How To Fix “Unreadable SD Card On Windows 10” & Recover Pictures From It

Pictures not showing up or not loading properly from Phone’s SD Card is one of the most annoying issues for most users. Though the reason for SD Card not being detected on Windows 10 can be many, most of the common ones are: Bad USB connection between the memory card and computer, Faulty SD card adapter, compatibility issues with photos, corrupted SD Card, or virus infection in Memory card & so on.

So, without further ado, let’s check how you can ‘repair SD cards not being readable on PC’ problem so that you can securely recover your precious photos from it. Let’s check out all the potential solutions to troubleshoot the issue!

How To Quickly Fix “SD Card Not Reading On Computer” Issue?

A lot of users have found that updating correct drivers for your card reader can help to resolve ‘SD Card Not Being Detected’ on PC problems. Check if it works for you to resolve the issue instantly. To find & update most compatible drivers, here’s what you need to do:

STEP 1- Connect SD Card & install Smart Driver Care. It’s a dedicated utility to find and replace compatible device drivers for your Windows PC.

STEP 2- After successful installation, run the utility and click on Start Scan Now button.

STEP 3- Once the scanning is completed. A list of all the outdated, faulty, damaged, incompatible & missing drivers would be listed. Chances are the SD card reader drivers need some action.

STEP 4- You can click on the Update All button to fix everything at once.

Hopefully, after updating your device drivers, you can fix the annoying ‘unreadable SD Card on Windows 10’ issue. In case you want to learn how you can manually update drivers, then follow this link! 

My Pictures Won’t Load Up From My SD Card, HELP! 

If you cannot view or load your photos up from an SD card that may have encountered a severe problem, then try the following methods to fix ‘Unreadable SD Card On Windows 10’.

METHOD 1- Change SD Card Connection

Learn how to check & change the SD Card connection. Follow the steps below:

STEP 1- Simply unplug your memory card from the old device & reconnect to the new PC. If the SD card shows up, you are good to go. If not, try Step 2.

STEP 2- Now replace the SD Card Reader & reconnect to your PC to see if it shows up.

STEP 3- Still doesn’t work? Disconnect your memory card & reconnect it to another USB port of your PC.

Check if your Memory card is showing up in the Windows File Explorer or not. If nothing works, go ahead with the next method to repair the micro SD Card not detected as a problem.

METHOD 2- Check File Compatibility

Learn how to check & change image file formats.

STEP 1- Connect your memory card to your Windows computer.

STEP 2- Find the connected SD card in Windows Explorer & go to their Properties section to see their image files formats.

STEP 3- If your Windows PC does not support some uncommon file formats, then, unfortunately, you’ll not be able to recover your photos. 

STEP 4- We recommend you use dedicated Image Converters to convert file formats to some popular & common ones.

After image conversions, you can reconnect your SD card and try to reclaim your photos.

METHOD 3- Run CHKDSK

This is the shortest yet effective method to fix an unreadable SD card on Windows 10 to reclaim photos.

STEP 1- Launch Run window > type cmd & hit the Enter button. 

STEP 2- Now run the Command Prompt as an Administrator. 

STEP 3- Execute the following command line:

chkdsk f: /f /r /x (Make sure you replace f with your SD Card drive letter).

STEP 4- Execute the following command line:

exit & close the window when you see the complete message.

Now you can try to reconnect your SD Card & see if it shows up.

METHOD 4- Change SD Card Drive Letter

Follow the steps below to load pictures on your SD Card after changing your memory card’s drive letter.

STEP 1- Right-click on your PC & select option Manage. 

STEP 2- From Disk Manager, click on the option Disk Manager. 

STEP 3- Now find your connected SD Card & right-click on its partition.

STEP 4- At this step, you need to choose the option that says: “Change Drive Letter and Path…”.

From the pop-up menu, just select the option ‘Add’ and allocate a new drive letter to your memory card. Hopefully, you can resolve the ‘SD Card not reading on computer’ issue.

METHOD 5- Run Antivirus

Well, running an Antivirus solution has an enormous number of benefits. You can check out this complete list to find Top 15+ Antivirus Software for all the major operating systems (Tested & Reviewed). Once you find your ideal security solution, run it on your PC to fix all the potential threats & see if it fixes the ‘SD Card Not Showing Up’ issue.

Bonus Feature: How To Recover Photos From SD Cards On Windows 10?

We are hoping that after using these methods, your SD card might be readable on your Windows PC, it’s time to recover those precious pictures stored in it. The easiest bet to recover your precious photo from the SD card is through Photo Recovery software.

Photo Recovery is a top-notch solution if you want to scan your entire PC & other storage devices to recover precious pictures, no matter what data loss scenario you’ve been into. Be it virus attack, human error, file corruption, accidentally formatted SD card, or so on. Photo Recovery is designed in a way that can help you get your precious photographs back in no time. The lightweight data recovery solution offers Quick & Deep Scanning to ensure speedy & thorough finding for all of your missing data.

(Installed By Millions Of Users Worldwide)

Video Tutorial: Recover Deleted Images Using Photo Recovery

Well, watch this quick video tutorial to learn how Photo Recovery works to scan and recover all your lost or missed snaps from your external & internal storage.

Successfully Repaired SD Card & Recovered Photos

This was our list of workarounds that can help you fix unreadable SD Cards on Windows 10 & recover your favorite photos without any hassles. If you have any suggestions or recommendations to add in this list of workarounds. Well, feel free to shoot them in the comments section below. We’ll be happy to update our article. For more troubleshooting, tips, tricks & hacks, Follow us on social media – Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.