How to Fix SD Card Not Detected / Showing Up / Recognized? [Windows 10/8/7]

Today’s video is going to help you resolve SD card not detected/showing up issue in Windows 10/8/7. Get the direct solutions via the timestamps or follow the text guides below.

Timestamps:
Solution 1: Check SD Card on Another Device 1:23s
Solution 2: Change the SD Card Drive Letter 2:25s
Solution 3: Run CHKDSK and Fix SD Card Errors 3:20s
Solution 4: Update SD Card Drivers 4:16s
Solution 5: Use an Antivirus to Check for Malware Attack 4:55s
Bonus: How to recover data from corrupted SD Card? 5:49s

How to Fix SD Card Not Detected / Showing Up / Recognized on Windows 10/7/8

There are several possible reasons that might trigger this issue of SD Card not detected, such as Poor Connection between PC and SD Card, Outdated SD Card Drivers, Damaged/Corrupt File System on SD Card, or Missing Drive Letter for SD Card. Fortunately, it’s not one of the critical issues and can be fixed easily. So, let us quickly take you through some workable solutions that will help you fix the “SD card not showing up” issue in Windows 7/8/10.

Solution 1: Check SD Card on Another Device

When your SD card is not reading, the first thing that you should do is to test the SD card on a different device. Testing your card on a different PC/smartphone would explain if you’re dealing with a damaged SD card or not. In case other devices are successfully recognizing the SD card, try replacing the SD card adapter you are using.

Solution 2: Change the SD Card Drive Letter

Step 2: Right-click the SD Card partition and select “Change Drive Letter and Path”.
Step 3: Click “Add” to assign a letter to the SD Card.

Solution 3: Run CHKDSK and Fix SD Card Errors

Step 1: Launch Command Prompt as the Administrator. You can do this by typing “cmd” in the Run dialog box.
Step 2: Once you’re in the CMD window, execute the CHKDSK command, i.e., chkdsk H: / f. Make sure to replace “H” with your SD card’s letter.
CHKDSK will scan the SD card for bad partitioning and will automatically fix the issue.

Solution 4: Update SD Card Drivers

Step 1: Press “Windows + X” and click “Device Manager”.
Step 2: Expand the “Disk Drives” option and right-click the SD card driver.
Step 3: Click “Update Driver” and the system will automatically start looking for the most suitable drivers.

Solution 5: Use an Antivirus to Check for Malware Attack

If none of the previous methods helped you and the SD card is still not showing up Windows 10, your SD card is most likely dealing with a malware attack. In this case, you can install a third-party Antivirus program to detect and remove viruses from the SD card.

Bonus: How to recover data from corrupted SD Card?

Step 1: Connect SD card and get Recoverit launched and select the SD card’s location.
Step 2: Tap “Start” and it will start scanning the SD card for deleted files.
Step 3: Once the scanning process ends, you’ll see a list of deleted files. Select to preview the file and click Recover to retrieve the files from the SD card.

Text Guide:

[vinnyboombots]

None of these solutions will work if you insert the SD card and absolutely nothing happens but in the beginning of the video you stated that these solutions could fix that problem because it was in your list of possible problems. You can't scan a card that's not showing on your computer, you can't re-assign a drive letter for a drive that isn't showing that it even exists. None of these solutions are even possible if the drive isn't showing in the computer.

[undercoverslut]

Who else hates it when they don’t get to the point and always start with random bs?

[pedrorossi]

I hate these slow and long videos, which mainly linger for minutes just to raise watch time.

[kiikiikatt]

The power of your video alone got the memory card reader working, wasn't doing anything, and when I started watching the video, the memory card drive window popped open. Thanks for the help

[PragnanSaha]

Here is my tip:
Most card readers have a switch on the left side (see the grey switch on the side at 6:57). Just move it down and insert once, then move back to the original up position and reinsert. Only this worked for me after trying various solutions for an hour, so maybe it could work for you too.

[vendettaanonimous]

Hey, what about if my SD card doesn't appear either in disk partitions :)

[simplucudetoate]

And what can you do if you don't see any letter ( in disk management ) for the memory card slot / device ( 3:08 ).

[VijaPraveen]

bruh it was a loose connection and i am looking and researching how to fix it LOL

[Kurtis]

Didn't work until I changed my Drive to another random letter, so weird haha. Thanks mate

[xqspx]

Extra tip: I would recommend opening it with Rufus and formating it to non-bootable. I had issues with SD cards (and pendrives) after they were formatted to bootable drives - they wouldn't be properly recognized by windows afterwards. Would only be able to reformat them to non-bootable with special software like Rufus (that's meant to create bootable media).

[pdashti]

Your first advice, of making sure the SD Card is not loose, actually fixed my issue. My Phone SD Frame is broken and sometimes after inserting it into my phone it doesn't settle in perfectly. After securing it with a layer of adhesive tape, it was fixed. Many Thanks.

[bradleonn]

Thank you! For some reason the letter of my micro SD card was removed and when I assigned one again it started working :)

[adelynndsilva]

This one worked magically for me! I thought i had lost 64 GB on my new SDHC card and this tutorial worked volumes!

[BoostAndRedline]

3:45 what a life saver I can’t even begin to explain. I was at the verge of throwing my computer out the window

[overbaytwins]

I need help with it. I put the sd card in a few minutes ago. and it worked. But then i filmed another video and put it in the computer and it didn't work. then I looked up this video and nothing seams to work for me.

[nikitanahak]

And my command promt shows (access denied as you do not have sufficient privileges or the disk may be locked by another process. You have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode and make sure that disk is unlocked) what can i do please me 🙏

[smietankilism]

the chkdsk command worked like a charm, saved us our entire vacation worth of photo storage. Thank you so much!

[mjspartansrule]

Above all else, make sure your laptop is fully updated. Non of the software fixes were working, so I was going to start buying USB SD drives. I was at a loss. I then went to check the time and see if I could make it to a store and noticed that Windows was pending updates requiring a restart. Needless to say, I restarted the computer and retried in a final last ditch effort. It worked!

With that said, it was still very informational very helpful. I learned a lot and I think I could assist if an altercation with an SD card occurred. Thank you for making these troubleshooting videos!

[esste]

I felt you r very happiest person and your life going smoothly....God bless u and stay safe stay healthy

[scrull]

Changing the file letter finally worked for me, thank you so much!