SD Card is Blank or Has Unsupported File System – Resolved

Blank SD Card or Unsupported File System
“SD card is blank or has unsupported file system”
– When you suddenly realize that your SD card is blank, it does not mean that your data is lost. If you are an SD card user, you might have come across this error message at some point, while trying to access your photos, videos, and other media files through your Smart Phone, Digital Camera or a tablet.Generally speaking, when Smart Phone, Camera, or a Tablet fails to read the SD card it may display SD card is blank error or your data is completely missing. It can also prompt us to format the card to fix the issue. This generally happens due to corruption on SD cards.

Table of Contents

1. Run CHKDSK to Fix Blank & Unsupported SD Card in case of minor corruption

2. Show Hidden Files in case the files in the SD card are corrupted

3. Re-install the disk drivers in case the SD card is corrupted severely

4. Recover data from Blank SD card with Remo Recover

Note: If data is your first priority than fixing your SD card, it is recommended that you go ahead with recovering files from blank SD card with Remo Recover, a reliable data recovery software.
SD cards get corrupt due to severe virus attacks, abrupt removal of the card from the device during its usage, and improper usage of the SD card. All these factors basically affect the file system of your SD card, and as a result, it may turn into a RAW drive.  Since a Raw drive cannot be recognized by your Android Phone, Camera, Computer, and other devices, the data on the SD card will not be displayed.

NOTE: If you are using SD card on an Android Phone, and the phone is not recognizing the SD card or displaying as blank SD card error, then check the file system of the SD card. Android devices are familiar with only exFAT, FAT32, EXT3, and EXT4 file systems. If the SD card is formatted with NTFS, or other file system, then your Android device doesn’t recognize the SD card, and you will be stuck with blank SD card problem.

SD card becomes useless until you fix blank and displays blank SD card or unsupported file system error message. Although formatting the SD card can be a good solution, it wipes out the data on the SD card. Now the question is how to fix “SD card is blank or has unsupported file system” issue and recover files from blank SD card.

Fortunately, we came out with four safe solutions to fix “SD card is blank or has unsupported file system” issue. Try these fixes for blank SD card problem.

Solutions to fix “SD card is blank or has unsupported file system” error:

Solution 1: Run CHKDSK to Fix Blank & Unsupported SD Card

Step 1: Connect your SD card to your system via Card reader

Step 2: Open Windows Command Prompt

Step 3: Type Chkdsk g: /f (f represents the drive letter assigned to your SD card), and hit Enter

chkdsk f commandThe chkdsk /f command checks and repair issues with the disk drive to make it readable again.

Now, remove your SD card from the computer, and insert it back to your Smartphone, or a tablet to check whether it is working fine. If the problem still persists, then go ahead with the next solution to fix your blank SD card problem.

Solution 2: Show Hidden Files

The second solution is testing your blank SD card to check whether any hidden files exist in it. The reason behind this test is to verify if any harmful hidden files are causing a problem for SD card functionality. To do this, follow the steps given below:

NOTE: The procedure given below applies to Windows 10 OS, and it slightly varies for the other versions of Windows Operating Systems.

Step 1: Connect your SD card to a computer via card reader, and check whether it is detected by your computer. If detected, then go to the Step 2.
Step 2: Now, Open the Control Panel, and click on Programs
Step 3: Under Programs, click on Appearance and Personalization in the left pane

Step 4: Now, click on the File Explorer Options from the right pane and select the View Tab

Step 5: Next, select the radio button associated with Show Hidden Files, folders, and drives

Step 6: Now, click on Apply, and hit OK button to save the changes

Now, disconnect the SD card from your computer, and insert it back to your digital device. If your SD card is showing all the files stored in it, then the problem is solved, and you can access your SD card files. If you are facing the blank SD card situation, try the next solution.

NOTE: In the meanwhile, troubleshooting the faulty or corrupted SD card can lead to data loss problem. So, it’s better to recover data from blank SD card with Remo Recover Software for free. The software is available for free download. Get it and recover your files for free.

Solution 3: Re-install the disk drivers to fix “SD card is blank or has unsupported file system”

Updating the disk drivers is one of the most frequently used troubleshooting methods for a removable drive like SD card or any other USB device. Follow these steps to fix blank SD card by updating the disk drivers.

Step 1: Type cmd in the Search Box and right-click on the “Command Prompt”, and then choose “Open as Administrator

Command Prompt Run As Administrator

Step 2: Now, type set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 at the command prompt interface. Then, input “start devmgmt.msc”, and hit Enter

Step 3: This will open the “Device Manager”. Here Click on the “View” Tab, and choose “Select hidden devices

Step 4: Now, expand the “Universal serial bus controller” section

Step 5: If you find any grayed entries > Right-click on it > Select “Uninstall

Uninstall DriversNow, reboot your computer that automatically reinstalls the drivers. Now, connect the SD card to your Smart Phone, or a Tablet, and it should be working fine. In any other case formatting the SD card is the last solution to sort out the issue. But, formatting wipes out all the data stored in the SD card. So, before formatting the SD card, recover files from blank SD card with a reliable and trusted data recovery software.

Solution 4: Recover Data from Blank SD Card with Remo Recover

Even after trying out with the above three solutions, if you are facing the “SD Card is blank or has unsupported file system” error message, then what to do? Don’t worry! Still you can recover files from blank SD card safely with Remo Recover software, and then format the SD card to permanently fix the issues with your SD card. Download the Professional Remo SD Card Recovery Software, and install it on your computer for free. After successful installation of the software, follow few simple instructions given below to recover data from blank SD card:

Step 1: Download and install Remo Recover on your computer and follow the steps below to recover data from blank SD cards. 

Step 2: From the main screen select your drive from where you want to recover the files.

select the drive

Step 3: Click on the Scan option to initiate the scanning process. 

Note: Once the Quick scan is completed, the tool automatically starts Deep Scan. you can click on the Dynamic Recovery View to see the recovery result.

initiate the scan

Step 4: Go to the Lost and Found Files in the Tree structure and find your lost files on SD card.

Step 5: Finally, select the lost files which you want to restore and click on the Recover option

After the successful recovery of files from blank SD card, go ahead with formatting the faulty SD card to make it usable again. Now, you have successfully recovered files from blank SD card, and fixed blank SD card problem.

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John Harris

Senior Editor, Content Analyst and a fan of exceptional customer service. John develops and publishes instructional and informational content regarding partition management, Windows hot-fixes, data management and computer troubleshooting.

As a tenured data recovery specialist, John shares exceptional insights and blog posts about data loss and data recovery across any storage device. With 8+ years’ experience in writing for Data Recovery for both Mac OS and Windows OS computers, he is an avid learner who always wants to polish and simplify the data recovery process. John passes his free time playing Chess and reading Science Fiction novels.

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