Micro SD card wants to be formatted

Memory Cards microSD Express | SD Express
1

Hej guys

I have a SanDisk Extreme Pro 256GB which I use in my Insta360. During copying the files from the SD card to the PC the reader had a issue and now the card is not readable anymore. It want’s to be formatted. I did try to recover with testdisk-7.2 and DiskDrill, both were able to recover some data but not a readable version of it..

Is there any other chance or recovery? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Oli

2

Have you checked our knowledge base articles?
( Get Support for Your SSDs and Flash Products | Sandisk )

Try this one.

Have you opened a Support Case?
If not, contact SanDisk Technical Support for assistance.
( Contact Support | Sandisk )

3

Since TestDisk and Disk Drill only pulled corrupted files, the issue is likely file system damage + fragmented Insta360 video chunks (very common with action cams). A few things worth trying:

Use a different card reader + USB port first (reader errors often cause false corruption).

Run Windows CHKDSK (read-only) to see if the partition can be stabilized.

Try deeper signature-based recovery like DiskGenius or EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard - they sometimes rebuild fragmented MP4/INSV files better.

If files recover but won’t play, repair them with a video repair tool

4

Thanks, will try that!
I did open a case at SanDisk and will run CHKDSK - I’ll come back once I had time to investigate.

5

Since the card now asks to be formatted, this usually means file system corruption, not necessarily total data loss. In this case, Stellar Photo Recovery Premium is a strong option to try.

Deep Scan bypasses the damaged file system and searches sector by sector for recoverable video signatures, including large MP4 and 360 camera files. If files are recovered but corrupted, the Premium version also has a video repair function, which can help fix damaged MP4 files recorded by action cameras like Insta360.