SD card write errors are a pain. When you've picked out the perfect SD card and it suddenly won't let you add new files to it or delete anything, you probably wonder how to fix it.
Thankfully, these write protection problems on SD cards are easy to fix. Here are three quick methods to try when you can't modify any of the files on your card.
1. Toggle the Physical Switch
Almost all SD cards include a slider on the side that acts as a locking mechanism. When it's at the bottom position, it locks the card and prevents you from changing anything on it. Eject the SD card from your device and make sure the slider is at the top, away from the Lock position.
2. Check the Card's Properties and Space
When you add a removable device to Windows, you can toggle a setting that prevents writing to it. You may have inadvertently enabled this setting, preventing you from changing the SD card's contents.
To check it, open This PC and look for your SD card under Devices and drives. Right-click it and choose Properties. Some devices, but not all, have a Write Protection entry here that you can toggle. While you're in this menu, make sure your SD card isn't totally full. A lack of free space can cause write protection errors.
3. Reset the Card's Attributes
If neither of the above solutions were the fix, you can try clearing your card's write protected status using the Command Prompt.
Right-click the Start Button and select Command Prompt (Admin) from the list. Type diskpart to open the tool we need, then type list disk to display all drives connected to your machine.
Figure out which one is your SD card (it will likely be near the bottom of the list, and smaller then your other drives) and note its number. Then type the following command:
select disk [DISK NUMBER]After this, use this command to clear its write protection:
attributes disk clear readonly
You should be able to use the card normally now.
USB drives can also have this problem -- check out how to fix a write-protected flash drive, and try some of those additional solutions if these didn't work.
Which solution fixed your SD card write errors? Have you ever dealt with this problem before? Tell us in the comments!
Image Credit: Stocksolutions/Depositphotos
