How to Partition SD Card on Windows and Mac | Expert Guide

Partitioning is the process of logically dividing the space of a given internal or external drive like an SD card or USB drive with a new file system. SD card partition helps you store data separately within the logical space of a drive.

Partitioning a memory card helps to maintain the integrity of your data while using it on different devices. It will allow you to separate sensitive files as well as enable you to maintain backups. Partitioning of memory card ensures that any corruption or malware remains on one drive.

Whether you are using Windows or Mac, creating partitions on your memory card is easy. You just have to follow the below reliable steps that would enable you to partition your SD card.

Can you partition an SD card so that one half is readable in Windows and the other half is readable in Steam OS?

"I plan on dual booting Windows and SteamOS by partitioning my internal SSD in half. Can I also partition the SD card so Windows can see half and SteamOS can see the other half?"

Source: Reddit

Why should you Partition Your SD card or Memory card?

SD cards are small storage units, exclusively used to store a collection of data that you can access from your Windows/ Mac or other devices. While using SD/SDHC cards or USB drives, it becomes very important to organize your important files such as photos, videos, raw images, Office files, documents, etc. The best measure to adopt would be a memory card partition before using it to store your information.

Before we move on to partition SD card, prepare your system and make sure you have a card slot for SD/ SDHC on your computer or a USB card reader.

Note: Check out this article if you are interested in knowing how to fix couldn’t modify partition map SD card error.

Memory Card Partition on macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, etc.

If your system is equipped with macOS Catalina or any other Mac version then, you can go through these steps in order to make a partition on your SD card;

Step 1: Insert the memory card in the designated slot in your Mac or if you are using an SD card reader, then insert the SD card into it and connect it to your Mac using the USB port.

Step 2: Go to the Application folder and click Utilities.

Step 3: Find Disk Utilities inside, and click on it.

Step 4: On the left sidebar, find the name of your memory card and click on it – You can see it on the upper left portion of the Disk Utility tab.

Step 5: In the Disk Utility of your memory card, click on Partition– It can be found on the upper side.

Step 6: It will open the Partition Layout, go to the volume scheme drop-down menu, and set the number of memory card partitions.

Step 7: Click on each partition- here you have to set the partition parameters like partition name, partition size, and partition format.

Step 8: To complete the partitioning, click on Apply and wait for the system to partition your memory card.

Note 1: If you want to use the memory/SD card for a startup, before clicking Apply, go to Options and select GUID Partition Table.

Note 2: In case, if you didn’t locate your SD card, then you can refer to this article on how to fix the SD card not showing up on Mac.

Memory Card Partition on Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP, Vista

If you are using a Windows system, partitioning memory card can be done by following these steps;

Step 1: Insert the micro SD card or memory card in an SD card slot on Windows or make use of a USB port if you are using a memory card reader.

Step 2: Click on the Windows button + R and type diskmgmt.msc and hit OK.

Step 3: Now Disk Management window will open. It will display the list of all the drives including your SD card, their formats, file system, and status.

Step 4: Right-click on the memory card on which you want to create a partition, select the Shrink Volume option.
Note: Shrinking Volume is just to create an unallocated partition on the SD card which will show up in Disk Management. If you already have an unallocated partition on the SD card, then move down to the 6th step.

Step 5: Select the size of your SD shrink on which you want to create a partition and click Shrink.

Step 6: Right-click on the unallocated SD partition and click on New Simple Volume.

Step 7: Now, New Simple Volume Wizard will open, click Next.  

Step 8: Specify the Volume Size (size of your SD card partition) and click Next.

Step 9: Assign a letter to your SD card partition and click Next.

Step 10: Select whether you want to format the SD drive or not and click Next– Formatting an SD card will allow you to change the File system, Volume label, etc.

Step 11: Click on Finish – This will finish the partitioning of the SD card on Windows.

Why can’t I Partition SD card?

In case you are unable to format an SD card or partition an SD card, then this could be due to severe SD card corruption. During such times, it is always recommended to recover photos from the SD card first and then fix cannot partition of the SD card error.

Tips to resolve unable to partition SD card issue:

1. Try partitioning different SD cards.
2. Properly connect the SD card to your system.
3. Remove SD card from Read-only mode.
4. Fix SD card error.

Download Remo Recover software to restore your SD card data from the following data loss scenario:

1. Deleted or lost files from SD card
2. Deleted partition from SD card
3. Formatted or corrupt SD card 

Remo Recover software is one of the best SD card partition recovery software available in the market. It can easily restore more than 500 file formats, such as photos, videos, raw images, audio files, documents, Office files, etc., from memory cards, SDHC/ SDXC cards, micro SD cards, USB drives, external hard drives, SSD, etc.

Instructions to Recover Data from Memory card

Step 1: Download and install Remo Recover software on Windows or Mac.

Step 2: Launch the tool and connect your SD card to your system using a card reader.

Step 3: Once the application is launched select the SD card drive from the main page and click on the Scan button to start the data recovery process. 

Step 4: During the scanning process, click on the Dynamic Recovery View option and double-click on photos or videos to preview them for free.

Step 5: After the scanning operation completes, select the files you want to restore and click on the Recover button.

Final Words:

Memory cards may vary in size but can be accessed with the use of a proper adapter or memory card reader. Partitioning can help you in a number of ways; it would save you from the loss of entire data on the card. So go ahead and make a partition on your memory card to avoid unnecessary loss of information. In case you have lost data during partitioning, you can retrieve all the information using reliable data recovery software for the recovery of memory cards like Remo Recover.