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 avoid 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 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.
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 PC and check if any type of harmful files available. Once scanning gets completed, try to add files. If you can, then it’s well and good, if not 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 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 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
If still the problem is not solved, then go to next step. Considering the complicated process you just implemented it is highly suggested to backup SD card data using memory card recovery software.
Unlock write protection in the SD card using Regedit
With the help of 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
- Navigate to the following key: “Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies”
- 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 more find write protection on it
Additional information: Not all the time does your SD card turn write-protected, you might get errors such as "the directory name is invalid" which can prevent you from accessing the data. you can click on the link to learn how to fix such errors while using your SD card.
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.
Caution - Formatting SD card will erase entire data present on it. So taking backups before formatting is a wise idea. If at all you have forgotten to take backup, then you can recover data from formatted SD card using Remo SD Recovery Tool, which will restore any type of photos, videos, songs, etc. present on the card.
Even though digital cameras and Smartphones include internal memory, majority of people invest in SD card as an extended source to store their precious data. SD card can store thousands of pictures, audios and videos. Therefore, any problem with SD card can be a serious issue… no one wants to lose their data and want their SD card to work properly. So use the tips explained in this article to troubleshoot your SD card’s write protection issue.
If you still have any type of doubts or questions then kindly leave your valuable comments below in the comment box.
