Is your micro SD card not accessible in Windows 7, 8, 10? You can refer to this article to realize the possible reasons and the solutions to settle this issue.
βΆ The issue: Micro SD card is not accessible βΆ Micro SD card detected but not accessible βΆ Micro SD card not showing up
Micro SD card is a convenient storage device, which can be used with different devices like Android Smartphone, camera, and computer to store or transfer data. However, sometimes, it is possible that you canβt access a micro SD card as the SD card is not showing up in File Explorer. Or you are still unable to open the SD card even when you can view the SD card in Windows File Explorer, accompanied with an error message like βF: /is not accessible. Access is deniedβ.
PS.: βFβ refers to the drive letter assigned to the micro SD card partition.
If you are in a similar situation, refer to the next context to realize how to fix micro SD card not accessible issue.
When your micro SD card is displaying in File Explorer but not accessible in Windows 10, 8, 7, you can refer to the following methods to deal with it.
SD card not accessible might be the result of assigning an impropriate drive letter to the SD card. At this point, you can change the drive letter assigned to the micro SD card partition by following the steps listed below:
1. Press βWindowsβ + βRβ simultaneously, input βdiskmgmt.mscβ and hit βEnterβ to open Disk Management.
2. Locate the micro SD card partition, right-click it and choose βChange Drive Letter and Pathβ¦β
3. In the pop-up window, click βChangeβ and assign a new drive letter to the partition on micro SD card.
PS.: If you are unable to change drive letter via Disk Management, you can turn to AOMEI Partition Assistant to complete this task.
Micro sd card not accessible can be related to Windows local group policy. If so, you can open Windows local group editor to adjust Windows local group policy properly. Here are detailed steps:
1. Press Windows +R combination and input β gpedit.mscβ and hit Enter key to open Windows local group policy editor.
2. In the appearing window, go to βComputer Configurationβ > βAdministrative Templateβ > βSystemβ > βRemovable Storage Accessβ.
3. Disable βRemovable Disks: Deny execute accessβ, βRemovable Disks: Deny read accessβ and βRemovable Disks: Deny write accessβ.
If you canβt access the detected SD micro SD card with an error showing that F:\ is not accessible, incorrect function (the parameter is correct/ data error/ cyclic redundancy check), access to SD card denied may be related with corrupted SD card. Here you can try to run CHKDSK utility to fix damaged SD card. Have a look at the detailed steps:
1. In Search Box, type βCommand Promptβ, right-click Command Prompt among listed items and select βRun as administratorβ.
2. In the Command Prompt window, type "chkdsk f:/f", where the first βfβ means the drive letter of the micro SD card partition.
3. Go to File Explorer to see whether you can open your micro SD card.
When your micro SD card is formatted with an incompatible file system with Windows, such as Ex4, Ext3, and so on, or the file system of your SD card is corrupted, youβll be unable to access the micro SD card directly. In such a condition, you can access the SD card in Windows after formatting it to a file system that can be recognized by Windows.
To format micro SD card effectively and successfully, try AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard, recommended out of powerful function, easy operation, and small file size. Free download it and have a look at how it works.
Note: Formatting will cause data loss on the micro SD card, thus if you donβt want to lose the data on it, you retrieve data using certain data recovery software, such as iCare Data Recovery before formatting.
1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant. In the main interface, find out the micro SD card partition, right-click it can choose βFormat Partitionβ.
2. Choose proper file system on the list and click βOKβ.
3. Confirm the operation and click βApplyβ > βProceedβ to perform it.
PS.: You can upgrade AOMEI Partition Assistant to Professional version to enjoy more functions, such as converting MBR system disk, converting dynamic disk to basic, and so on.
If your micro SD card is not detected in Windows File Explorer, you are certainly unable to access it. To fix the problem, read the following context to find out methods.
When you canβt see and access micro SD card in File Explorer, you can go to Disk Management to see if the SD card is without any partition. If the SD card is unallocated, you can create a new partition on it, thus you can view and access it in Windows File Explorer. If the SD card is allocated but without a drive letter, you are still unable to see it in File Explorer. Here you can assign a drive letter to it.
When the micro SD card is not visible in Disk Management but showing up in Device Manager, you can try to update micro SD card driver to see whether the problem is solved.
1. Press βWindowsβ + βRβ at the same time, input βdevmgmt.mscβ and hit Enter to open Device Manager.
2. Expand Disk Drives to see if the micro SD card is with a yellow exclamation mark.
3. If it is, right-click it and choose βUpdate Driver softwareβ¦β
4. In the pop-up window, choose βautomatically search for drive software onlineβ¦β
5. After updating, reboot computer to see whether the SD card shows.
All in all, it is not rare that you encounter micro SD card not accessible issue when you need to open it. If you are in such a condition, you can figure out the possible reasons for this issue and take measures accordingly to solve it quickly and effectively.