How to Format SD Card on Windows 10 Properly

2024-08-13 Amanda J. Brook Senior Product Manager

Summary

SD card, featuring small size, fast transfer speed and plug-and-playable usage, is a fresh generation of flash memory, made of semi-conductor. It has been a common accessory of portable devices. So, which file system is available in Windows 10? How to recover the data if a SD card is accidentally formatted?

Content

Part 1: What is SD Card Formatting?

Part 2: Which File System is Available in Windows 10?

• 1. FAT

• 2. NTFS

• 3. exFAT

• 4. Differences among FAT, NFTS and exFAT

Part 3: How to Format SD Card on Windows 10?

Part 4: How to Recover Formatted SD Card?

Part 5: How to Solve Problem that SD Card cannot be Recognized in Windows 10?

Part 1: What is SD Card Formatting?

In an operating system, a file system is in charge of managing and storing file information.

Besides organizing and allocating storage space, a file system can protect and retrieve files. Specifically, a file system controls how data is stored, accessed, written and transferred. It can also withdraw files when they are not used anymore.

Creating a file system is a common way of formatting, also known as high-level formatting. This way will initialize a disk or the partitions in a disk. Meanwhile, all files will be cleared.

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Part 2: Which File System is Available in Windows 10?

Next, we will talk about the common file systems in Windows 10 and see their features.

FAT

FAT is a universal file system, available in all computer operating systems. It is the ideal file system for external disks and SD cards. Yet, when data is accessing into a FAT (generally FAT32) disk, it is unable to reorganize segments to be a complete file. Gradually, data will be dispersing and the accessing speed will slow down.

1. Default file system

2. High compatibility

1. Unable to read a 4GB file and easy to produce file segments

2. Less secure

3. Waste storage space, unable to fully use disk space

4. Must name a file within 8 characters

NTFS

NTFS is an advanced file system that saves space and protects data. Compared with FAT, it has more secure, better performance on compression and quicker transfer speed. Besides, it supports sparse files and disk space allocation.

1. Convenient to control files

2. Able to read a file over 4GB and hard to produce file segments

1. Hard to be recognized by devices except computers

2. Wear out flash memory

exFAT

exFAT is a file system for flash memory. Compared with FAT, it not only strengthens the compatibility between computers and mobile devices but also improves performance on space attribution.

1. Possess merits of FAT32 and NTFS

2. Suitable for flash memory

1. Incompatible with early devices

2. Must add patch files in Windows XP

Differences among FAT, NFTS and exFAT

Facing these three file systems, how can we select a suitable one?

1. Basically, FAT32 is universal.

2. If you only use in the version above Windows XP, try exFAT.

3. If you want to fully use storage space and accept it cannot run in some devices, try exFAT.

4. NTFS is not suitable for USB flash drive.

File system	FAT32	NTFS	exFAT
Operating system	Operating system	Above Windows 2000	Windows CE 6 / Vista SP1 / Windows 8
Minimum sector	512 bytes	512 bytes	512 bytes
Maximum sector	64 KB	64 KB	32768 KB
Single maximum file that can be accessed	2 bytes to 4 GB	Maximum capacity that can be segmented	16EB (theoretical value)
Maximum capacity that can be formatted	2TB (limited to 32GB in the NT-based operating system)	2TB to 256TB (limited in MBR)	16EB (Only up to 256TB now)

Part 3: How to Format SD Card on Windows 10?

In different operating systems, the steps of high-level formatting cannot be identical. Next, we will introduce how to format SD card on Windows 10?

1. Press the keys [ Win + X ]. Then, go to [ Computer Management ] > [ Disk Management ].

2. Find out the drive letter of the target SD card. Right-click at it and select [ Format ].

3. Select a file system based on your own needs. Finally, click [ OK ].

Part 4: How to Recover Formatted SD Card?

Some people may format a SD card accidentally. Then, all data is cleared. In such situation, how to recover a formatted SD card on Windows 10?

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Supported storage devices Recover data from recycle bin , SD card , external disk , etc.

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1. Open Renee Undeleter. Select one of the scan modes, such as [ Fast Partition Scan ] in this case.

2. Select the target SD card and click [ Next ].

3. Wait for scanning. The larger the capacity is, the longer the SD card should be scanned. Finally, click [ Recover ] to recover the files.

Part 5: How to Solve Problem that SD Card cannot be Recognized in Windows 10?

In some cases, the system cannot recognize a SD card after being updated. Next, we will talk about how to solve this problem.

1. Under the folder [ C:\Windows\System32 ], find out [ cmd ]. Then, right-click at the folder and select [ Run as administrator ].

2. Type [ sfc/scannow ] and press Enter to run this command.

3. Then, go to [ Computer Managemen t] > [ Disk Management ] > [ Universal Serial Bus Controllers ]. If you forget how to follow these steps, please review the above part . Then, if you can see a exclamation mark beside the icon, uninstall this driver.

As you reboot the computer, it will be installed automatically. Now, we are sure your SD card can be recognized.

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How to Format SD Card on Windows 10 Properly