connected drive. Indeed, it is possible that some kind of storage medium is already connected to the computer, and for some reason the flash drive is designated by the same letter when connected. In this case, you need to open the standard Disk Management utility (Win + R and enter “diskmgmt.msc”), select the flash drive there, right-click on it and select “Change drive letter or drive path.” After this, all that remains is to specify some other letter of the Latin alphabet and save the changes.

1. Lack of drivers. In some cases, both the old proven computer and the new computer with a newly installed operating system may not have drivers for some media. There is only one way out - download and install them. The best way to do this is by searching on the official website. You can use the program. You can download it from . It independently determines which devices are connected to the computer and whether there are driver updates for them. It’s convenient that the program itself will determine whether drivers for the flash drive are installed. If this is not the case, they will be installed en masse, along with everyone else. To do this, the user simply needs to click on the “Drivers” tab on the left and click on the “Install automatically” button.

You can also try connecting the memory card to another device. This will give you a chance to still read the necessary files and use the recovery program. For example, you can insert a MicroSD into your phone and restore not the card itself, but the entire phone as a storage medium.

Read other GeekNose materials on disk data recovery:

Another common problem is that the computer sees the flash drive, but does not see the files on the flash drive themselves.

The computer “does not see” MicroSD files

This means that the flash drive itself is detected by the computer, but some files (or even all) are missing from it.

The user may immediately think that the problem is in the card itself and it needs to be restored. But everything can be much simpler.

The solution to this problem is to check your computer for viruses, in particular Trojans, and remove them.

Indeed, the Trojan can make files hidden. So feel free to turn on and use your antivirus before lamenting about lost data.

It is worth saying that in some cases the MicroSD recovery process may differ depending on the device manufacturer.

Recovering MicroSD from different manufacturers

MicroSD Transcend Recovery

Transcend has its own file recovery software for MicroSD cards. It's called RecoveRx.

This program takes into account the individual characteristics of cards from a given manufacturer and is able to perform its functions much better than all of the above programs.

In addition to recovery, RecoveRx can format the card and put a password on it.

To perform a restore, you must do the following:

Download and run the program (here is the link). Select Recover from the menu at the top. In the program window, select Transcend (may differ depending on the name of the card, by default it is the same as shown here).
Select file types.
Wait for the process to complete and see a list of files available for saving. Save the ones you need using the drop-down menu (the one that appears after right-clicking on the file).

Recover MicroSD Kingston

The problem with flash drives from this manufacturer is that they mainly use Phison controllers.

This means that the user will have to resort to low-level recovery.

Other methods may simply not work. Briefly described, the process is as follows:

1. Define the Vendor ID and Product ID parameters so that you can then use them to find the required utility. This can be done using the USBDeview program (link). Open the program and find the desired card in the list. Right-click on it and select “Html report: selected elements”. Scroll the window that appears until you see Vendor ID and Product ID.

We go to the website flashboot.ru/iflash/ and enter the required parameters in the appropriate fields. As a result, we will see a list of all cases where problems occurred with this model. And on the right, in the UTILS section there will be programs for low-level restoration of this model. The user needs to try them all - usually more detailed instructions for use can be found on the official websites.

MicroSD Kingmax recovery

Kingmax also has its own software. There are two programs - one for U-Drive and PD-07 series drives, and the second for Super Stick.

You can download both programs.

Their use is extremely simple - you need to insert a USB flash drive, launch the program and click on the desired drive.

Sandisk MicroSD Recovery

After this, the flash drive will work like new. Using the programs is very simple.

In Formatter Silicon Power there is generally only one small window with two buttons (there you need to click Format), and in SDFormatter there are more options, but you will still only need to click on the Format button.

Smartbuy MicroSD recovery

There is one interesting thing about working with flash drives from this manufacturer - if the flash drive doesn’t work, you can just wait for up to several years, and after that it will work again.

If you don’t want to wait, you need to try all the recovery programs you can find.

This application looks like a regular folder.

Having selected the media, you need to click on the Recover button at the top, wait for the process to complete and see a list of files that can be recovered.

Qumo MicroSD recovery

MicroSD from Qumo are famous for the fact that they just suddenly die. One day they stop working, and after that it will be very problematic to see any signs of life in them.

Some users recommend using the above-mentioned programs R-Studio and CardRecovery. But not in all cases they will be effective.

There are special companies that are engaged in restoring “dead” flash drives using hardware methods, but such services are not cheap, and it is usually cheaper to purchase a new drive.

A-Data MicroSD Recovery

In this case, too, most programs do not help. Paragon Partition Manager Free works best with A-Data flash drives.

First, in this program you need to perform formatting (Format Partition button in the main menu), and then create a new empty partition (Create new partition).

Oltramax MicroSD recovery

In this case, full formatting using SD Card Formatter also helps well. In some cases, it is possible to restore the drive's functionality using ALCOR MP.

Full instructions for its use can be read.

Recovering damaged MicroSD

In some cases, when using the drive, the message “Damaged memory card” or something similar may appear on the screen.

The following programs help here:

Smart Data Recovery – you need to select the media and click the Find button, after which it will search for all files that can somehow be recovered;

Rice. No. 14. List of files available for recovery in Recuva

BadCopyPro – click on Memory card on the left, then Next, Next again, wait for the process to finish and see the list of required files.

The same operations can be performed on a device with Android OS. The following applications help here:

Prevention

It is better to use the flash drive correctly first so that later there are no problems with its malfunction. Here are some tips to help avoid MicroSD failures:

Do everything possible to ensure that the drive is not dropped, knocked, bent, exposed to extreme temperature changes, or other impacts that could damage it.
Avoid ionizing radiation (such as from X-ray machines).
Do not touch the contacts with your fingers and generally try to always keep them covered with a special cover.
Defragment the card from time to time and generally use it regularly - MicroSDs don’t like to just sit on the shelf.
Try to make backups from time to time so that in case of a breakdown you do not lose all your data. To do this, you can use cloud storage.
Do not fill the entire storage capacity; let there always be some free space.
If the card is in some device, try to remove it from there as often as possible.