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Can't Format My SD Card Because It Is Read Only: How to Fix?

When I plug in my SD-card (128GB) it says "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer." When I go to Disc Utility it says it is formated in Windows_FAT_32 and "Write Status: Read Only" I can't even klick on Erase (format) The SD-card itself is working fine on my pc and android All the backup is done I just want to formate it to exFAT

Best Answered by

Vain Rowe

Answered on Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Hi there, I get the information from your screenshot that your SD card is unmounted. In order to format it to the exFAT file system, you need to manually mount it in Disk Utility on your Mac device first.

You can find that your SD card is not mounted on your computer as long as you see the bottom menu bar in Disk Utility. Just click the Mount button on the top menu bar then your SD card can be mounted without any trouble.

As to the "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer" notification, you can try the following methods to get it fixed:

Fix 1: Do a basic troubleshooting

The methods provided below are able to perform basic troubleshooting. Do not hesitate and try them right now!

  • Check if the disk is encrypted
  • Check the disk on another computer
  • Change the USB cable and USB port
  • Reset USB port

Fix 2: Re-insert the external hard drive

Fix 3: Update the drivers on your Mac

Fix 4: Run First Aid to fix the unreadable disk

If you fix your SD card well, then you can format the SD card to exFAT on your Mac device in one go.