SD Card I/O Error Occurs – How to Fix it? (4 Fixes Included)

“The case: SD card says I/O error”

“I came here for your help! I have a 32GB SanDisk SD card and it used to perform well. But now, it pops up an error message – G:\ is not accessible. The request could not be performed because of an I/O error when I try to open it in my Windows 10 laptop. Is there any advice?”

The possible causes for SD card I/O error

There are many elements that can make I/O error happen. The main reasons that may account for such error on SD card are listed as follows:

▪The SD card adapter issue
▪ Poor contact between the SD card and the adapter
▪Insufficient power supply
▪ Virus attack or infection
▪ Inappropriate removal
▪ Incompatible transfer mode
▪Outdated USB driver
▪ …

4 fixes to solve I/ O error for SD card

It is time to learn how to fix I/O error happens to the SD card when you want to open it, after knowing the possible reason for I/O error. It is recommended to try another SD card adapter, and make sure that the contact between your SD card and the adapter is well firstly. If the same error still happens to your SD card, you can refer to the following four methods to fix I/O error for SD card.

Before taking advanced measures, you can take certain data recovery software to retrieve files and folders on the SD card and save them to another place, to avoid data loss, if you have wanted data on the SD card. If the SD card is without (necessary) files, you can skip this process.

Fix 1. Change USB port that the SD card is inserted

If your SD card is connected to the USB port that is located in the front of the computer case, I/O error might be related to power supply. Thus, you can connect the SD card to the USB port that is located in the back of the computer case to see whether the error is fixed.

PS.: If I/O error occurs to your external hard drive, it can be caused by cable issue. You can try another cable.

Fix 2. Reinstall device driver for your SD card

If the error is related with USB driver issue, you can reinstall USB driver by following the steps below:

1. Right-click Computer and select Manage. Then choose Device Manager.

2. Go to Universal Serial Bus Controllers, right-click USB Mass Storage and choose “Uninstall”.

3. Remove the SD card and reconnect it. Then, the driver will be reinstalled automatically.

Fix 3. Run chkdsk.exe to fix SD card error

If USB driver is updated but you are still unable to access the SD card due to I/O error, you can run chkdsk.exe from Command Prompt to fix it. Refer to the following steps:

1. Run CMD as administrator.

(Press Windows + R at the same time, input “cmd” and hit Enter key.)

2. In the pop-up window, type “chkdsk g: /f/r”

(“g” refers to the drive letter assigned to your SD card.)

PS.: You can also try to check your SD card from File Explorer: right-click the SD card> go to Properties>Tools>Check Now.

Fix 4. Format SD card completely

When you run chkdsk.exe, you might be prompted by CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives error message. If so, the file system of your SD card is corrupted. You can fix SD card I/O error through formatting. The steps are presented as follow:

PS.: This method will erase all data on your SD card.

1. Run CMD as administrator.

2. Type diskpart and hit Enter key.

3.Type the following commands and hit Enter after every command.

▪ list disk

▪ select disk n (“n” stands for the disk number of your SD card)

▪ clean

▪ create partition primary

▪ format fs=fat32 quick (fat32 can be replaced with ntfs or exfat if you need)

▪ assign letter =g

▪ exit

You are not allowed to format the partition on SD card larger than 32 GB to FAT32 using this method. If you insist to do so, you will receive an error message –The volume is too big for FAT32.

Fortunately, AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition can assist you in format a large drive to FAT32. You can use it to format 32GB, 64GB and 128GB SD card to FAT32 quickly and easily. Besides, it offers you other file systems to choose, including NTFS, exFAT, Ext2, Ext3 and Ext4. Free download it and see how it works.

1. Install and run it. Right-click the SD card partition that needs formatting and choose “Format Partition”.

2. In this window, you can choose one file system based on specific situation (here FAT32 is selected). Then, click “OK”.

3. Click “Apply”>“Proceed” to perform the operation.

Note: You can recover lost partition on SD card, allocating free space, quick partition, etc., if you upgrade AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard to Professional version.

Verdict

As so far, surely you have realized how to repair SD card I/O error. You don’t need to try every method presented above one by one, if you can figure out the exact reason account for this error of your SD card.