Went to read videos from microSDXC Card used in dash cam. No videos recorded for past 2.5 months, although dash cam was turned on. What could cause? Faulty Sandisk? Is it possible data is there but can’t see it?
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Hi @Bonsan111 ,
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
It is possible that your SD card is faulty. This could be due to a number of factors, such as physical damage, water damage, or simply age. There are also a number of other potential issues that could be causing your dashcam not to record videos, such as a problem with the firmware, a faulty sensor, or a power issue. If you have checked your SD card and your dash cam is still not recording videos, you may need to format the card or contact the manufacturer for assistance.
It’s possible that the microSDXC card is faulty or has experienced corruption, especially if videos aren’t appearing despite the dash cam being on. Sometimes, data can become invisible or inaccessible due to file system errors or corrupted video files, but the data might still be on the card. You could try using file recovery software to see if the missing videos can be recovered. For tips on fixing corrupted dashcam video files, check out this guide https://news.macgаsm.net/tips/fix-corrupted-dashcam-video/. Additionally, formatting or a low-level format of the card might help, but this would erase any existing data.
It’s possible the dash cam overwrote old files the microSDXC had recording errors or hidden data exists but isn’t visible—try recovery software or check file system corruption.
Faulty card? Maybe. Data gone? Maybe not.
Does your dash cam give you any indication, like formatting the SD card, SD card not detected, system error code, SD card full, etc? if your dash cam can’t recognize the SD card, this error may be caused by a corrupt file system, physical damage, or virus attack. You can resolve the problem by checking SD card compatibility, reinserting, unlocking, or formatting the SD card, and cleaning the card slot.
Also, you can fix the SD card not working in the camera or dash cam error without data loss using professional SD card recovery software. If your dash cam says format the SD card to make it work again, just plug out your SD card and insert it into your computer to save data, then format it to make it work again. Hope this method can help 
I figure a new higher capacity card might work better as the roll over is slower
Dash cams are very demanding on SD cards because they write video data constantly, overwriting old footage in loops. A non-endurance card often enters what’s called “read-only mode” or silent write failure after it’s been heavily used. The card still powers on, the dash cam still recognizes it, and it may even appear to have free space.
But in reality, the card may have stopped saving any new data months ago. It doesn’t show an error or alert—you just don’t get new video files. Another possibility is that the card experienced file system corruption.
Even if no videos show up, the data might still be there but hidden. Using data recovery software to scan the card could help retrieve lost footage before formatting or replacing the card.
I would suggest you press Windows Key + X and select Disk Management to check the card’s status in Windows Disk Management. Locate your microSD card in the lower part of the window (usually listed as “Disk 1” or “Disk 2” with a removable tag).
Scenario A: It shows “RAW” or “Unallocated”
That means your computer cannot read the SD card’s file structure.
Do not format the SD card. Reliable data recovery software can successfully extract your lost dashcam videos.
Scenario B: It shows “Healthy (FAT32)” or “Healthy (exFAT)” but looks empty
Either the dashcam stopped writing to it two and a half months ago (due to a camera crash), or the files are deeply hidden/deleted.
You can run data recovery software immediately to see if deleted video fragments can be un-deleted.
Scenario C: It shows “Write-Protected” or “Read-Only”
Now you can try to copy files off it, but you will never be able to use this card in your dashcam again. It needs to be replaced.
Scenario D: The card does not appear in Disk Management or says “No Media”
In this condition, clean the golden contacts on the SD card, try a different card reader, or plug it into a different PC and see if it can be detected.
The solutions in this related blog are also helpful: Ultimate Guide to Fix Corrupted SD Card and Recover Data
