15-09-2021

Do you know what to do when you can't visit or access your data on storage devices? There are a number of common issues that may happen to any brand of storage devices.

Here, we have taken SanDisk as an example and categorized the usual problems that occurred on SanDisk USB flash drives, pen drives, micro SD cards, SDHC cards, and SDXC cards, into two groups with corresponding solutions.

These problems can all be solved by either formatting the disk using a reliable SanDisk format tool or manually repair the device with a SanDisk repair tool.

Common Issues with SanDisk Cards and Flash Drives

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Check which category that your problem falls into, then follow the respective guide to get your SanDisk or other brands of devices work again.

Category 1. Need a SanDisk Format ToolCategory 2. Need a SanDisk Repair Tool
  • SanDisk SD card not showing the full capacity.
  • SanDisk SD card like Cruzer 16GB not recognized by camera or phone.
  • Windows unable to complete the format for a SanDisk removable disk.
  • New SanDisk SD card or USB not detected by Windows PC.
  • SanDisk USB, external hard drive, SD card become RAW, or inaccessible.
  • Format SanDisk device to change its file system format.
  • SanDisk write-protected error in Windows: can't write anything.
  • SanDisk flash drive is corrupted or damaged.
  • SanDisk USB or SD card has bad sectors, unreadable.

How to Repair Corrupted or Write Protected HP Pen drive, try Recoverit: Ways to Recover Deleted Files from Pen Drive: https://bit. Tech support scams are an industry-wide issue where scammers trick you into paying for unnecessary technical support services. You can help protect yourself from scammers by verifying that the contact is a Microsoft Agent or Microsoft Employee and that the phone number is an official Microsoft global customer service number. The speed profomance might go down if you execute the program from the normal use or while beginning purchased.

Whether the problem you have is on your internal hard drive, external hard drive, USB, memory SD card, apply the recommended SanDisk format tools or SanDisk repair tools with how-to tutorials to make your device function again.

Part 1. SanDisk Format Tool Free Download and Format the Disk

When facing SanDisk problems similar to the listed entries in the first category, go ahead and download SanDisk format tools for help. Here in this part, we've collected 4 formatting tools that you can pick up one to format your SanDisk devices now:

  1. #1. EaseUS Partition Master
  2. #2. Windows File Explorer
  3. #3. Windows Disk Management
  4. #4. CMD - Windows DiskPart Command Prompt

#1. Format SanDisk Device using EaseUS Partition Master

Remember to back up your data to another location first if you can access the device for now. If you cannot open the device at all, format your device first, and then let reliable data recovery software to bring all your lost files back.

Instead of recommending Windows built-in tools, we would like to let you try EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition. The reason why we recommend this free partition manager as the first SanDisk format tool is that it enables you to perform more advanced operations besides formatting.

  • Pros: ①. 100% free formatting; ②. Format 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, and even bigger device to FAT32; ③. Convert FAT32 to NTFS; ④. Clone and partition storage device, etc.
  • Cons: Doesn't work on macOS.
  • Supported Format: NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, Ext4/Ext3/Ext2, exFAT, etc.
  • Best for: All levels of users - beginners, experienced and professional users

Guide: 4-Step Format a Sandisk Drive in Windows

Connect your problematic SanDisk drive or removable device to your PC and follow next steps to format it with ease.

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the partition on your external hard drive/USB/SD card which you want to format and choose the 'Format' option.

Step 2. Assign a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3), and cluster size to the selected partition, then click 'OK'.

Step 3. In the Warning window, click 'OK' to continue.

Step 4. Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting your external hard drive/USB/SD card.

#2. Format SanDisk Device using File Explorer

As Windows File Explorer is a Windows built-in tool, you don't need to download it at all. As long as the File Explorer is working properly, you can format your SanDisk or other brands of devices with ease.

  • Pros: 100% free
  • Cons: Cannot format 64GB or bigger USB, SD card to FAT32;
  • Supported Format: NTFS, FAT/FAT32, exFAT
  • Best for: Window beginners

Tutorial: 4-Step to Format SanDisk Device

Step 1. Connect SanDisk device to your PC. Open Windows File Explorer, right-click on SanDisk device that you need to format, select 'Format'.

Step 2. Rename the drive, reset its file system to FAT32 or exFAT.

Step 3. Click 'Start' to begin the formatting.

Step 4. When the formatting process completes, click 'OK' and close File Explorer.

#3. Format SanDisk using Windows Disk Management

Being similar to File Explorer, Windows Disk Management is pre-installed on Windows computer. You can easily apply it to format or change a device file system. As a result, no download and installation are required.

  • Pros: ①. 100% free; ②. Partition SanDisk or other brands of devices;
  • Cons: Cannot format 64GB or bigger device to FAT32;
  • Supported Format: NTFS, FAT/FAT32, exFAT;
  • Best for: Experienced users

How-to Guide: 4-Step to Format SanDisk Device

Step 1. Connect your SanDisk device to PC, right-click 'This PC' or 'My Computer' and choose 'Manage'.

Step 2. Go to 'Disk Management'.

Step 3. Right-click the SanDisk hard drive partition and choose 'Format'.

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Step 4. Set the volume label, file system and click 'OK' to start formatting the drive.

When the formatting process completes, exit Disk Management.

#4. Format SanDisk using Windows DiskPart Command Prompt

Windows DiskPart command prompt is more like a disk management tool which cannot only format your SanDisk device but also work to resolve other issues on your devices. You can easily bring it up without downloading or installing it.

  • Pros: ①. 100% free; ②. Works more than formatting, such as to convert disk to GPT;
  • Cons: ①. Complex for beginners; ②. Any false operation may cause serious problems;
  • Supported Format: NTFS, FAT/FAT32, exFAT;
  • Best for: Professional or advanced users

Step-by-Step Guide: Format SanDisk Device using DiskPart

Step 1. Keep your SanDisk device connected to PC. Type cmd in the Search box, right-click Command Prompt and select 'Open as Administrator'.

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Step 2. Type diskpart in Command Prompt and hit Enter.

Step 3. Type below command lines in DiskPart and hit Enter each time to quick format SanDisk drive:

Make sure you enter the right command each time.

  • list disk
  • select disk 2 (Replace 2 with your SanDisk disk number)
  • list volume
  • select volume 10 (Replace 10 with the volume number of the partition that you want to format)
  • format fs=ntfs quick (If you need to format a hard drive partition to FAT32 or other file systems, replace ntfs with fat32, exfat, etc.)

Step 4. Type exit and hit Enter to close the command window when DiskPart reports it has successfully formatted the volume.

Part 2. SanDisk Repair Tool Free Download

For the situations in the second category, simply formatting the disk will likely not be sufficient. Instead, it will require some advanced operations, such as applying SanDisk repair tools to fix these issues on your device.

Here, we also collected several SanDisk repair tools for you to pick up one and apply to repair corrupted, unreadable, and even write-protected SanDisk devices:

  1. #1. EaseUS Tools M + EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition
  2. #2. CMD - Windows DiskPart Command Line
  3. #3. File Explorer + Disk Error Checking
  4. #4. Registry Editor

As the solutions toward different cases are different even using the same SanDisk repair tool. In the following, we'll guide you through the process to repair different SanDisk device errors with respective SanDisk repair tools.

Case 1. Repair a Write-protected SanDisk SD Card or Flash Drive

When a SanDisk card, USB or other brands of storage devices become write-protected, you cannot direct format to remove the write protection.

For example, when an SD card or USB becomes write-protected, you can try to unlock the device by toggling its switch. However, if this doesn't work, you'll need to fix a write-protected SanDisk drive with the following methods:

Method 1. Fix Write-Protected SanDisk Device using EaseUS Tools M and EaseUS Partition Master

Connect SanDisk device which is write-protected to your computer. And then continue to remove write protection with the following steps. It's free.

If you are not professional in computing management and not familiar with command lines, don't worry. EaseUS R&D team has promoted a fresh kit for helping you resolve the write-protection issue on your hard drive, external hard drive, USB or SD card, etc., devices.

EaseUS Tools M is a practical computer fixing tool that is safe and light-weighted. It's a perfect alternative to the command line.

Use this one-click tool to solve the write-protection issues on your own:

Step 1: DOWNLOAD and install EaseUS Tools M for free.

Step 2: Run EaseUS Tools M on your PC, choose the 'Write Protection' mode.

Step 3: Select the device which is now 'Write-Protected' and click 'Disable' to remove the protection.

When you have removed write protection from the device, you can then apply EaseUS Partition Master with its Format feature to format the device usable again. You can revert to the formatting tutorial in Part 1 as a guide.

Method 2. Remove Write Protection from SanDisk Device using CMD

Remember to connect the write-protected SanDisk device to your computer before starting the following steps. Be careful while using DiskPart command line.

Step 1. Press 'Windows + R' and enter cmd. Open Command Prompt as Administrator.

Step 2. Type diskpart and hit Enter.

Step 3. Type the following command lines and hit Enter each time:

  • list disk
  • select disk # (# is the number of your SanDisk USB/SD card/SSD drive that you want to remove write protection from.)
  • attributes disk clear readonly

Step 4. Type exit and hit Enter to close DiskPart.

Method 3. Remove Write Protection from SanDisk using Registry Editor

If you are a Windows beginner, we suggest you revert to Method 1 and apply EaseUS Tools M for help. Registry Editor is efficient in removing write protection error, however, it's not for beginners.

Any false operation may cause device malfunction on your computer. Follow the steps carefully while removing the SanDisk device write protection error:

Step 1. Type Regedit in the search box and hit Enter.

Click 'Yes' to open the Registry editor when you see it is displayed at the top of the list.

Step 2. And then navigate to the following key: ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlStorageDevicePolicies

Step 3. Double-click on the WriteProtect value in the right-hand pane of Registry Editor.

Change the Value data from 1 to 0 and click 'OK' to save the change.

After this, close Registry and restart your computer.

Case 2. Repair Corrupted, Unreadable SanDisk Device on Windows PC

Mostly, when SanDisk or other brands of storage devices not detected by Windows PC or becomes inaccessible, it may contain a file system error, bad sector or internal errors. To fix this issue, you can try the following methods with reliable SanDisk repair tool for help:

Method 1. Use Free Partition Manager - EaseUS Partition Master

EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition with its Check File System feature enables you to easily fix file system error, soft bad sectors, and even some internal errors that stop you from visiting the device on Windows PC.

Here are the steps:

Step 1: Open EaseUS Partition Master on your computer. Then locate and right-click the SanDisk drive partition, and choose 'Check File System'.

Step 2: In the Check File System window, tick the 'Try to fix errors if found' option and click 'Start'.

Step 3: The software will begin checking your partition file system and fix errors found on your disk. When it has completed, click 'Finish'.

Method 2. Run Disk Error Checking in File Explorer

Step 1. Open File Explorer, right-click the SanDisk device and choose 'Properties'.

Step 2. Under on the Tools tab, click the Check button under the Error-checking section.

Step 3. Next, you can choose to 'Scan drive' to scan errors and click 'Repair drive' if errors were found.

Method 3. Run CHKDSK Command to Repair SanDisk Drive Error

CHKDSK command works to repair internal device errors on all brands of storage devices. Follow the steps carefully when you need to run the command and repair corrupted SanDisk device:

Step 1. Type cmd in the Search box.

Step 2. Right-click 'Command Prompt' and choose 'Run as administrator'.

Step 3. Enter the following command:

Replace 'E' with the drive letter of the SanDisk drive you want to repair.

Bonus Tip: SanDisk Offical Resolution - Repair using Registry

The official SanDisk knowledgebase states that a corrupt registry entry can cause your SanDisk product to not be detected by the computer. Removing the registry keys created upon installation of your SanDisk product will allow the computer to fully reinstall the device and may resolve the issue.

Step 1. Back up the registry

1. Unplug the SanDisk device from the USB port.

2. Run regedit.

  • Windows XP: Go to 'Start' > 'Run', type in regedit and then click 'OK'.
  • Windows 7, 8 and Vista: Click the Start button, type regedit in the search box, and then press Enter.
  • Window 10: Type regedit, in the 'Search the web and Windows' field (lower-right) and then select 'Regedit - Run Command'.

3. From the registry menu, choose 'File' > 'Export'.

4. Name the file SNDK.reg and save it to your desktop.

If you experience any issues after editing the registry, you can restore this backup by following steps 1 through 3, but choosing File > Import instead. Choose the SNDK.reg file that you backed up, allow it to import, then restart your PC.

Step 2. Remove SanDisk info from the registry

WARNING: DO NOT delete any registry keys other than keys that include VID_0781, the SanDisk devices' keys. Deleting important registry keys can result in booting issues and other system malfunctions.

1. From the registry menu, click 'Edit' and choose 'Find'.
2. Type in VID_0781 and click 'Find' Next.
3. Once the search finishes, right-click the highlighted registry key and select 'delete'.
4. Press the F3 key to find the next registry key that includes VID_0781.
5. Right-click the highlighted registry key and select 'delete'.
6. Repeat this process until the search returns with No results Found.

NOTE: Under Windows 7, 8 and Vista, some registry keys may be protected and cannot be deleted. Simply skip over these keys if you receive a message that the key cannot be deleted.

7. Once all registry keys containing VID_0781 have been deleted, reboot your computer.
8. Plug the device into the computer after it's finished rebooting. The device will be reinstalled.

If you have trouble completing this process, there is another way that you can try to fix a USB flash drive not showing up in another way.

Wrapping Up

When you complete the whole process, you may lose some files after formatting or repairing SanDisk device. Reliable data recovery software is capable of helping you out. If you need a detailed tutorial, please refer to Restore Formatted Files for help.

On this page, we concluded the symptoms when a SanDisk or other brands of storage devices do not work properly on Windows PC. We divided these issues into two groups and present respective solutions to help you make your SanDisk device work again by using SanDisk format tool and Sandisk repair tool.

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As for Windows beginners, we suggest you take EaseUS Partition Master and EaseUS Tools M as for formatting and repairing problematic SanDisk memory card, SD card, USB, external and even internal hard drives.

Summary :

In many situations, we may need to format SanDisk SD card with different file systems. MiniTool Partition Wizard is a good helper. In addition, if no file backup is carried out before formatting SanDisk SD card, data recovery is also possible by using this partition manager.

Quick Navigation :

Need a SanDisk Format Tool

In many cases, you may need to format SanDisk SD cards or USB drives with different file systems. For example, when you use SanDisk on some game consoles, FAT32 is required. When you save individual files larger than 4GB to SanDisk, FAT32 should be replaced. If SanDisk is often used on Linux, Ext2/3/4 is preferred.

Besides, you may need to format SanDisk if one of the following conditions is true.

  • You want to remove files from SanDisk.
  • You need to fix SanDisk SD cards or USB drives that have RAW file system.
  • SanDisk suffers from virus attack and formatting is an easy way to erase viruses.

Then do you have a SanDisk format tool that actually works to satisfy all your needs? If not, you may find the best free SD card formatter here.

Top Recommendation: MiniTool Partition Wizard

MiniTool Partition Wizard is a partition magic for Windows that can be used to do a lot of things. For example, when you see 'low disk space warning', its Extend Partition feature is very helpful. When you need to upgrade hard drive to SSD, its Copy Disk feature is extremely useful. When your hard disk became RAW, its Partition Recovery feature (*needs to pay) works like a magic.

To perform memory card formatting, MiniTool Partition Wizard offers a powerful Format Partition feature, with many file systems provided. Besides, its user-friendly interface and high efficiency do make it become the most popular SanDisk format tool. Also works with Windows 7/8/8.1/10. Download this free partition magic alternative now.

After installing MiniTool Partition Wizard to your computer, please follow the steps below to format SanDisk:

Step 1. Run this SanDisk format tool to the main interface. Then select the SanDisk partition as the target partition and choose Format Partition feature from the left action panel. Or you can right-click SanDisk partition and then choose Format from the shortcut menu.

Step 2. Immediately you see a pop-up window that lists some File Systems for you to choose from, and they are FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, Ext2/3/4, and Linux Swap. In addition, you can set the Partition Label and Cluster Size as well. Please make your own choice according to your own needs. Then click OK to go back to the main interface of MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Tip: it is worth mentioning that you can format a large partition with FAT32 file system by using MiniTool Partition Wizard, which is impossible if you use Windows built-in tools.

Step 3. Now you can observe the disk map. See! The SanDisk Partition will have the file system you appointed. To put this change into effect, just click Apply button from the menu bar and wait for the success.

We also recommend reading our guide How Do I Format SD Card Quickly.

You see! You have so many choices towards file systems when you format SanDisk using MiniTool Partition Wizard. But if you don't want any third-party software, you can also move on to find another 3 SanDisk format tools included in Windows.

3 Windows Built-in Tools to Format SD Card

Windows is very smart, and can fulfill most of user demands. To format SanDisk, three built-in SD card formatters are provided, and they are CMD.exe, Disk Management utility, and Windows Explorer. However, these memory card format tools have one shortcoming in common: they offer limited file systems such as NTFS, FAT, FAT32 and exFAT based on the partition size. Hence, if you need to break such limits and choose other file systems like Ext2/3/4, you had better choose MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Let's have a close look at them one by one.

1. CMD

CMD is commonly used to mean CMD.EXE (Command Prompt), the command-line interpreter on Windows, which can be found at the Start menu on each operating system. To format SanDisk using CMD, you need to do the followings:

Step 1. At Start menu, choose Command Prompt (Admin), then allow this app to make changes to your PC.

Step 2. Type diskpart and you get a new diskpart.exe window. In the new window, type the following commands in order:

  1. list disk
  2. select disk n(n should be replaced with the correct disk number)
  3. list partition
  4. select partition n(n should be replaced with the correct partition number)
  5. format fs=ntfs quick (ntfs can be replaced with fat, fat32, and exfat according to your partition size)
  6. exit (exit diskpart.exe)

Step 3. Back to the cmd.exe window, type exit to finish.

We also recommend reading our guide The Best Ways to Fix Diskpart Virtual Disk Service Errors.

2. Disk Management

The second tool you can find in Windows is the Disk Management utility. Disk Management is also very easy to use because of its concise Graphical User Interface. Please follow the guidance below:

Step 1. Run diskmgmt.msc to launch Windows Disk Management. At the disk map area, right-click the SanDisk partition and choose Format from the context menu.

Step 2. In the pop-up window, customize the Volume label, File system and Allocation unit size before you click OK.

Step 3. Windows tells you formatting will lead to data loss on this drive. To continue, click OK. Then SanDisk formatting will be finished quickly.

We also recommend reading our guide How Can You Fix 'The Format Did Not Complete Successfully'?

3. Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer is the place where we can observe hard drive partitions and access files. To format SanDisk drive, you need to do the followings:

Step 1. Right-click the partition and choose Format from the context menu.

Step 2. In the format window, choose the desired File system, Allocation unit size, and Volume label. Then click Start.

Step 3. You will see a data losing warning message. To confirm the format, click OK. To quit, click Cancel.

We also recommend reading our guide How Do I Fix 'Windows Was Unable to Complete the Format' Error.

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Now 4 SanDisk format tools have been introduced. When you need to format SanDisk SD card, you can choose the one you like most.

SanDisk Disk Recovery after Mistaken Formatting

You may ask: what if you mistakenly format a SanDisk drive? Do you still have a way to get the lost data back? The answer is positive. As long as you didn't store new data on the drive, you still have a big chance to do SanDisk disk recovery.

For your info: how does data recovery software work to recover lost data?

To understand how data recovery software works, we had better figure out what happens when a hard drive is formatted. Does the data get completely wiped out of the PC once it's deleted? The answer is NO.

First and foremost, when we delete a data file, it is removed to the Recycle Bin. The real deletion happens when it's deleted from the Recycle Bin or when it is deleted by pressing SHIFT+DEL. (For large files, they are deleted permanently without going into the Recycle Bin.)

However, even though we cannot see the deleted files in the Recycle Bin, the Operating System knows where file is stored. The fact is that, when a file is deleted permanently, the Operating System just removes the file from its list without actually removing it from the hard disk.

FAT (File Allocation Table) and MFT (Master File Table) actually maintain the real table of all files stored on the hard disk. So, even if a file is removed from the Operating System it is still there on the hard disk and can be searched by looking up at FAT or MFT. Based on the above theory, professional data recovery programs can recover lost data caused by various reasons.

But which data recovery software is reliable? Our suggestion is MiniTool Partition Wizard, of which the Data Recovery feature has helped numerous of Windows users to recover hard disk data due to mistaken partition formatting, partition loss, partition damage, and so on. This data recovery software works on Windows 10/8/7.

It is worth mentioning that the free edition of MiniTool Partition Wizard is capable of recovering up to 1GB data for free. Hence, you may just download this free data recovery software to recover formatted SD card before you pay a premium.

When you have installed this memory card recovery free (never install it to the partition where data loss happens), please follow the guidance below:

Step 1. Select the SanDiskdrive partition andchoose Data Recovery - the most suitable data recovery module for SanDisk disk recovery caused by mistaken formatting.

Step 2. Immediately the scan starts. When the scanning is finished, you can see several partitions are listed in the left panel. They are the partitions you have created in history in SanDisk.

Step 3. Now you can open each partition to seek for the files you need. Usually, the useful files are stored in All RAW Files. You can make use of the Show Lost Files feature to select out the desired file types. And the Preview feature is rather useful when it comes to confirming graphics and pictures.

Step 4. Finally, you can click the Save button to choose a safe location to recover formatted SD card. Please make sure that you are not saving files to the location where data loss happens.

Note: If you have more than 1GB files to recover, you will need to purchase a Pro Ultimate license to recover unlimited files.

We also recommend reading our guide 7 Solutions: SD Card Is Blank or Has Unsupported File System.

About SanDisk

SanDisk is an American manufacturer of flash memory products, including memory cards and card readers, USB flash drives, and solid state drives (SSD). Founded in 1988, SanDisk has been transforming digital storages with breakthrough products and ideas for more than decades.

Today SanDisk flash memory technologies are used by a number of world's leading data centers, embedded in the most advanced smart phones, tablets, and laptops, and are trusted by consumers all over the world.

By February 2015, SanDisk had become the third-largest manufacturer of flash memory in the world. On May 12, 2016, SanDisk was acquired by hard drive manufacturer Western Digital in a US$19 billion deal.

Closing Word

Here comes to the end of this post. Reading here, I guess you know some best SanDisk format tools and how to use them to format SanDisk drives when there is a necessity. Besides, we also introduce how to realize formatted SD card recovery with data recovery software when you mistakenly formatted a hard drive. Hope our information is helpful to you.

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If you have any questions or suggestions on how to use MiniTool software, let us know by typing your questions in the comment section below. Or you can contact us via [email protected] All ideas are welcome.