Today, probably, there are no more smartphones that do not support working with SD memory cards.

Unfortunately, all these drives are not perfect yet, and often they need to be formatted to fix errors.

Of course, we can always extract it and format it, for example, in a laptop using an adapter.

But why make unnecessary movements, if you can do it with the tools of your android smartphone - “without leaving the cash register”.

What format to format sd memory card on android

There are two ways to format a sd drive for android - as storage, and so that it becomes an element of internal memory.

In the first case, it will be like a removable disk, in the second, its memory will be summed with the built-in system and all data will be encrypted.

If you want to pull it out and see the contents, for example, on a computer, then nothing will come of this venture.

If you select the first option, format with FAT32 or exFAT format.

Instructions - format SD memory card on an Android smartphone

IMPORTANT: note that after formatting, all your data will be deleted from it - a list of contacts, applications, etc.

If you are sure that you want to format, here are the steps you need to take:

Settings\u003e SD card and phone memory\u003e SD card\u003e Format.

  If you see that when formatting an SD card, the option is inactive, do not panic.

Select “Remove Memory Card”, and then select the formatting and follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

Depending on the phone model and version of android, the command names may vary slightly. Successes.

We all use compact memory drives - USB flash drives and memory cards (SD, Micro SD, MMC, etc.). And the more they are used in everyday life, the greater the chance of encountering all kinds of problems during their operation. Firstly, the policy of reducing the cost of production - low quality and cheap chips. Secondly, each manufacturer has successful models and not very successful ones. Some of them have no failures at all, and some are constantly pouring. One of the common problems with using USB drives and memory cards is the error: “Cannot complete disk formatting” on Windows. You have to deal with this quite often. Unfortunately, in some cases it is not possible to correct the situation (this is more often caused by microSD cards). Then it remains only to take the device either under warranty or to the trash. However, if the flash drive cannot be formatted in the usual way, try using third-party programs.

  But before resorting to their help, try format a flash drive  through the "Disk Management" console. The fact is that the usual formatting mechanism in Windows will not let you kill files if they are busy with any process and, as a result, you will get an error. And if you do the same through the console, then this dependency is ignored. To get into the snap-in, you need to press the key combination WIN + R and enter the command in the line “Open”: diskmgmt.msc

The main window of the "Disk Management" console will open. Almost at the very bottom we find our flash drive (just do not confuse it with other drives), right-click on it and select the menu item “Format” and wait for the result.

If here the procedure also ended in failure, as in the picture above, try specialized programs about which I will now discuss in more detail.

The first on my list is a time-tested utility HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool  from Hewlett Packard. It is completely free, you can download it here - HPUSBFW.
  This is not a simple utility. Its features include the following:

Recovery or exclusion of “bad” drive sectors.
  - Ability to create a "bootable flash drive."
  - Forced formatting (open or executable files will be ignored).

Its interface is simple and straightforward.

In the "Device" list, select your drive, below - the file system. Uncheck the “Quick Format” checkbox and start the process. Most often this is what helped me solve such problems.

For SD and MicroSD cards, I can also recommend the application SDFormatter. It works great with regular memory cards as well as with SDHC and SDXC. True, for the latter most likely you will have to install an additional driver. There have been cases when this program helped to reanimate the card that was plugged into the phone. It is also free and you can download it.
  After starting, you will see this window:

In the Drive list, select our drive and press the “Option” button:

Here we put “Format Type” - “FULL (Erase)”. You can also activate the option “FORMAT SIZE ADJUSTMENT” \u003d “ON”, which allows you to align the sectors along the borders of the flash block, due to which the drive will work a little faster.
  Next, click on the “Format” button and wait for the process to complete.

If the steps suggested above did not help, you will have to use “heavy artillery”. First, let's go over the attributes of the disk. To do this, run the Windows command line and write the command in it DISKPART  to run the system utility working with disks:

Enter the command: list disks

In the list by volume, we find our flash drive (in principle, it should be the last in the list, unless of course you have connected several flash drives) and remember its number. In my example, this is number 4.
  The next command is disk selection: select disk 4

Now try to clear his write protection attribute: attributes disk clear readonlyas in the screenshot above.
  After that, we look at the disk attributes - the command: attributes disk:

exit the utility using the command exit  and start formatting again.

If this does not help, you can only resort to a specialized program for testing removable drives - flashnul. Attention, this is a specialized utility and it requires awareness of actions. Otherwise, you can kill data on your other drives connected to the system.
  Download it from here and unpack it for convenience directly to the root of some disk, for example, C :. The path to the folder should be like this: C: \\ flashnul.
  Then run the command line again and enter the command: cd C: \\ flashnul
  Launches a list of drives:

The result will be something like this:

We find our flash drive in the list and remember its number. In my case, the flash drive is at number 4. Your number will be different  - therefore, carefully look at the volume of the drive.
  Now we overwrite all data with zero:

And after that, we run a special test for controller errors, which at the same time will destroy all the data:

After the test is completed, run formatting again through the Disk Management console. Windows Error "Cannot complete disk formatting"  should no longer appear.

P.S.  If none of the suggested tips helped, and you still can’t format the USB flash drive or micro SD card, then I’ll suggest this:
  Download the Usbflashinfo program, launch it and click the "Get Flash Drive Information" button. In the information received below, we are interested in the lines Vid  and PID:

Then you drive this data into the search engine and see what you can find by the memory controller. It may be possible to find a specialized utility for it. For these purposes, I would recommend the site flashboot.ru - there are the most current versions of programs and the largest database of flash drives, SD memory cards, MicroSD of almost all well-known manufacturers and the memory controllers they use.
  And if you can’t find anything there, then you just have to throw out this small piece of plastic, which has become completely useless.

In the modern world, flash drives for PCs are quite popular, and microSD cards in mobile devices. The popularity of devices is due to their low price, the ability to store large amounts of data, and at the same time easily transfer all these data to other devices.

But these devices also have drawbacks - this is a problem in formatting. Users of these data storage devices are at a loss that the SD card is not formatted. At the same time, they often ask such questions: The memory card is not formatted, what should I do? And the SD card is damaged Android how to fix? Let’s answer these questions and find out what to do if the memory card is not formatted.

Flash data storage devices are an indispensable part of the modern world, so it is important to know how to properly operate and maintain these devices so that they do not encounter problems at the most inopportune moment.

If your SD card is not formatted, that is, there are problems in formatting the flash drive and you can not perform this action in any way, then you need to: either carry the device to a service center, or throw it away. But there are also ways to "save the flash drive." One of them is a way to format a flash drive through the console.

The Windows system has one feature when deleting files - if the file itself is busy with any processes, then it will not be possible to delete it. And through the console we can destroy everything without any problems. So, here is what we do in the console if the micro SD card is not formatted:

1. Use the keyboard shortcut Win + R
2. The Run window has appeared. We enter the command there - diskmgmt.msc.
3. Click “OK” and the “Disk Management” window appeared in front of us. We are looking for our flash drive, right-click on it and select "Format".

If everything went well for you and without errors, then you are well done. If it doesn’t work, then do not close the article - we still have a couple of ways.

If your microSD card is not formatted, then the SNDFormatter utility will help you. The program is free and easy to download on the Internet, and we will tell you how to use this utility.

1. Run the program.
2. In the “Drive” tab, select our flash drive.
3. In the “Format Type” tab, select “Full” or “Erase”. “Format Size Adjustment” set to “On”.
4. And click "Format".

If the program does not work, then try this one - Apacer USB 3.0 Repair tool. The utility is similar to SDFormatter, but it is supplemented with the following functions:

• low level formatting;
• disable protection on flash drives.

You can download the program on the Internet.

1. Open the standard Windows command line utility through the Win + X key combination, or look for it in the start menu.
2. In the new window, write “diskpart”
3. In the next window that opens, write “list disk”. In the window we will be shown all the available data recording discs on the computer, including our USB flash drive. We find our flash drive (usually it is at the very bottom of the list).
4. We write the data in the "select disk 1" window. Your flash drive may have a different name, not “disk 1".
5. Next, we clear the write protection attribute through the command “attributes disk clear readonly”. To check the attributes of a disk, use the command “attributes disk”.
6. We exit the utility through the “Exit” command, and again try to format the flash drive.

If the above methods did not help you, then the following is for you.

Download the program "Flashnul". The utility is designed for testing and deep work with removable drives on your computer. Therefore, use it carefully and try not to “extort” anything superfluous. Otherwise, you will damage your data and information recording discs.

1. Unpack / install the program on one of the main drives on our computer. For example, take drive C. The path to the program will be - C: \\ flashnul.
2. Run the command line through Win + X or through the start menu and enter this command:

cd C: \\\\ flashnul

1. Next, we see a directory with a utility folder where we need to determine our flash drive. We write this command: flashnul –p
2. In the list that opened, we are looking for the name of our flash drive (number or letter). Remember it. For example, you have a flash drive with the name N. In this case, we write a command to completely clear the data: flashnul N: –F
3. We start the test for controller errors, along with it, all data will be destroyed:   flashnul N: –l
4. Upon completion of the test, we start formatting through the management console. After the committed actions, there should be no errors.

Program problems

Flashnul can have many problems. One of the important problems is the appearance of this kind of error, in which flashnul itself cannot work with internal and external commands.

To solve the problem it is necessary:

1. Open the command line and go to the directory in which our program is unpacked. For example, take drive C.
2. At the command line, write “ C:».
3. Next, go to the Flashnul utility directory. Enter in the line cd flashnul  and that’s it.

Use the Usbflashinfo utility. After starting the program, click on the "get flash drive information" tab. We find the lines VID, PID.Copy the values \u200b\u200bfound in these lines to the search engine. Most likely, there are special formatting programs for this flash drive.

On the site flashboot.ru you will find an incredible variety of programs, utilities and useful information for flash drives and microSD memory cards from all popular manufacturers. Perhaps it is there that you pick up the program you need that will help your problem in formatting.

We hope that the article has helped you to the fullest and now you know what to do if your SD card is not formatted or other problems arise with the formatting of other storage media. Now you can not only work safely with flash drives for yourself, but also help your friends and acquaintances, who will thank you more than once for your efforts.

Formatting the memory card completely erases the data from the media, this procedure also helps to get rid of errors associated with reading the card. SD media is used mainly in telephones, but it can be inserted into the camera, music player and in any other place where there is a flat input for this type of memory card. An SD card is considered to be a medium up to 2 GB, it often requires formatting, and in this article you will learn how to do it.

How to format SD from phone

If you use a microSD card, then you can clean it directly from the phone. Go to your smartphone’s settings and do the following:

Find the “Storage” section. Go into it.

In some phones, the algorithm looks different, for example, in Samsung. Open the device tray and select the gear icon.

Find the “Smart Manager” section. In it you can find the block with the SD card and click “Clear”. This will end the formatting.

How to format an SD card through a computer

Sometimes there are problems with SD cards when formatting via phone, camera or other devices. Then you need to perform formatting on the computer. Insert the USB flash drive into a special socket or adapter.

Go to “My Computer” to see the SD folder of the camera. As soon as it appears, right-click on it.

In the list that appears, look for the “Format” section.

A window will open before you, configure it sequentially:

• The default speed is 121 MB. This is enough for the whole process to take a short time and not load the system;
• The file system depends on your operating system. NTFS  only used on windows Fat  universal, and you can read it on any OS, but it has a limit of 32 GB. Better to choose exFAT, since this format has no restrictions on the size and types of operating systems;
• Cluster size is best left unchanged;
• The “quick formatting” checkbox should be checked only if you have completed the full formatting with the specified parameters earlier.

Click “Start”, after which the cleaning will begin immediately.

How to format SD using RecoveRx

If the above methods did not suit you, then there is only one tool left - special software for formatting SD cards. One of these software is called RecoveRx. You can download the program at https://ru.transcend-info.com/Support/Software-4/

Go to the site and click on the “Download” button, after which you will have a choice of operating system.

Once the software loads, double-click on it. You can easily install the program: agree with the license agreement, select the language and installation directory. The whole procedure will last no longer than two minutes.

Open the program and go to the “Format” section. Please note that in this program you can try to recover flash drives that were previously broken or showed an error.

In the column “Disk” put the letter of your flash drive, and below click on the picture “SD”. Formatting with this program will help to fix some errors and completely clear the memory card.

If you need to change the appearance of the file system, then just click on the word “FAT”, you will see a small menu with a list of types.

As you can see, you have many options for cleaning your SD card, which can be both quick and easy, and quite laborious if the flash drive shows an error.