6 Easy Ways to Disable Write Protection in SD Cards

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Here is an in-depth article that delves into the technical nuances of disabling write protection in SD cards. It covers six different solutions starting from basic troubleshooting to leveraging advanced tools such as Regedit, Diskpart, and Command Line to resolve this issue.

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Many people have trouble copying and moving files into SD cards because of write protection and keep looking for a fix.

Actually, the intention of Write protection is to prevent your SD card from being authorized by unnecessary write operations. But many people consider this as a problem. Well, it can be fixed, don’t need to worry about it. However, before fixing the error, recover the data from the SD card and create a backup.

How to Disable Write Protection in SD Cards?

Follow the 6 methods mentioned in the section below to effortlessly remove write protection from SD cards. The following methods can also be implemented by the person who isn't tech-savvy as well.

Examine the Card’s Exterior

SD cards own a lock switch on their left-hand side that can be used to enable/disable write protection. If the switch is in the lower position, then the card is locked and write-protected. So, just slide the switch upward to unlock the card. If the problem still doesn't resolve, go to the next solution.

SD card switch

Uncheck the Read-only Check Box

Right-click on the card and go to ‘Properties’, then change the permission for the SD card to Read & Write from Read-only.

Run Antivirus

Possibilities are there that your SD card is virus-infected. So, scan your SD card by connecting it to your PC and check if any type of harmful files are available. Once scanning is completed, try to add files. If you can, then it’s well and good. If the SD card not storing any files, then continue reading.

Remove Write Protection using Diskpart or Command Line

To do this, here is the procedure

  • Attach your write-protected SD card to your computer at first
  • Go to the Command prompt, type diskpart, and press Enter
  • Type list disk and hit Enter. This will show you all the connected devices to your computer, like your internal hard drive, SD card, etc.
  • Type select disk <number of your disk>. For instance, select disk 1 for SD card. Be careful while entering the number; make sure you don’t end up making changes to the attributes of internal hard drive
  • Again at the Command prompt, type attributes disk clear readonly and press Enter
  • Now to terminate diskpart, type exit and press Enter
  • Again type exit and hit Enter to get out of the Command prompt

Unlock Write Protection in the SD card using Regedit

With the help of the registry, most of the errors and problems will be easily solved. Hope this may resolve your problem too! Go through these steps,

  • In the start menu, search for “REGEDIT” and open the Registry Editor
open registry editor
  • Navigate to the following key: “Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies
navigate and locate storage device policies
  • On the right-hand side of the REGEDIT you’ll find Write protection, double-click on it and change its value between 1 to 10 and close the REGEDIT
  • Now restart your computer and plug your SD card back. You’ll no longer find write protection on it

Not all the time does your SD card turn write-protected. You might get SD card issues that can prevent you from storing and accessing the data. At such times, you repair the corrupt SD card on your Windows with ease.

Disable Write Protection by Formatting the SD card or Pen drive

If the above methods don’t work, you can format the SD card to get rid of this write protection mode. Connect the SD card to your computer. Go to My Computer, Right-click on your SD card and click Format in the drop-down menu.

The format process will take a few moments. After this, you’ll be able to use your SD card normally. In case, if you are unable to format an SD card due to the high severity of corruption, then you can forcefully format it.

Caution - Formatting an SD card will erase the entire data present on it. So taking backups before formatting is a wise idea. If you have forgotten to take a backup, then You can use Remo Recover to recover data from the SD card recover data from a formatted SD card, which will restore any type of photos, videos, songs, etc. present on the card.

The tool is tested and built to recover data from all sorts of memory cards in simple clicks without any hiccups all you need to do is follow the intuitive design and recover your important files and folders

Conclusion

Even though digital cameras and Smartphones include internal memory, the majority of people invest in SD cards as an extended source to store their precious data. SD cards can store thousands of pictures, audio, and videos. Therefore, any problem with an SD card can be a serious issue… no one wants to lose their data so we recommend you use Remo Recover in case of data loss on your SD card, it's way easier and simpler to perform SD recovery.

If you still have any type of doubts or questions, then kindly leave your valuable comments below in the comment box.

About the Author: John Harris

With a decade of experience in data recovery, John Harris, Senior Editor at Remo Software, is your go-to specialist. His focus includes partition management, Windows solutions, and data troubleshooting, delivering insightful content that serves both users and search engines. John's expertise shines through in illuminating blog posts, untangling data loss intricacies across diverse storage platforms.…