Why doesn't my phone see the memory card?

Most modern smartphones have very little built-in memory, and when purchasing them, it is implied that it can be expanded using special memory cards. This is very convenient, since you can purchase a card of any required size. But what if the phone doesn’t see the flash drive? Our instructions will help you restore access to your files.

Departed contact

Why doesn't my phone see the memory card? If you are faced with this unpleasant situation, you do not need to immediately throw away the flash drive and buy a new one or go to the nearest service center. First, try simply removing the card from the port and inserting it back. If the problem was that the contact had come loose, this simple manipulation will correct the situation, saving you both time and money.

Damage to a sector on the memory card

If the first tip didn't help you, there's still no need to panic. It is possible to repair a memory card on your own if the sector is damaged. To verify this, insert the card into the card reader. If he recognizes it, then you can try to “cure” it.

To do this, go to My Computer and find the memory card there. Right-click on it and open Properties. Next, you need to select the Tools tab in the properties window and find the “Check disk errors” section there. Perform the scan by selecting “Scan and repair bad sectors.”

After the check is completely completed, remove the card from the card reader and insert it into the phone to see if it can now see it.

If this method does not help, you can resort to extreme measures and format your card. If the card reader recognizes it, save copies of all the files you need to your computer in advance, since formatting the card will destroy all data on it. It is likely that after this you will have to reformat the card directly in the phone.

Memory card damage

If the methods listed above do not bring results, you will have to seek competent help from a service center, where professionals will be able to determine exactly why the phone does not see the flash drive and find a way to solve this problem. If the problem is that the card itself is broken, then most likely you will simply be offered to purchase a new one, since repairing a memory card in most cases is either very difficult or simply unprofitable for its owner in terms of cost.

In the future, you can avoid recurrence of this problem if you follow a few simple rules for using memory cards:

• Do not disconnect the memory card while copying and moving files, as this may result in damaged sectors.
• Do not expose the card to any physical damage (i.e. bend, drop, squeeze, etc.).
• Keep the card away from heat sources, and protect it from moisture, sunlight, and electrostatics. If you store such a drive separately from your phone, place it in a plastic bag and put it in a dry, dark place.

Incompatibility of the memory card with the smartphone

The phone does not see the flash drive

The reason that the phone does not see the flash drive may be their incompatibility. In this case, the smartphone simply does not support the format or size of the flash drive you want to use. If it is difficult to miss with the card format, then the mistake with the volume is very common, since many people strive to purchase a card with the largest capacity so that there is more space for storing photos and other files. Unfortunately, not only outdated phone models, but also many modern smartphones do not support memory cards larger than 32-64 GB, while in stores it is quite possible to purchase a 128 GB flash drive. Therefore, be sure to check the instructions for your phone to determine the maximum capacity of memory cards it supports.

Why doesn't my phone see the flash drive?

Memory cards of the same format are produced by different manufacturers, and not every company has these cards that fully comply with the standard. This leads to compatibility issues. For example, some Nokia phones do not work with Apacer memory cards.

It is very important to purchase memory cards from manufacturers that are trustworthy. For example, Sony has developed the MemoryStick format, and only cards of this format produced by it are 100% compliant with the standard.

When purchasing MicroSD cards, which are used in many modern smartphones, it is better to choose a manufacturer whose name is well-known. SanDisk is one of the developers of the SD and MicroSD formats, so its products closely comply with the standard.

If your phone doesn't see the flash drive, don't worry. It is quite possible that there are no serious problems with either the card or the phone, and you will quickly solve this problem. If the memory card still fails and you have to purchase a new one to replace it, pay great attention to choosing a high-quality card from a well-known manufacturer that is suitable in size and format for your phone.

The available memory size of modern Android smartphones allows you to store a huge amount of data.

But when the initial volume for everyday needs is not enough, microSD cards come to the rescue. Unfortunately, embedded equipment does not always work as expected for various reasons. Let's try to figure out why the memory card refuses to work on the phone and how it can be fixed.

Problem with contact

If the removable drive recently worked properly, first of all you need to check that it is connected correctly to the smartphone. Even a slight misalignment of the SD card can lead to a data reading error. In addition, during operation, the contacts of a mobile device may become clogged, which becomes a common cause of failures and errors.

To solve this problem, you need to remove the memory card from the device and carefully clean the slot paths, removing any dust particles that have gotten inside. When reconnecting the microSD to the phone, you need to make sure that the memory card is inserted the correct way and is securely fastened.

Device incompatibility

Before purchasing a new memory card, you need to check its compatibility with your mobile phone. Modern smartphones use the microSD media type. This format, in turn, has four generations (SD 1.0, SD 1.1, SDHC and SDXC), the main difference between which is the amount of available memory and data reading speed. For example, SD 1.0 can hold from 8 MB to 2 GB, while SDXC can hold up to 2 TB.

As for support from mobile devices, it is backward compatible. Smartphones that work with a certain microSD format will also function with older versions.

Smartphone malfunction

In some cases, errors in displaying SD card data may be caused by the Android system. Incorrect operation of applications and the action of virus files can block reading information from external media. This may cause the memory card to appear to be faulty.

The simplest and most obvious way out of this situation is to remove the malware and then reboot the device. To do this, you need to download a good antivirus program. If the SD card is in working condition, but the smartphone refuses to recognize it, you can try doing a factory reset. You need to understand that all data from the phone will be deleted.

Incorrect formatting

Software glitches that occur during the microSD cleaning procedure may cause it to not work. In this case, you will need to re-format via a computer.

First, you need to insert the removable storage medium into the card reader and wait until the system recognizes it automatically. After this, you need to right-click on the microSD in Explorer and select “Format”. In the “File system” section, you must specify “FAT32”, since Android does not support other formats.

Memory card failure

When none of the above methods help, the cause may be an internal problem with the memory card. This happens when, after prolonged use, the contacts wear out and the signal does not reach the board. Sometimes a breakdown occurs due to mechanical damage to the SD card or a manufacturing defect.

You can check the performance of the media using another smartphone or computer. If none of the devices sees it, you just need to buy a new memory card. If the data stored on it is important, you can contact a service center for help. There is a chance that the data can be recovered.

We talked about the main types of SD card faults and how to fix them. Most problems can be solved on your own, but if the equipment fails, you will have to replace it.

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Do not rush to panic and call all service centers, but try to identify the cause of the problem: you can get rid of most problems associated with microSD yourself with the help of our article, in which we will describe how best to do this.

If your phone doesn’t see the memory card, don’t rush to throw it away

So let's get started.

This problem is one of the most common: it can come to visit the owner of both a newfangled smartphone and the owner of an old device. We suggest that you consider the causes of this problem and how to resolve them.

Causes:

• The flash drive may not adhere to the contacts, and because of this, the device does not read it.

This problem is easy to solve: you just need to remove the battery and check the location of the card.

• Malfunctions of the flash drive itself.

Solution: check it using a card reader, placing a microSD in it and connecting it to the computer. Or insert the information drive into another device. If the second device sees the card, then the problem is hidden in your smartphone, which is why it does not read it.

What to do if, even after checking the above situations, the phone does not see the memory card? Let's dig deeper: the next block of reasons is technical. It has to do with formatting, location of the flash drive, and compatibility with your phone. We invite you to consider these problems in more detail:

More often than not, when you buy a drive or decide to clean out an old one, you are confident that you can connect it yourself. And due to lack of time or excessive confidence that if you do everything yourself step by step and according to the instructions, the formatting will be done correctly, everything turns out completely the opposite. When faced with such a task, take the time to test your skills as a qualified mobile phone repair technician. This may cause your device to experience new problems, including the inability to see the memory card.

What to do in this case?

The first method is to restart your phone. Most often, the fact that the phone does not see microSD can be caused by a normal malfunction of the mobile phone. But in other situations, it may force you to completely delete all information on the card.

The second method, which is the safest and more common, is the stripping method using a computer, which we will tell you about in detail below:

1. First, insert the flash drive into the card reader and connect it to the computer.
2. Wait for it to start, which should happen automatically. Otherwise, go to “My Computer”, where you will see your card in the “New Devices” section, but only if it is not burned out.
3. Right-click on the icon and click on the “Format” function in the context menu.
4. Click the "Start" button and wait for the process to complete.

If the problem was in formatting, then this method should have fixed it.

• The memory card has failed.

The causes of this incident may be mechanical damage or thermal damage (from the heat, the microSD can melt and, accordingly, freeze at very low temperatures).

What to do? Unfortunately, all you can do in this situation is to throw away the old card, complain a little for the sake of decency, and buy another one.

• Incompatibility of the drive with the mobile device.

Your old device may simply not be adapted to the new technologies that were used to create the memory card. In this case, your phone will also not read the microSD flash drive.

• Erased tracks in the nest are natural wear and tear of the equipment.

Buying a new mobile device will help solve this problem, since all equipment sooner or later deteriorates, even though it is made with high quality and is designed for long-term use.

We advise you to carefully check your mobile device and the card you purchased for each item. If, after identifying all the possible reasons why the phone does not see the microSD flash drive, you did not find a match with any of the above points or could not fix the problem yourself, you should contact professionals who have been working in this field for a long time. They will conduct a high-quality and thorough inspection of your phone and inform you about the cause of the problem.

Take care of your devices and do not delay identifying possible faults indefinitely! Then your accessory will work for a long time and without interruption.

Today, the method of storing data on portable flash drives has gained quite a lot of popularity. And now all flash drive manufacturers are struggling to create the smallest in size and largest in memory capacity flash drives; Micro SD cards occupy the leading position in the minimum sizes.

Micro SD flash cards are currently the smallest data storage devices that have been put into mass production.

Due to their very fragile structure, these drives quite often become unusable due to physical damage or incorrect completion of work with such flash drives.

There are often cases when, after a short period of working with a card, it becomes unreadable or is not detected by devices at all, so you cannot rely on the long-term operation of such a drive. I advise you to use a Micro SD card as a space for work, and not for permanent storage of information. Although every day manufacturers of such SD cards are improving their durability, and are bringing them closer to the possibility of using them for permanent and long-term storage of information.

Reasons why the computer may not detect the Micro SD card:

· Hardware problem.

· Flash drive failure.

· Assigning an already assigned partition letter.

· File system conflict.

· Malicious programs in the operating system.

If your Micro SD card is no longer detected by your phone, camera or other device, then you need to remove it and insert it into your computer to diagnose, identify and fix the problem.

Let's move on to considering and eliminating the most common causes of malfunction of such a flash drive.

How to check if the Micro SD card is detected on the computer?

In order to understand whether your computer has detected your Micro SD card, you can use 2 methods.

First way. Open my computer and check the connection of the new partition. If you have a new disk, then the flash drive has been identified.

Second way. If nothing appears in Explorer, then it’s worth checking whether the computer has even detected that an SD card is connected to it. To do this, go to my computer, right-click on the computer and select “Manage” from the drop-down menu.

After which the Computer Management window will open, there is a menu on the left side. We need to select the “Disk Management” section.

In the displayed statistics, we can see all connected drives to the computer, determine their volume, or set the partition letter.

If you did not see your SD card in this list, then read the following reasons and their solutions.

Hardware problem

If you are trying to connect your SD card to your computer through an adapter or through a card reader, and nothing happens, you should first check that these pairing devices are working.

If you use a card reader to connect the card, then try inserting a known working Micro SD card into it, if a known working card is also not detected, in this case, check and reinstall the card reader drivers. If after all the attempts nothing has changed, then most likely the problem is in the card reader.

If you are using a laptop, then most likely you are trying to insert an SD card through an adapter, directly into the built-in card reader of the laptop. If nothing happens when using this connection method, then I recommend checking the drivers for the built-in card reader first, and then checking the functionality of the adapter.

Drivers for card readers can be downloaded and installed from the manufacturers’ official websites; if you have a portable card reader that connects via a USB port, then download the drivers from the manufacturer’s website. If you use a laptop's built-in card reader, then you can download drivers from the official website of your laptop manufacturer.

In order to check whether the driver of your card reader is detected by the system, you need to open the “Device Manager”, to do this, press the key combination Win + R and in the “Run” line that opens, enter the command “devmgmt.msc”.

The Device Manager window will open in which you can see devices that do not have a driver installed. Such devices will be marked with a yellow triangle with an exclamation point. If there are no such devices, then expand the “Portable Devices” section and make sure that the computer has detected the card reader itself in order to discard the option of a non-working device.

Flash drive failure

If you have checked the functionality of the above devices and are convinced that they are working properly, then it is worth checking the Micro SD card for physical damage, cracks, chips, deformation or damage to the outer layer, since such a flash drive consists of many small tracks, which are easy to scratch and tear.

Try connecting it to some device: smartphone, camera, etc. If the flash drive is not detected in any device, then most likely it is physically damaged and cannot be repaired. The only thing that can motivate you to contact the service center is the presence of important information on the card.

Assigning an already assigned partition letter

This type of problem occurs quite often. This happens when an SD card is connected to a computer, the system assigns it the same letter as the existing partition, because of this a conflict occurs and we do not see our flash drive in the list of computer disks.

In order to resolve this type of problem, open the “Computer Management” section described above.

After getting into the “Disk Management” section, we need to find our flash drive, focus on its volume, select a disk that matches the capacity of our Micro SD card. Right-click on it and select “Change drive letter or drive path...” from the drop-down menu.

A window will open in which we need to click the “Add” button.

In the window that opens, select the letter for this section and click “OK”.

Done, we have assigned a letter to our partition, now we check its presence in Explorer.

File system conflict

There are often cases when a flash drive is detected, but it cannot be opened. The reason for this may be a file system conflict or a damaged file system of the Micro SD card itself. If the data on the flash drive does not play any role for you, then you can try to format it into the NTFS file system.

To do this, right-click on the flash drive and select “Format” from the drop-down menu.

In the formatting window that opens, in the “File system” section, select NTFS, set the Volume Label and click the “Start” button.

Thus, we formatted the Micro SD card into NTFS format, after which you can open it.

Malware in the operating system

When faced with the problem of identifying a Micro SD drive, you may not even suspect that the culprit for all this may be malware, so-called viruses, which can block USB ports and prevent the computer from working with your memory card.

In this case, it would be best to conduct a full system scan with your antivirus program, or resort to free antivirus programs that can help you with this.

I will recommend one of these to you - Dr.Web CureIt!

The program is absolutely free and is intended only for scanning and finding virus programs and removing them.

To download this program, go to the official Dr.Web website at https://free.drweb.ru/cureit/

Download the program and start scanning.

When finished, remove all malware found and after restarting the computer, try connecting the Micro SD card again.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many reasons why your computer does not see the Micro SD card, so it is impossible to unambiguously answer the question “Why does my computer not see the memory card?”, since this can be caused by problems of various kinds. To avoid making mistakes and solve the problem, you should take turns following all the steps described in this article.

Also, do not forget that when formatting, all information from the flash drive will be deleted.

And I still advise you not to store important information on drives of this type, as they most often fail due to their very fragile structure. Use this type of drive to directly work with files, saving them in more secure places.

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What to do if Android does not see the microSD flash drive? This question often worries owners of smartphones and other gadgets, regardless of manufacturer and cost. Problems of obtaining data from a DVR or installing software on a tablet or smartphone can be solved independently if you know the main causes of the malfunction and how to solve them.

How the problem manifests itself

The malfunction manifests itself as follows: after replacing the micro-SD card, after rebooting, flashing or simply turning on the device, the gadget does not see the flash drive or its contents. As a result, data or installed software is lost, the camera and programs begin to write information to the internal memory of the device. The latter quickly becomes clogged, there is no space left for recording OS service information, and the gadget loses performance and begins to freeze.

As a result, if the internal memory is small, it becomes impossible to work without a memory card.

To fix the problem, you need to determine the cause of the breakdown. Very often it is possible to eliminate a defect yourself, without going to a workshop.

The phone does not see the flash drive due to formatting problems

The partition table can become corrupted on any file system (NTFS, ExFat, Fat32). As a result, Android cannot read files written to SD. Most often this happens when the user tries to format the memory card himself and performs incorrect actions. Another option is to insert a card with a different file system, for example, from a camera. You can restore the card's functionality by formatting it again. This can be done either with the phone itself or another Android device, or using a computer with a card reader.

The menu of some phones allows you to format the SD card by selecting the appropriate item in the settings. If it is not there, you can reboot the phone, enter “Recovery” mode and format the file system of the card by selecting “Wipe cache partition”.

Important: errors when working with the device in “Recovery” mode can lead to the loss of all data and even inoperability of the OS. Therefore, inexperienced users should not use this method.

It is easier and safer to format flash drives on a computer. To do this, you need a card reader and a formatting program (standard, built into the OS, or any other). You need to remove the flash drive from the device, insert it into the card reader and format it in exFAT or FAT32 format. After formatting, Android should begin to “see” the flash drive. If this does not happen, the problem is more serious.

The memory card has failed

Flash memory has a limited number of read-write cycles. In addition, the device may be damaged due to microcracks on the board or under the influence of static voltage. In this case, after installation in the card reader, the computer does not detect the flash drive. It is also not readable on other devices.

It is impossible to restore a damaged memory card or the data on it. This cannot be done either from the Android device itself, or by connecting it to the computer as a flash drive via USB, or from the computer via a card reader. All that remains is to purchase a new flash card compatible with your device.

Important: sometimes, due to a board malfunction, phones and tablets can “burn” memory cards. Therefore, if a short time after replacing the flash drive it fails again, it is necessary to diagnose the Android device.

Memory card and Android devices are not compatible

A smartphone or tablet may not see the flash card if it is simply not designed to work with modern storage media. When there is a suspicion that the card does not correspond to a tablet or phone, then you should try to read it on a computer with an adapter for memory cards. If the gadget does not see the card, but the computer does, the reason is incompatibility.

All gadgets have restrictions on the maximum size of the memory card: 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB. This happens if, for example, you bought a 64 GB card, but the limits of your smartphone (tablet) are 32 GB.

Another option is that the flash drive is made to a technical specification that is unknown to your device. In this case, the gadget does not recognize it. Therefore, before buying a memory card, you need to study the documentation of your tablet or phone to buy an SD card of the appropriate size and type.

In addition to incompatibility, device damage or software failure may occur. In this case, the computer will also see the flash card, but the phone (tablet) will not.

Software error

In this case, the gadget either does not see the memory card at all, or certain programs do not see it. If you know, the card is empty, although it shows that the space is occupied, the problem is in the settings or performance of the OS and software of the phone (tablet). If Android does not see the SD card in applications, but does see it in recovery, try looking at the settings first. It is possible that the save path for applications is not set to the card, but to the internal memory. Fix it.

Another solution when only one application does not see the card is to reinstall or update it, and also check its own settings.

Important: often the phone OS begins to see the inserted card only after a reboot. If the flash card is not visible without rebooting, and then works fine, nothing else should be done.

When the above does not help, you should try updating the firmware of your tablet (phone). Often, after updating the OS to a newer version, the device begins to work correctly with the SD card.

Broken SD card slot

If a smartphone does not see a flash drive installed from another smartphone, and it meets the technical requirements of the device, the problem is in the smartphone itself. In this case, you can try to insert the card so that the contacts in the phone fit tightly to its tracks. To do this, you should try to clean and bend them a little. If the problem is not with the contacts, but with damage to the controller or card slot, all that remains is to send the gadget for repair or replace it with a new one.

For example, the HTC srochnyi-remont.ru workshop repairs all models of this manufacturer, as well as other brands. Look for a service center for your phone in your city.