How to Unformat SD Card on Windows PC/Phone

The SD memory card is widely used on kinds of digital devices like cameras, phone, and so on. In some case, you may have to resort to formatting because of the incorrect functioning.

Since formatting SD card will change the files system and delete everything from the SD card, after checking there is nothing special on your SD card, you format it. However, you discover certain important files were on that memory card in a few hours or days...

Then, here comes this question: Can you unformat a SD card to get lost data back? If you can, how to achieve it without data loss? Keep reading this guide, and learn about how to unformat SD card.

Can you restore a formatted SD card?

The answer to the question - can you restore a formatted SD card is YES. Since SD cards are typically formatted using a quick format, theoretically, formatting does not permanently wipe the data from them.

❗ The lost files on SD card should not be overwritten or destoryed. Therefore, please stop writing any new data to the SD card as soon as it was formatted, or you cannot unformat the SD memory card or recover data from formatted SD card.

You can keep reading and learn about how to unformat SD card on Windows PC or phone.

How to unformat SD card on Windows 10/8/7 PC

You will be given two methods in this part t unformat SD card on Windows 10/8/7 computer. If you are a PC professional or skilled with CMD to recover files, you can try Way 1.

For more people, it is suggested to free download the advanced data recovery software introduces in Way 2 to unformat SD card and recover files from it in the highest rate.

Way 1. Unformat SD card using CMD

You can make use of the built-in command prompt to unformat SD card. It’s worth a go even though it is not entirely successful. The following steps are how to use it.

Step 1. Connect your SD card to computer with a compatible USB cable.

Step 2. Type Command Prompt in the Windows search bar and click Run as administrator.

Step 3. Type chkdsk #: /f (Replace # with the letter of the SD memory card that was formatted.) Press Enter to continue.

Step 4. Type the command ATTRIB -H -R -S /S D #: *.* (Replace # with the SD card drive letter) > Finally, press Enter.

Although it is one of the most often used methods, the command prompt is not the ideal approach to unformat an SD card because unformat was a discontinued command. Try the more successful approach below if this one fails.

Way 2. Unformat SD card with MyRecover

To make the unformat process simple and efficient, you can rely on the Windows data recovery tool - MyRecover, which helps you unformat the SD drive and get your file back in three simple steps.

Let’s have a look at the features and advantages of MyRecover.

• Recover 200+ types of data. The SD card may save your pictures, videos, music, texts, etc. You could retrieve all of them via MyRecover.
• No data loss. The data on the formatted SD card can be recovered with the aid of MyRecover, maintaining its original format, filename, path, and quality.
• High success rate for data recovery. Equipped with an advanced scanning technology, the combined scanning method of Quick Scan & Deep Scan helps recover your data without any omissions.
• Wide compatibility. MyRecover is perfectly compatible with HDD/SSD. It is also workable to unformat hard drive, USB, and so on.

Free download and install the best software by clicking the icon below to unformat SD memory card in three simple steps.

Step 1. Connect your SD card to computer with a compatible USB cable > Run MyRecover > Select your SD card from the list > Click Start Scan to continue.

Step 2. Wait for the scanning process to finish. During the process, you can directly select the files from the Scanned files list to restore or wait for a full result.

Step 3. Select the wanted or all files you want to recover > Click Recover x files to get them back to the SD card.

You can also make use of MyRecover to recover data lost due to accidental deletion, system crash, virus attack, etc. by following the same steps above.

How to unformat SD card on phone without computer

If the formatted SD card is used on your Android phone, you may want to unformat the SD card on the phone directly without computer. You can download an Android SD card recovery application, like Photo Recovery, which helps you recover photos, videos, and other files from formatted SD card.

Step 1. Download and install the app to your Android phone > Tap Scan button to start finding formatted files on your Android SD card.

Step 2. Check the found files and select them > Click RESTORE to unformat SD card on phone.

Conclusion

Hope the methods introduced in this guide can help you successfully unformat SD card without any data loss. What’s more, it is suggested to backup SD card to computer in advance if the operation risks losing data. If this guide helps you, please share it with others.