Written by
Ciki Liu
SD Card Is Blank and Unsupported? Fix It in Six Possible Ways
Summary: The SD card is blank or has unsupported file system error pops up when connecting your SD card to your Android/PC? This post features six ways to fix the blank/unsupported SD card issue. - iBoysoft
Thanks to the many advantages of the SD card, for example, it's affordable, highly portable, and delivers good functionality, this storage device is commonly used on digital cameras, tablets, and smartphones as an effective way to expand the internal storage and save photos, videos, documents, and other files.
However, users can encounter issues while using the SD card on supported devices. The SD card is blank or has unsupported file system is one error message that's shown on the screen when your device fails to read the SD card. If this is your case, this post will walk you through six possible methods to fix the unsupported SD card issue and recover data from the SD card.
Understanding the SD Card Is Blank or Has Unsupported File System issue
Before diving into how to fix the blank SD card, it's necessary to know why this error occurs and what it means.
Oftentimes, the blank or unsupported SD card error can happen on your Android phones and cameras. Here are possible reasons that cause the SD card to turn in blank or unsupported.
Users remove or eject the SD card in an unsafe way. For example, you force eject the memory card without turning off the device. Or, you fail to check the Safely remove hardware option while removing it on the PC or tablet.
Users frequently insert the SD card in multiple devices without making sure of the working environment. In such a case, your memory card is likely to be attacked by viruses and malware.
Users connect the same SD card to Android phones with different operating systems. Chances are the SD card will get unsupported on one of the devices.
When you receive the blank SD card message, it doesn't mean the SD card is empty without anything on it. It simply indicates your SD card is faulty and can't be read, accessed, or recognized by your device. Therefore, with proper SD card recovery, you can regain access to the files stored in the SD card. Now let's move further to fixing the blank and unsupported SD card.
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Running CHKDSK command to fix blank SD card
The unsupported SD card prevents your device from accessing it due to the corrupted file system or other errors. Fortunately, you can fix the bugs of it with Windows built-in CHKDSK utility. It scans your blank SD card for file system errors and tries to repair them. Here's how to run CHKDSK command to fix your unsupported SD card.
Step 1. Connect your memory card to a PC computer. Make sure it's properly connected.
Step 2. In the Start menu of your PC, enter cmd (Command Prompt) in the search box and choose the Run as administrator option.
Step 3. When you enter the Command Prompt panel, type in the following line and hit the Enter button.
chkdsk g: /f
Note: g refers to the drive letter of your SD card which you can find it in Disk Management.
Wait for the scanning and repairing process to be done. Once completed, re-insert the SD card into your Android to have a try.
Restarting the connecting device
Restarting will quit all running programs and boot up your device from scratch. Therefore, no matter what device you are using, be it an Android phone or a tablet, you can restart the device by following the steps below.
Step 1. Press and hold the Power button till the Option menu appears.
Step 2. Choose Restart or Reboot and wait for your device to boot up again.
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Reconnecting the SD card to the device
Sometimes it's just the connection that's not working well. You can turn off your device and slowly get the SD card off. Then reinsert it in the slot and make sure it's tightly connected to your Android. Luckily, the SD card is blank or has unsupported file system error will disappear.
Inserting the SD card into another device
As what's mentioned above, operating systems can react differently on the same SD card. Therefore, if you receive the blank SD card message on one device, you can try inserting it into other platforms, be it another Android phone, tablet, or computer. Moreover, you can try using an SD card reader to test if the card is working well.
Showing and deleting hidden files on the SD card
One possibility is that your SD card contains some hidden files that are creating the trouble. To get rid of the unsupported SD card error, you can make the hidden files show up on your PC and delete them. Here's how to show hidden files on Windows.
Step 1. For the maximum success rate, use a card reader to connect your SD card to the computer.
Step 2. Navigate to Control Panel and select Programs.
Step 3. Follow Appearance and Personalization > File Explorer Options > View.
Step 4. Under the Advanced settings tab, check the box in front of Show hidden files, folders, and drives.
Step 5. Hit the Apply tab and choose OK to save the changes.
In this case, the hidden files on your blank SD card should appear. Select and delete to fix the unsupported SD card issue.
Recovering and formatting the blank or unsupported SD card
If all methods above fail to fix your blank SD card, the last resort is to format your blank SD card to start it over. However, while formatting the unsupported SD card, all your previously stored data will be erased at the same time. Therefore, unless you have a full backup or the data doesn't matter at all, it's strongly suggested to recover the data before formatting.
iBoyosft Data Recovery is one powerful and reliable data recovery tool that's able to restore your data from the blank or unsupported SD card on Windows 10/8/7/XP and more. Additionally, this professional data recovery software is capable of restoring data from formatted, RAW, unreadable, and inaccessible external hard drives, USB sticks, etc.
Follow the tutorial below to recover data from the unsupported SD card with iBoysoft Data Recovery.
Step 1. Keep your SD card connected to your PC.
Step 2. Free download, install and open the data recovery software on the computer.
Step 3. Among three data recovery modules, choose Data Recovery.
Step 4. Click on your faulty SD card and click Next.
Step 5. Once the scanning process is finished, you can preview recoverable files and select the ones you want to recover. Click on the Recover button to restore files from the unsupported SD card.
Save the recovered files in a new location. Then you can proceed with formatting the card using Disk Management.
Step 1. Right-click on This PC and follow Manage > Storage > Disk Management.
Step 2. Find your SD card and right-click on it. Select Format from the context menu.
Step 3: Choose FAT32 as the file system of the SD card, then click on the OK button.
Now, try inserting the SD card on your Android devices to see if it's working normally.
If you've successfully recovered data from the blank SD card, share it with your friends!
Conclusion
This post explains the possible reasons why you receive the SD card is blank or has unsupported file system error and working solutions to troubleshoot this issue. To rescue your precious data, you can use iBoysoft Data Recovery to recover data from an unsupported SD card with ease.
FAQs about unsupported SD Card
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You can restart your phone in recovery mode and select Wipe cache partition. By doing so, your phone will clear the card and format it to FAT32.
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Your SD card may be incompatible with the current operating system of your device. Or, it’s been attacked by viruses or malware. It’s also possible the file system of your SD card is corrupted.
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To recover data from an unsupported SD card, you can use iBoysoft Data Recovery, a powerful data recovery program that can recover data from unreadable SD cards.
