Fix: “SD Card is Blank or has Unsupported File System” Notification

You will encounter the SD Card is blank or has an unsupported file system if the inserted card is faulty or the phone is not compatible with the card’s file system. Try formatting the SD card into the FAT32 system as it will clear any file system errors and most devices are easily compatible with this format.

Before starting the troubleshooting process, make sure your phone supports the capacity of the SD card. A phone that supports 32 GB will throw the blank or unsupported issue if a 64 GB card is inserted into the phone.

Moreover, if your SD card was encrypted before the issue, then its recovery chances are minimum and it will be better to use a professional data recovery service.

1. Restart Your Device

Your device will show an SD card as blank or unsupported if the storage modules of the OS are not fully functional after an update. This happens more often than you think. Here, restarting your device will do the trick.

1. Press and hold the power button of your phone.
2. Tap on Restart and once done, check if the SD card is working.

   

3. If not, power off the phone and remove the SD card from the phone.
4. Power on the phone without the card and wait for a minute before inserting back the card.
5. Now check if the issue is resolved. 

2. Clean the SD Card and its Slot

If rust, debris, or dust on the connections of the SD card is not letting a proper connection establish, it will result in this error message. This can be fixed by cleaning the SD card and the device’s slot.

1. Power off the device and remove the SD card.
2. Grab a lint-free cloth and clean the connections of the SD card.

   

3. Grab a compressed air can and blow air onto the phone’s slot.
4. Blow air onto the card’s connections and insert the card back into the phone.
5. Power on the phone again and check if the card is working.

3. Try the SD Card Data Recovery on Another Device

Your SD card will show as unsupported if the device in use is not compatible with the card. This can happen after an OS update or due to hardware issues with the device.

Here, trying the SD card on another device will confirm the scenario and help in resolving the issue. If you want to try recovery after formatting the card, then format the card first and retry recovery but you will risk losing your data permanently.

On Another Mobile Device

1. Power off both phones and remove the SD card from your phone.
2. Insert the card into the other phone and power on that phone.

   

3. Check if the SD card is working properly. If so, you can back up your data. If the phone asks to format the card, do not format it at this stage. 

If you have a spare SD card, check if that card works correctly in the problematic phone.

On a PC

1. Power off your phone and remove the SD card from your phone.
2. Insert the card into an SD card reader and insert the reader into the PC.

   

3. Check if the PC can read/write to the card. If so, back up the data on your card. If the PC tries to scan and repair the card, let it complete. If the PC asks to format the card, do not format the card at this stage as all your data will be lost. 

Use a Data Recovery App

If your PC cannot recover the data from the SD card, it is time to go for a data recovery app. You may use any app of your choice but TestDisk (free) and GetDataBack (paid) are reported to recover data from a blank or unsupported SD card. 

You may try these apps at your own risk. We are referring to these only in good faith and for educational purposes only. General guidelines for recovering data by using a data recovery app are as under:

1. While your card is connected to the PC, download, install, and launch a data recovery app.
2. Let the app scan the SD card. It may take some time to complete.
3. If the app shows data on the card, activate the full version of the app (if required) and recover the data from the card. It may take hours to complete the process.

4. Repair the SD Card Formatting on a PC

The SD card will become blank or unsupported if it has bad sectors or its file system has errors. This might have occurred when the card was removed without unmounting it properly or after an OS update. Here, repairing the SD card formatting on a PC will solve the problem.

1. Insert the SD card into the PC and launch File Explorer.

   

2. Right-click on the SD Card and select Properties.

   

3. Head to the Tools tab and click on Check.

   

4. Select Scan and Repair Drive.

   

5. Wait till the process completes and once done, remove the card from the PC.
6. Insert the card into the problematic device and check if it is working properly.

If Window’s default repair mechanism didn’t work, you can move forward and install Minitool Partition Wizard. 

1. Install, and launch MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition (you can use any other app of your choice).
2. Do a Surface Test of the card and then perform a File System Check.

   

3. Once done, remove the card from the PC and insert the card into the phone. Make sure the phone is powered off.
4. Power on the phone and check if the card is working properly.

5. Format the SD Card in the FAT32 Format

If the data tables of your SD card are no more valid or the card is formatted in a format (such as NTFS) that your device is not compatible with, then you will encounter a blank or unsupported problem. To fix this, format the SD card in the FAT32 format.

On a Mobile Phone

1. Launch Settings of your phone and navigate to Storage > SD Card.

   

2. Tap on Format and confirm to format your card. Check if the issue is resolved.

   

If the problematic phone fails to format the card, you can try to format the card on another phone. 

On a Windows PC

1. Insert the SD card into the PC by using an SD card adopter and launch the File Explorer.
2. Right-click on the SD card and select Format.

   

3. Change File System to FAT32 (Default) and uncheck Quick Format.
4. Click on Start and select OK.

   

5. Wait till the process completes and once done, remove the card from the PC.
6. Insert the card into the problematic device and check if the card is working properly.

If this doesn’t work, we can try renaming the drive letter. This refreshes the path of the SD card and it might solve the problem. 

1. Right-click on Windows and select Disk Management.

   

2. Right-click on the SD card and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.

   

3. Select Remove and confirm to remove the letters.

   

4. Add the letter back to the SD card and check if it can be formatted. If so, check if it works fine on the problematic device.

If that does not work, check if formatting the card with Diskpart solves the problem.

Use an App

If your mobile or PC is failing to format the card, let’s try an SD card app. You may try any app but the SD Formatter is reported to format cards that cannot be formatted otherwise.

1. Insert the card into the PC by using an SD card adopter.
2. Download and install the SD Card Formatter.

   

3. Launch it as an administrator and set the Select Card dropdown to your required card.
4. Select Overwrite Format and click on the Format button.

   

5. Wait till the process completes and once done, close the app.
6. Remove the card from the PC and insert it back into the phone. Make sure the phone is powered off.
7. Power on the phone and hopefully, the SD card will be operating properly.

If not, most probably the card is faulty. You may get the card replaced if under warranty or get a new one. But before that, make sure another card works fine in your phone, otherwise, the phone’s SD card slot might be faulty and need a replacement.

If you have recently flashed a custom ROM on your device, check if reverting to the stock ROM solves the problem. At last, a piece of advice, it is always good to back up your data especially, on memory cards as these cards are prone to failure.