Nov 29, 2012 Repairers put a new MMC/SD card reader in my PC. When I put the Sandisk Ultra camera card in the slot the slot's light on the PC comes on but then nothing happens and it does not show as a drive in explore so cannot be opened. Can anyone help please? I am running XP SP3. Thanks for help.
Summary :
- If the SD card works with your device (e.g., can see pictures on the camera) but doesn't work with your computer, it's safe to assume the computer card reader has problems. A temporary workaround would be to connect the camera, phone, or another device to the computer using a USB cable with the SD card in the device.
- Using Windows 10. My SD card slot/Port is not working, no response at all. I have tried to download & install Dell drivers but I am not sure which drivers I need for this port. I am using Windows 10 but this may not be the problem. Your help would be much appreciated.
Does your SD card reader fail to work when you insert an SD card to it? Why does this happen? How to fix this issue? In this post, MiniTool shows you 4 solutions to SD card reader not working.
Quick Navigation :
SD Card Reader Not Working Windows 10
Windows 10 is quite an excellent Windows operating system and many Windows users have chosen to upgrade their system to Windows 10. However, lots of users reported their SD card reader not working on Windows 10.
Hey, my laptop came with Windows 8, but I bought an SSD and downloaded Windows 10 for it. It has a built-in SD card reader but my SD card won’t show up.tom’sHARDWARE forum
“Why is my SD card reader not working” may be the most concerned question for these new Windows 10 users. The culprits behind this issue are various, but the most possible factors are a poor connection between SD card and SD card reader, missing SD card driver, and SD card infected with virus.
For most computer issues, you can try restarting your computer to see if the issue has been fixed successfully. So, when running into SD card reader not working on Windows 10, you can try restarting your computer first.
Before restarting your computer, disconnect the external card reader if you are using it to read your SD card and then reconnect it after restarting. See if your SD card reader can work well. If not, you can try the following solutions.
Solutions to SD Card Reader Not Working Windows 10
After learning about the possible factors that lead to SD card reader stopped working on laptop, you can try the following solutions one by one when the built-in SD card reader or the external SD card reader is not working.
- Check the hardware issues.
- Run Windows Hardware and Devices troubleshooter.
- Assign a new drive letter to SD card.
- Update SD card reader driver.
- Clean up virus or malware on SD card.
Fix 1: Check the Hardware Issues
When SD card reader stopped working on Windows 10, you should check the following hardware, including the SD card, SD card reader, the USB cable, etc.
Check the SD card reader
You should make sure that the used SD card reader is compatible with your current operating system (Windows 10). Older readers might be unable to work with the newer operating system.
Apart from the incompatibility between the older reader and the current operating system, the incompatibility between memory card format and the older reader can also lead to SD card reader not working.
Some older memory card reader is unable to recognize the SDHC and SDXC memory card format. Is your SD card reader too old? If yes, you may need to buy a new one and make sure it is compatible with the SDHC or SDXC format or your current operating system (Windows 10).
Check the USB cable
Excluding the above factors, you should check whether the USB cable leads to SD card reader not working if you are using the external SD card reader. To do that, you just need to try to replace the current USB cable with a different one.
Check the SD card
Check whether the gold finger (transmitting signals) on the SD card turns black. If yes, it means that the gold finger has been oxidized and you need to use an eraser to erase the oxide layer.
Then, check if the SD card gets corrupted. If you unplugged SD card while the card was being read, leading to a loss of electrical power to the card, the card may be corrupted. To repair the corrupted, you can read the post Fix Corrupted SD Card with Professional SD Card Repair Tools.
Check the USB port
SD card not working can also be ascribable to the USB port if you are using the external SD card reader. As we know, the external SD card reader needs power through the USB connection when it connects to your computer. However, when the USB port on your computer doesn’t carry enough electrical current to power the reader, the latter will not work.
Therefore, try a different USB port on your computer to see if the SD card reader not working issue could be fixed.
After excluding all the above hardware issues, you can try the following fixes if your SD card reader still does not work.
Fix 2: Run Windows Hardware Devices Troubleshooter
Maybe some potential device issues lead to SD card reader not working on Windows 10. If that is in case, please run the built-in Windows tool – Hardware and Devices troubleshooter. This tool will quickly figure out the device issues.
How to run this tool? Follow the steps below.
Step 1: Insert the SD card into the card reader. Connect the reader to the Windows 10 computer if it is an external SD card reader.
Step 2: Hit the Windows icon and then click the Settings icon from the menu.
Step 3: On the Settings window, click Update & Security.
Step 4: Select Troubleshoot from the left pane of the new window and then find and click Hardware and Devices from the right pane and click the Run the troubleshooter button.
When the tool finishes its work, please see if SD card reader not working has been solved.
Fix 3: Change Drive Letter to SD Card
SD card reader not working can be ascribed to the driver letter confit. For example, the SD card has a drive letter that is D, while the CD/DVD on the computer also uses the same letter.
If the drive letter conflict is the reason for this issue, you can try changing a drive letter to the SD card.
To finish this fix, you can try the Windows built-in tools (Disk Management and Diskaprt) and a third-party program (MiniTool Partition Wizard).
Here I would like to show you how to change drive letter to SD card with MiniTool Partition Wizard. Apart from this function, this program can also help you restore partition on SD card, format 256GB micro SD card to FAT32, and erase an SD card with ease.
If you want to use Disk Management or Diskpart to complete this changing, you can click here.
Step 1: Download the free program by clicking the above downloadable button and then install it and launch it to get its main interface.
Step 2: The SD card will be displayed on Disk Map. Highlight the SD card and then select the Change Drive Letter feature from the left pane. Or right-click the card and select Change Letter.
Step 3: Choose a drive letter that has not been used by other drives from the list. Then, click OK to confirm.
Step 4: Click the Apply button to execute the changes. It will just take a few seconds.
After changing the drive letter to the SD card, check whether the SD card reader still fails to work.
Fix 4: Update SD Card Reader Driver
The fourth reason for “SD card reader stopped working on Windows 10” is that the device driver is outdated, missing or incompatible.
To check whether the device driver is the culprit behind this issue, you can open Device Manager by typing Device Manager in the Cortana’s search bar and selecting the best-matched result.
On the Device Manager window, expand the two places: Disk Drives or Universal Serial Bus controls to see if there is a yellow triangle mark.
If you see a yellow triangle on SD card, it means that your SD card driver goes wrong and you need to replace it with a good one. If not, it means your SD card driver is normal and you can try the following fix to get rid of SD card reader not working.
To update the problematic device driver, you can right-click the target device driver and then select Uninstall device and the Uninstall button. After that, right-click Disk drives and then click Scan for hardware changes to refresh the device driver.
Once the device driver has been updated, you can check whether your computer can detect the SD card reader.
Fix 5: Clean up Virus or Malware on SD Card
If you have tried all the above fixes and you still cannot see your SD card on your computer when you put it into the SD card reader, it is possible that your SD card has been hidden or encrypted on your computer by virus or malware.
Why has your SD card been attacked by virus or malware? The possible reasons include:
- You have connected your SD card to a virus-infected system.
- You have transferred virus-infected files to the memory card.
- You have explored malicious website while using the SD card.
When your SD card gets attacked by virus or malware, you may run into the following situations (including SD card reader not working).
- Files saved in SD card turn into the hidden state.
- The SD card performance becomes sluggish.
- Files miss from the SD card.
- You cannot copy files on the SD card (click here to know more reasons for copy and paste not working).
- You will see error code when accessing the SD card.
- …
To clean up the virus or malware on your SD card, you need to utilize Command Prompt.
Step 1: Open Command Prompt by pressing Windows + R and typing cmd on the Run window.
Step 2: On the Command Prompt window, type attrib -h -r -s /s /d #:*.* (# means the drive letter of the SD card) and then hit the Enter key to run this command.
After executing this command, your SD card should appear on your computer.
We Want Your Voice
This article comes to an end. Hope all the mentioned fixes can help you solve the issue ‘SD card reader not working’. If you have some doubts when carrying out the above fixes, please do not hesitate to let us know by sending an email to via [email protected] and we will replay to you as soon as possible.
If you have other feasible solutions to the SD card reader not working, please leave them in the following comment zone to help other users who run into the same issue.
SD Card Reader Not Working FAQ
The possible reasons for card reader not working are:
- The reader is incompatible with your operating system or memory card.
- The drive letter conflicts with other drives.
- The driver of card reader is outdated or missing.
- Your card gets virus attack.
- The connection between the SD card and your computer is poor due to the damaged USB port, USB cable, and card reader.
- Your Sd card has been write-protected.
- The drive letter of your SD card is missing.
- The driver of SD card is corrupted.
- The partition on SD card is missing.
- Your SD card is corrupted.
- Check the SD card health by using the CHKDSK command or MiniTool Partition Wizard.
- Reassign a drive letter to the SD card.
- Update the SD card driver.
- Remove the write protection of the SD card.
Though most Android smartphones are built with a minimum memory of 128 GB today, the available storage still runs out after 1 year or sooner, especially for people who are crazy for photos and videos, or games. That’s why micro SD card is still not out of date if we don’t say it’s very popular. However, “SD card not detected in mobile phone” problem is common due to fake product, improper use or other accidents of SD card. One of the worst results is that you’ll need an SD card data recovery solution once you cannot access the files on the memory card. If the thing is not that bad and your Android phone is just not reading SD card, please try the following solutions to fix the problem.
Trouble Location for Micro SD Card Not Detected on Android
The foremost thing you should do is to locate the problem. Is it a problem with the micro SD card or the Android phone, or something else? Trouble-location will save you much time and effort.
SD card
It is most likely that the problem is caused by SD card. Here are three tips that can help you to identify.
- Insert the SD card into another mobile device, which has been proved to be able to read other SD cards. See whether the memory card can be detected.
- Install and run SD Insight on your Android phone and check whether the SD card is genuine.
- Check whether your computer can read the SD card with a card reader.
Android phone
It is also possible that the problem lies in your Android phone. Fill your phone with another SD card, which can be detected on another device, and see the result. If the new SD card cannot be detected on your mobile phone, then you may have to repair your phone in software or hardware level.
Other reasons
Maybe your SD card and Android phone are working fine separately, but just won’t work when combined. It is rare but still possible. Some SD cards require stable power supply, but some bought battery may be not qualified. In this case, you can try an original battery or just move to a new SD card or mobile phone.
7 Tips to Fix SD Card Not Detected on Android Mobile Phone
1. Try several simple tricks
- Reboot your Android phone.
- Remove your battery and SD card, and then return them back.
If they don’t work, then try solutions below.
2. Clean your SD card lightly
Poor contact can cause SD card not detected or recognized problem. In order to make it work again, you can remove the SD card, and then gently rub the copper piece with a rubber eraser. If necessary, also clean the SD card slot on your handset. This usually works if your SD card gets dirty.
3. Unmount and remount SD card
On your Android phone, go to Settings> Storage, find SD card section. If it shows “Mount SD card” or “Unmount SD card” option, perform these operations to fix the problem. This solution has been proved to be able to solve some SD card not recognized problems. Make sure the phone is NOT connected to computer during this the process.
4. Use your computer to diagnose
Windows can repair some errors on disk drives, so you can mount SD card to computer to check errors. However, this solution won’t work if your computer cannot detect the SD card.
- Step 1. Insert your SD card into a card reader, and then connect to a computer.
- Step 2. Open My Computer, and find the disk drive of SD card.
- Step 3. Right-click the disk and choose Property.
- Step 4. Click Tools tab.
- Step 5. On Error checking section, choose Check> Repair drive.
- Step 6. When the drive is repaired, eject SD card and insert it back to phone.
5. Format SD card
Sd Mmc Slot Not Working Games
This solution is also only applicable when your computer can recognize the SD card.
- Step 1. Connect SD card to computer via a card reader.
- Step 2. Copy the entire SD card to somewhere on your PC for backup.
- Step 3. Right-click your SD card drive, and then choose Format…
- Step 4. On the Format option window, choose an option from File system.
Note: As suggested by Rukbat on the comment, choose FAT32 if the SD card is 32GB or smaller, or exFAT if the card is larger than 32 GB. - Step 5. Click Start to format SD card.
- Step 6. Insert the SD card in your phone.
6. Factory reset Android phone
Sometimes SD card is not detected due to software problems on Android phone. Factory reset can solve some kinds of software errors on Android device.
Go to Settings > Backup and reset, and then choose Factory data reset. Please make sure you know the passwords of Google/Samsung accounts on your phone in case of Factory Reset Protection Lock, and make backups for your phone memory first.
Note: If you lose data due to factory reset, please try recovering data from Android after factory reset.
7. Repair hardware problem
If all of the above methods fail to fix micro SD card not detected problem for you, it is more likely a hardware problem, and either the SD card or the mobile phone is damaged. Now you should go to a local repair store to fix the hardware problem or buy a new memory card or new device.
Bottom Line
We hope one of the tips above has fixed SD card not detected by Android phone problem for you. A lot of people are also reading how to fix Android USB device not recognized but charging issue. Follow us to learn many more tips and tricks about mobile phone.