Most smartphones now come with expandable storage space, in case, your storage space is full, then you can easily add extra storage to your Android phone by inserting an SD card. If you love taking selfies and playing video games on a regular basis, then having a set storage amount will never be sufficient. But sometimes, the SD card cannot be recognized by your phone, what to do when that happens? Some reasons behind your phone not being able to detect your SD card would be a defective memory card, outdated software, mistreated or damaged SD card, and others.
The problem of your phone not being able to recognize SD cards is nothing new, but it could get frustrating when you are in urgent need of extra storage space. Phones are ultimately items of technology that are meant to fail at times. Here are 7 Ways solutions that would help you fix your SD card when it cannot be detected by your smartphone.
Try Rebooting Your Phone
This is one of the easiest solutions you could go for, try rebooting your phone. Remove the battery alongside the memory card. Replace both of them and then check if your phone could now detect the SD card or not.
Try Inserting The SD Card Again
Try removing and then inserting the SD card again. If there is any kind of chipping, defect, or damage on the SD card, it would not work. Withdraw the SD card and check it thoroughly for any kind of damage, clear the dust if you cannot observe anything major. Re-insert the SD card on your Android and restart to see if your phone can detect the SD card now or not.
Make Sure The SD Card Is Clean
You might think that the SD card is not working because it has been damaged but it could be much simpler, there could be a layer of dust on it; hence, the phone cannot detect the SD card. What you have to do is clean the memory card. Remove your Android’s memory card, but before that, make sure you turn off the phone.
A white-colored eraser would be handy in cleaning the SD card. Touch the copper piece carefully and if you have nail polish cleaner handy, dab it using a Q-tip on the contact points to remove all kinds of erosion. Dry the SD card and then reinstall it on the memory slot and check whether your phone can detect it now or not.
Make Sure The SD Card Driver Is Updated
If the SD card driver is outdated, your phone will surely not detect the SD card you are trying to install now. Try connecting your computer to the SD or the memory card, and then select ‘My Computer’ on your desktop. Select device manager and look for ‘Update driver software’. It would then be updated, which could take a bit of time, later check if your phone can detect it or not.
Diagnose The Problem Using Your Computer
Not just by updating the drive and cleaning the memory card, you could fix the SD card with the help of your computer too. This is how.
- Use a card reader and insert the memory card inside the card reader and then into your computer system.
Search for ‘My Computer’ on the drop-down list or select it from your desktop screen and look for Disk Drive/SD Card. - Right-click on the option and then go for ‘Property’. Select ‘Tools’ after that.
- Select ‘Check’ followed by ‘Repair Drive’.
- Once the drive has been properly restored, eject the card reader and then check if your phone can now detect the SD card or not.
Factory Reset Your Android Smartphone
If your Android phone has any software issues, it might not be able to detect the SD card even when it is clean and has no damage. A factory reset would solve your problem. Go to Settings and then look for ‘Backup and Reset’. Make sure you know the passwords to enable factory reset. Also, to be on the safe side, make backups of your phone’s memory.
Check The Compatibility Of Your Device With The SD Card
If your SD card can be detected by your computer but not by your phone, rest assured, that your device is not compatible with the SD Card. This is a problem that most old Android users face. Most SD cards are now designed to gain faster speed and come with more storage space; however, old Android phones do not support such SD card formats. Try using a basic SD card and see if it is working with your phone, if yes, then there are compatibility issues.
Wrapping up
these are some of the practical methods that would help you in resolving problems related to your phone not detecting any SD card.A crucial point would be to have backup plans for your data before you apply any of the solutions.
Recommended for you:
