# Damaged MicroSD Card **URL:** \ **Category:** SD | microSD | CFast | CFexpress | CompactFlash\ **Created:** [August 24, 2014, 9:52am UTC](https://forums.sandisk.com/t/damaged-microsd-card/35182 "2014-08-24T09:52:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tanyatmf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90ced4/32.png) [@tanyatmf](https://forums.sandisk.com/u/tanyatmf)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 9:52am UTC](https://forums.sandisk.com/t/damaged-microsd-card/35182/1 "2014-08-24T09:52:31Z")
Hi, I have a 32gb sandisk ultra micro SD card. Have been using it fine for months. Then yesterday all of a sudden I went to look at the photos in my phone and it is saying the card is blank or has unsupported files. I was using it 5 minutes previously without any issues to take photos. It has been working fine since the say I got it. Have tried using my card reader on my laptop to see what’s what with it and its not even acknowledging that it is in the reader. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as I don’t want to lose the photos that is on there. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![cacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8edcca/32.png) [@cacho](https://forums.sandisk.com/u/cacho)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://forums.sandisk.com/t/damaged-microsd-card/35182/2 "2014-08-24T18:07:05Z")
😃   **Hi Tanyatmf,** **Dear member of SanDisk Community, _welcome._** **1-**   Please, clean the pins of the card and the phone slot, with isopropyl alcohol (or if not, medicinal). **2-**   Try another card, also, in the phone. **3- ** Test your card, microSDHC of 32 GB, in a laptop, _directly to its port-card,_ with a good adapter (NOT a card-reader). **4-**   If still bad, in Start / My Computer, on the card icon, click the right mouse button, and then click in Properties / Tools / Error Checking and Repair. _Luck, **and then you tell us** , what happened, please._ _Regards, Alfred. (                                                            Google translated)_ ---
**Author:** ![cacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8edcca/32.png) [@cacho](https://forums.sandisk.com/u/cacho)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://forums.sandisk.com/t/damaged-microsd-card/35182/3 "2014-08-24T18:11:40Z")
😃   **Hi Tanyatmf,** **Dear member of SanDisk Community, _welcome._** **1-**   Please, clean the pins of the card and the phone slot, with isopropyl alcohol (or if not, medicinal). **2-**   Try another card, also, in the phone. **3- ** Test your card, microSDHC of 32 GB, in a laptop, _directly to its port-card,_ with a good adapter (NOT a card-reader). **4-**   If still bad, in **Start / My Computer** , on the card icon, click the right mouse button, and then click _in Properties / Tools / Error Checking and Repair._ _ _ _Luck, **and then you tell us** , what happened, please._ _Regards, Alfred.                                                              (Google translated)_ ---
**Author:** ![tanyatmf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90ced4/32.png) [@tanyatmf](https://forums.sandisk.com/u/tanyatmf)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 8:51am UTC](https://forums.sandisk.com/t/damaged-microsd-card/35182/4 "2014-08-27T08:51:41Z")
Hi, have tried that and nothing works. I have a different cards in the phone and that is working fine. The card doesn’t show up when plugged into the card reader port on my laptop. ---
**Author:** ![cacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8edcca/32.png) [@cacho](https://forums.sandisk.com/u/cacho)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://forums.sandisk.com/t/damaged-microsd-card/35182/5 "2014-08-28T16:42:57Z")
😃   **Hi Tanyatmf,** Sorry, if the laptop does not recognize the card, implies that it’s dead. For more certainty, and other ideas, see here: SanDisk Technical Support: [http://www.sandisk.com/about-sandisk/contact-us/](http://www.sandisk.com/about-sandisk/contact-us/) Luck. _Regards, Alfred.                                                                        (Google translated)_ ---
**Author:** ![HanaRoze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/9fc29f/32.png) [@HanaRoze](https://forums.sandisk.com/u/HanaRoze)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 1:01pm UTC](https://forums.sandisk.com/t/damaged-microsd-card/35182/6 "2025-07-20T13:01:30Z")
Hi I bought a micro memory card and a regular card and for some reason both are locked. I was able to take a few pictures on one of them and then it locked Both are new and the contacts are fine and the lock switch is not activated either. I have used these cards in the past and they worked great. (Other cards work fine now too) What could cause such a problem? I would be happy to help! 😊 ---
**Author:** ![helly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/35a633/32.png) [@helly](https://forums.sandisk.com/u/helly)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 10:25am UTC](https://forums.sandisk.com/t/damaged-microsd-card/35182/7 "2025-07-22T10:25:02Z")
I would suggest using a different card reader or adapter—sometimes the adapter itself causes the lock. You can also check for write protection using Diskpart on Windows. If that doesn’t help, the card might be faulty. Contacting SanDisk support would be the next step. If you have tried any measurement or steps you can tell us so that it would help others. ---
**Author:** ![Vegan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f07891/32.png) [@Vegan](https://forums.sandisk.com/u/Vegan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 9:43pm UTC](https://forums.sandisk.com/t/damaged-microsd-card/35182/8 "2025-09-08T21:43:14Z")
If the card is being locked, check try reading the card from the camera via a USB cable ---
**Author:** ![Bookii86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@Bookii86](https://forums.sandisk.com/u/Bookii86)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2025, 1:39am UTC](https://forums.sandisk.com/t/damaged-microsd-card/35182/9 "2025-09-15T01:39:44Z")
First, you can try using a different card reader or device to see if it’s detected. If it still doesn’t show up, don’t format it yet, as that could make things worse. This guide explains how to [repair a corrupted SD card](https://4ddig.tenorshare.com/sd-card/fix-corrupted-sd-card.html) step by step. Hopefully it’s just a minor corruption and your photos can be recovered. ---
**Author:** ![Moon77789](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@Moon77789](https://forums.sandisk.com/u/Moon77789)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 1:26am UTC](https://forums.sandisk.com/t/damaged-microsd-card/35182/10 "2025-09-18T01:26:18Z")
Don’t format your microSD card and remove it from your phone. You’ll need a Mac or Windows computer to fix the corruption. It’s better to try the CHKDSK command. Don’t forget to check the card condition in the Disk Management. If the card becomes RAW, you may try some data recovery software to access files on the microSD card directly. Watch and follow this [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl_Mc-zIjh8). ---
**Author:** ![H-Gary](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sandisk/user_avatar/forums.sandisk.com/h-gary/32/69281_2.png) [@H-Gary](https://forums.sandisk.com/u/H-Gary)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 10:06am UTC](https://forums.sandisk.com/t/damaged-microsd-card/35182/11 "2025-09-29T10:06:10Z")
Has your issue been fixed? If not, try the following steps to resolve an SD card that isn’t being recognized by your computer: 1. Disconnect and then reconnect the SD card to your computer. 2. Use a different SD card reader or test the SD card on another computer. 3. Update the driver for the SD card. 4. Open Disk Management and assign a new drive letter to the SD card. 5. Use CHKDSK to repair any logical errors on the SD card. 6. Backup or recover the data from the SD card, then reformat it. Related guide: [How to Fix SD Card Not Showing up in Windows 11/10/8/7](https://iboysoft.com/howto/sd-card-not-showing-up.html)