4 Solutions to SD Card Mounted as Read Only

Question

How do I fix my micro SD card that became a read-only memory card? Recently, I wanna add some photos to my Android phone and I pulled out the SD card and inserted it into my laptop. However, I found it was in read-only mode. I couldn’t do any changes to it. Anybody helps?

- Question from Jazz

The Issue of SD Card Mounted as Read Only

SD card is a kind of memory card for portable devices. Files including photos, music, and videos can be stored on it. When it’s connected to a computer, people can transfer the files between the computer and the SD card. However, sometimes the SD card can be locked to read-only (write-protected) mode and in that case, you are unable to write to it, like storing new files or removing any data. Here, I listed some causes of the issue of SD card mounted as read only.

1.       The write protection tab on the memory card or the memory card adapter is toggled on.

2.       The file system of the SD card is corrupted.

3.       The memory card is manually set to be read-only.

How to Fix SD Card Read Only?

SD card read only is definitely a headache for users. There’re many methods on the internet claiming to fix this issue and you don’t know whether they will work it out. So, this time, I listed 4 most pragmatic solutions to this problem and hopefully, you can find your way out.

Solution 1. Unlock Your SD Card

This should be the most common human error that makes an SD card write-protected. There is a sliding lock on the side of the SD card which can move either upward or downward.

If you slide it downward, the write-protection is turned on and the SD card becomes read-only. Then, you are not able to store new data or modify any old data. To disable the write-protection mode, you just need to swipe up the slider and after this, you can perform read and write operations on it.

Solution 2. Use Registry Editor to Change the Value

This seems to be the most complicated way but sometimes, it still works.

1.       Type “regedit” in the search box on the lower left of the desktop and hit “ENTER” to open Registry Editor.

2.       Follow the path "Computer\HKEY_Local_MACHINE"\"SYSTEM"\"CurrentControlSet"\"Control"\"StorageDevicePolicies".

3.       Double-click on “WriteProtect” and set 0 under “Value Data:”. Then, hit “OK”.

Solution 3. Use Diskpart Utility to Remove Read Only

If the SD card is manually set to be read-only and neither solution 1 nor solution 2 works, you might as well try Windows’ inbuilt program Diskpart to remove the write-protection mode.

1.       Type “diskpart” in the search box and hit "ENTER".

2.       When diskpart is opened, type “list disk” and hit “ENTER”.

3.       Type “select disk x” and hit “ENTER”. Here, “X” represents the disk number of your SD card.

4.       After the disk is selected, type “attributes disk clear readonly” and hit “ENTER”.

Now, go back to check whether you can modify the SD card.

Solution 4. Format SD Card with Third-Party Freeware

If it is the damaged file system that makes the SD card read only, you can try to reformat it to check whether the problem can be solved. To finish the special formatting task, the Windows native Disk Management tool may let you down. If so, it is advised to apply the free partition manager: AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. This software is free from any bundleware and totally, and provides rich disk partition management features. With it, you’re not only able to format the SD card to remove the write-protection mode, but also, you can perform operations including repairing SD card and resizing SD card partition.

Step 1. Connect the SD card to your computer, install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. Then, you’ll see all disk and partitions on the interface.

Step 2. Right-click on the partition of the SD card and select “Format Partition”.

Step 3. Then, preset a partition label and file system. This time, we take “FAT32” for example.

Step 4. Hit “OK” and you’ll be sent back to the main interface. Click on “Apply” on the upper left and hit “Proceed” to start the formatting process.

In a few seconds, it’ll be done and now, you are able to make changes to the data on your SD card.

Conclusion

What to do if your SD card is read only? In the contents above, the 4 most pragmatic ways are given. If you ask me which way I prefer, then, it must be solution 4. AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard is literally easy-to-use and helped me out and it’s quick and safe. To try other more features like splitting partitions and quick partition, you must upgrade it to the pro version that is much more multifunctional!