Brand new SD card says "full" on camera, even though it's been formatted

Legacy SanDisk Products Extreme Pro Internal SSD
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1

I’ve tried exposing hidden files, I’ve tried a coding thing I saw online, and it all still says that my brand new SD card is full. Help!

2

Hi @kbuch
Have you opened a Support Case? If not opened, for more information, please contact the SD Technical Support team for best assistance and troubleshooting:
https://kb.sandisk.com/app/ask

3

Hi there,

I’m not sure I understand how to do that. Please advise :slight_smile:

4

Your SD card is either not formatted, or it is not well supported on the carmera.
To fix the issue, run DiskPart command to clean your SD and then create a new partition on it.

  1. Press Windows Key + R, type cmd in the Run dialog box that appears, and then press Enter.

  2. Type diskpart and press Enter.

  3. Type list disk and press Enter (you will see all connected drives).

  4. Open Disk Management to identify your SD card
    right-click on Start ->select Disk Management → look at the “Size” column to find your SD card’s disk number (e.g., Disk 1, Disk 2). Note: selecting the wrong disk will erase its data!

  5. Type select disk X (replace X with your SD card’s number, such as disk 1) and press Enter.

  6. Type clean and press Enter.

  7. Type create partition primary and press Enter.

  8. Type format fs=exfat and press Enter.

    clean-sd-card-diskpart
    clean-sd-card-diskpart797×441 56.5 KB

(A related blog - SD Card Says Full But Nothing on It on Mac & Windows )

5

This usually happens for 3 reasons: the card is locked (read-only), the camera doesn’t like the format, or the card is fake/defective.

Quick fixes:

  1. Check the lock switch (full-size SD adapter)
    If you’re using a microSD in an SD adapter, make sure the little switch is NOT on “Lock”.

  2. Format the card in the camera
    Don’t format it on the PC first. Put it in the camera and use the camera’s format option.

  3. Do a clean format on a PC (then back to camera)
    Use the official SD Card Formatter tool and do “Overwrite format”, then format once more in the camera.

  4. If it still says full, test for a fake/bad card
    Run h2testw (Windows) or F3 (Mac/Linux). If it fails, then consider a return/exchange the card.

6

That’s super frustrating, but this is actually a pretty common issue. A few things to check:
First, make sure the SD card isn’t fake or mislabeled capacity (sadly, very common). Try plugging it into a computer and check the real size using Disk Utility (Mac) or Disk Management (Windows).

Second, fully reformat it on a computer (not the camera), using FAT32 or exFAT, then put it back in the camera and format again in-camera. Also check the write-protect lock on the card/adapter and try a different camera or card reader if possible.

If it still shows full, the card is likely defective - I’d return it. You should notice that reformatting the card will erase all the data on your card, make sure you have backed up important files in advance. Here’s a guide that might be helpful.

7

Getting “SD card is full or not Accessible” error when it is actually not is a clear indication that the SD is corrupt. Maybe the card is not formatted and has a file system error.

There are different ways to fix the ‘SD card says “full” on camera.’ I would suggest starting by safely reinserting the SD card into another device or clearing cached data. Use built-in tools like the Windows error checker or run a CHKDSK command to repair file system errors. If the card remains inaccessible, formatting it can help, although this will erase the data, so back up the data first if possible.