How to Fix SD Card Not Showing Up on Android

The SD card is usually used when the internal memory on your Android device is not sufficient, or when you want to expand the storage of your phone or tablet for more photos, videos, and even games. However, sometimes, the lifesaver might be not detected by your Android phone/tablet. Why would this happen and how to troubleshoot the SD card not showing up on Android problem? Check the guide for further details.

Possible Reasons for SD Card Not Showing Up on Android

The “SD card not detected on Android” problem might be caused by the following reasons:

• Wrong format or SD card reading errors
• SD card is not compatible with device
• Wrong data transfer mode on Android
• Application error on Android
• Memory card loose springs
• Memory card broke down or damaged

How to Fix SD Card Not Detected on Android Phone/Tablet

Solution 1: Gently Clean the SD Card

Just in case that the SD card is covered with dirt, use a white colored rubber eraser and gently rub the copper piece (gold yellow color) on your SD card to clean off the dirt.

Solution 2: Update the SD Card Driver

Due to an outdated SD card driver, your Android device may fail to detect the SD card. Do as the instructions to update the SD card driver and make it detectable again.

Step 1. Connect your SD card to PC computer.

Step 2. Right-click on My Computer or This PC and choose the Manage option.

Step 3. In the taskbar on the left, click device manager and next to USB Serial Bus controllers click “+”. Then you’ll see a yellow exclamation mark.

Step 4. Right-click and choose Update Driver Software, then click Search automatically for updated driver software.

Step 5. Wait patiently and let the driver to be installed and restart your computer. Then check if the SD card can be detected by your Android phone or tablet.

While, if these steps above do not work for you to update the driver, you can try some professional software to do this job. Here we sincerely recommend Driver Easy. Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for it. You don’t need to know exactly what system your computer is running, you don’t need to be troubled by the wrong driver you would be downloading, and you don’t need to worry about making a mistake when installing.

You can update your drivers automatically with either the FREE or the Pro version of Driver Easy. But with the Pro version it takes just 2 steps (and you get full support and a 30-day money back guarantee):

1) Download and install Driver Easy.

2) Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.

3) Click the Update button next to the flagged xxx driver to automatically download the correct version of that driver (you can do this with the FREE version), then manually install it.

Or click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system. (This requires the Pro version which comes with full support and a 30-day money back guarantee. You’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All.)

4) Restart your computer to take effect.

Solution 3: Repair SD Card Not Detected Error with CHKDSK Command

When the SD card has an internal error or bad sectors, Android device might not be able to detect the SD card. Try using the CHKDSK command to repair the error.

Step 1. Right-click on My Computer or This PC and select Manage, click on Disk Management and then find the device in the drive viewer to check out whether the computer can detect your memory card or not.

Note: If it is detectable, jump to Step 3 to get all Android memory card data restored; if not, continue the process.

Step 2. Press Win+R > Type: cmd and hit Enter.

Step 3. Type: chkdsk D: / f and hit Enter; (D is the drive letter of your memory card). Or you can type: chkdsk D:/f /offlinescanandfix and hit Enter.

Solution 4: Format the SD Card

If no other method worked, you are recommended to format the SD card. But before formatting it, remember to back up your SD card data to computer.

Step 1. Open My Computer or This PC where you can see the hard drives and the SD card you just plugged in.

Step 2. Right-click on your SD card and choose Format. Now you are able to set it up on the pop-up window. Please make sure you have set the File System to FAT32.

Step 3. Check Quick Format on the optional box and click on the Start button.

The Bottom Line

If you find any other useful solutions for the SD card not showing up on Android problem, welcome to share with us in the comments below. And for more details about the Android files manager and transfer, head to have a check here >