Digital Camera won’t read SD card: Best Solutions & Tips

You’re standing in a lovely spot, ready to take the ideal photograph, but your brand new SD card is not working in the camera or your camera won’t read the SD card. As frustration sets in, your photographic aspirations appear to drift away. Before you give up completely, go through our guest blog, where we will investigate numerous reasons for this widespread issue and give you the finest solutions and ideas for overcoming it.

If any of the following problems apply to you, you will explore solutions in this article:

• Your SD card is not being read by your camera.
• Your camera is reading your SD card; your PC is not.
• You cannot read your SD card with your camera.
• Nothing is able to read the SD card.
• Your computer or camera is displaying a ‘memory card error’ message.

Why Does My Camera Not Read My SD Card?

Check out the potential causes here if you have similar questions, since it may be one of them that led to the failure of your camera SD card:

• Hardware problems
• Incorrectly inserted SD card
• Corrupted SD card 
• Malfunctioning camera
• Card reader/adapter issues
• The SD card is either write-protected or locked, meaning it cannot be accessed. It also indicates that it won’t format or can’t format.

Before diving deep into elaborative solutions to figure out the reason for Digital Camera won’t read SD card, begin with the basic fixes:

• Ensure the SD card is inserted properly into the camera slot.
• Change the SD card in the camera, or try a different card reader or USB port.

• Allow the memory card to display hidden files.
• Disable write protection on the SD card.
• If you suspect moisture retention in the SD card, you should simply leave it to dry for a few days.
• Utilizing antivirus software, remove malware or viruses

If, after implementing the above basic fixes, the SD card is still not being read by the Digital Camera, follow the below troubleshooting methods: 

• Examine the SD card for logical or physical errors.

For this procedure, you will require access to a Windows computer. Link the SD card to the computer.

• Run any command line interface as an administrator by opening it. You may also use PowerShell and Terminal as CLIs.
• Write down the SD card’s ‘Drive Number’ that has to be fixed. This is shown in ‘My Computer.’ The Drive Number in below example is (F).
• Enter ‘chkdsk F: /x’ into the command prompt and press ‘Enter.’
• An error message such as below may appear:

 ‘Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N) Y

This volume will be checked the next time the system restarts.’

• If the above error message appears, press ‘Enter’ after selecting ‘Y.’ Try again after quitting all open apps and restarting the computer.
• A message such as below may appear after retrying. 

‘The type of the file system is exFAT. Volume Serial Number is 562B-C5B1 Windows is verifying files and folders… Volume label is Extreme SSD. 6 percent completed..’

• If no error message appears, your drive will be scanned for faults using the chkdsk /x command, which then automatically fixes them.
• Once the fix is finished, try inserting your SD card into your camera and reevaluate.
• Update SD card drivers
• To access ‘Device Manager,’ right-click the ‘Start’ icon. Another option is to left-click the ‘Start’ icon, type ‘Device Manager,’ and then choose it.
• Open the collapsed menu by navigating to ‘Disk Drives.’ To update the driver, right-click your SD card from the menu, then let Microsoft run the update. Windows will update the driver automatically for you if it is outdated.
• Try inserting your SD card into your camera after unplugging it to check whether it now functions.
• SD card format incompatibility

Your camera might not be able to read the format of an SD card. To solve this issue, take the following actions:

• For information on supported SD card formats, consult the manufacturer’s website or the camera manual handbook.
• If needed, make a backup copy of the SD card’s contents to your computer.
• Use a computer or the menu functions on the camera to reformat the SD card using a compatible file system.
• Check to see if the camera now recognizes the reformatted SD card.

Here’s how you can format it on a computer: 

• To launch Windows File Explorer, press ‘Ctrl’ + ‘E.’
• In Windows 11, select ‘This PC’ from the tab on the file explorer menu on the left.
• Go to ‘This computer’ if you are using Windows 10. Go to ‘My Computer’ if you are using an earlier version of Windows.
• Use a single left click to choose your SD card. Next, select ‘Format’ with a right-click on it.
• As a general rule, format your SD card to FAT32 if its capacity is less than 32 GB. Choose exFAT if it is more than 32 GB.
• In the warning window that appears, click ‘OK.’
• Hold off until the SD’s formatting is complete. Next, attempt to insert it into your camera to check whether it functions.

1. Software or firmware problems

Software bugs or outdated firmware may prevent the camera from reading the SD card. To fix this, try the following steps:

• To see if your camera model has any firmware upgrades available, go to the website of the camera manufacturer.
• As directed by the manufacturer, download and install the most recent firmware on your camera.
• If the issue still arises, you might want to consider factory resetting the camera to return it to factory settings.

• Faulty card slot

It may be the case that you are facing a memory card error on the camera due to a malfunctioning card slot. To solve this issue, do the following steps:

• Try using a different SD card that is known to function well to rule out any card-related problems.
• Check for physical damage or debris that could be preventing the card from making adequate contact with the slot.
• It is essential to have any damage or blockages looked at by a specialist for possible repair.

Professional evaluation: If, after implementing all the above-mentioned methods, your camera still won’t read the SD card and you fear losing data, resort to a professional software. SD card recovery software can further help you inspect and recover data before you format a memory card or discard it completely.

For this, you will need to use SD card recovery software for recovering data such as photos, videos, and files from SD cards. One such software is Stellar Photo Recovery.

Here’s how you can use it:  

• Go to the Stellar Photo Recovery software website and click the ‘Download’ option.
• Open the downloaded file by navigating to its stored location. In the pop-up window that shows up next, click ‘Yes.’
• After choosing your language, press ‘OK.’
• Click ‘Next’ after accepting the terms of the contract.
• Click ‘Browse’ to select the installation location for the software, or click ‘Next’ if you wish to keep everything as it is (which is recommended).
• Press the ‘Install’ button, then let the installation complete.
• Click ‘Finish’ once the installation is finished and the necessary files have been downloaded.
• Launch the software. 
• Select SD card and proceed with ‘Scan.’
• It can take some time for the scan to finish. To see any files you might be able to recover, click the ‘Turn On Preview’ toggle in the upper right corner.
• Once the scan is complete, you can preview all recoverable data.
• Click the ‘Recover’ option if you want to export the files that are recoverable and that you can preview. 
• Choose the designated folder where you want to save recoverable files and click ‘Save.’

Note: The software would require you to purchase a license before use. 

In conclusion, there are a number of possible reasons why your digital camera won’t read the SD card, including hardware malfunctions, corrupted SD cards, and software bugs. Easy solutions include making sure the SD card is inserted correctly and turning off write protection. Among the troubleshooting techniques are reformatting the SD card, upgrading the drivers, and checking the card for problems. In the event that all else fails, have a professional review and think about recovering data using software like Stellar Photo Recovery. You may raise your chances of solving the issue and returning to capturing excellent pictures by carefully and slowly going through each step in this process.