Repair SD card - it'll work

If your SD card is no longer recognized, everything is far from lost. We will show you how to repair them and access your saved data again.

Physical sources of error with SD cards

First, do the following:

1. SD cards usually have a switch that (de-) activates the write protection. Test whether the problem persists after the switch is flipped.
2. Insert the affected SD card into several digital cameras and card readers. This way you can rule out that the defect lies with the device itself.
3. Dust and dirt on the contact surfaces can be cleaned with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol.
4. Contact spray helps with heavily oxidized contact surfaces.

Repair the memory card with CHDSK

Try to repair a broken SD card with the "chkdsk" command.

1. To do this, start the command prompt as administrator.
2. At the command prompt, enter the "chkdsk" command, followed by a space and the drive letter of the SD card. The drive letter is followed by a colon, a slash and finally an "f".
3. For example, if your SD card has the drive letter "e", the command line is as follows: chkdsk e: / f. Confirm the entry with the return key.
4. Wait for the command to complete. The "f" parameter after the chkdsk command instructs the system to repair the file system on the SD card.

Software for repairing SD cards

If you have systematically excluded external errors, you can try using recovery tools to save the content of your SD card and format it.

1. The tool Recuva is available from the developers of the CCleaner. In our picture gallery we show you how to save music and pictures from your SD card using the program.
2. If the SD card is not recognized at all, a combination of TestDisk & PhotoRec will help you.
3. If both programs fail, you can try a number of other recovery tools - for example, Easeus Data Recovery Wizard Free Edition, PC Inspector File Recovery, Card recovery pro or PC Inspector File Recovery.
4. If nothing else helps, the professional has to do it: Data recovery services like Kürt can often do more for you than simple analysis and recovery programs.

In an emergency: replace SD card cheaply

If your SD card can no longer be repaired, you can simply replace it at a reasonable price. You can get fast models with 16 GB or more for less than 10 euros. But not every SD card is really recommended. Our top list, which is always up to date, reveals which model convinced us in the test and which is particularly durable.