Are you troubled by the “This memory card cannot be used. Card may be damaged. Insert another card.” error message? Here are some feasible solutions to help you resolve it. Before doing that, you need to recover its data by using MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

Error – This Memory Card Cannot Be Used

Last weekend, I took some amazing shots in a beautiful mountain. However, yesterday, I could not access my beautiful photos, and I received the error message saying 'This memory card cannot be used, card may be damaged, insert another card'. Now, what should I do?"
this memory card cannot be used

Have you ever encountered the same or similar problems? How to repair damaged SD card? Can we access the data saved in the damaged SD card again? Is it possible to fix the error “this memory card cannot be used” without affecting the original data?

According to a survey, people who succeed solve this error do two things very well:

  • First, they recover data from memory card that cannot be used.
  • Second, they fix the error.

Now, you might be wondering: “How do I get back files from a damaged SD card when it asks me to insert another card and tells memory card cannot be used?”

Keep reading to get comprehensive instructions.

Chapter 1 – Recover Data After Memory Card Cannot Be Used

In general, when it comes to memory card data recovery, you have 2 direct and effective options. One is to turn to data recovery companies and another is to turn to a piece of professional and free data recovery software.

Data recovery companies indeed can help you recover lost data, but they ask for high data recovery fees and may leak customers’ privacy. Therefore, most users prefer professional data recovery software equipped with high security. MiniTool Power Data Recovery, a simple and professional file restore tool, is strongly recommended due to the following characteristics.

  • It supports all kinds of file types, such as documents, images, videos, audio, emails, and so on.
  • It not only can recover files from memory cards but also other file storage media including hard drives, USB flash drives, SD cards, CDs/DVDs, etc.
  • It can help recover files regardless of the reasons for data loss. For instance, you can use it to recover files from hard disks that need to be formatted, recover SD cards with unsupported file system, and more.
  • It allows you to preview diverse files for confirmation.
  • The free edition of this file restore tool has 1 GB of free data recovery capacity, allowing you to restore up to 1 GB of data without charge.
  • It has concise interfaces and is easy to use.

Now, download MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free and follow the guide below to recover memory card files.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step-by-step Guide to Recovering Files From Memory Card That Cannot Be Used

Step 1. Connect the memory card to your computer via a card reader. Then launch MiniTool Power Data Recovery to get its main interface. Under the Logical Drives module, find your SD card, move the mouse cursor to it, and click the Scan button.

scan the memory card

Step 2. After scanning, it is time to find and tick the files you need to recover from the card. You can browse through listed files in two ways: by file path & by file type.

  • Path: This is where all the found files are listed by default. You can expand each folder to locate the desired files.
  • Type: Under this tab, you have the ability to view files by file type and even by specific file formats. This feature is of great help when you want to recover a certain type of file.
Path and Type

Moreover, if you can remember the file name, you can use the Search feature to find a specified file directly. However, some files may lose their original file name due to file system corruption. In this case, you can turn to the Filter feature to filter out unnecessary files by file type, file modification date, file size, and file category.

Filter and Search

Next, double-click on a file to preview it to prevent recovering unnecessary files. Be aware that only files no larger than 2 GB in size can be previewed.

preview the video

Step 3. Check all needed files, and click the Save button which is located at the lower right corner to specify a location to save all selected files and click OK.

Since the free edition of MiniTool Power Data Recovery has a 1 GB data restoration limit, if you need to recover more files, you are required to upgrade the software.

“Great! I’ve made it! With MiniTool Power Data Recovery, I recovered data from memory card that cannot be used without bringing any damage to the original data. You can try this tool.Click to Tweet

After recovering lost data, let’s see how to fix the error “This memory card cannot be used. Card may be damaged. Insert another card”.

Detailed Tutorial on SD Card Recovery for Windows 10
Detailed Tutorial on SD Card Recovery for Windows 10

If you’re looking for solutions to SD card recovery for Windows 10, you definitely shouldn’t miss this tutorial.

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Chapter 2 – Fix Error “This Memory Card Cannot Be Used”

If you encounter the “memory card cannot be used, card may be damaged, insert another card” error, you can try the following 2 solutions to fix it.

Solution 1: Repair Damaged Memory Card by Using CHKDSK

CHKDSK is a system tool in Windows that verifies the file system integrity of a volume and fixes logical file system errors. Here you can see how to fix SD card with this tool.

Step 1. Type cmd in the Windows search box and choose Run as Administrator under Command Prompt.

Step 2: Type chkdsk /r [Drive Letter] and press Enter (Here, we type chkdsk /r e: for example)

run CHKDSK

Step 3: Type Exit and press Enter.

If this method doesn’t work, you can try formatting the memory card that cannot be used.

Solution 2: Format the Memory Card That Cannot Be Used

To format the damaged memory card, you can directly connect this card to the computer, and open File Explorer > go to This PC, right-click the targeted card, and choose Format.

Next, specify the file system, allocation unit size, volume label, and check Quick Format, and finally click the Start button.

format the memory card

Third, click OK when you receive the following prompt:

WARNING: Formatting will erase ALL data on this disk. To format the disk, click OK. To quit, click CANCEL.

Thus, all work has been done.

Unfortunately, however, according to a survey, some users failed and received the “Windows was unable to complete the format” error.

Is there any other effective way to format damaged memory cards? Yes! Of course! We can effectively and quickly format damaged memory cards by using third-party partition magic.

MiniTool Partition Wizard, a green, simple, professional, and free partition magic, can help you format memory cards with ease.

MiniTool Partition Wizard FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

  1. Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard.
  2. Select the memory card that cannot be used and choose the “Format Partition” feature from the left panel.
  3. Set the partition label, file system, and cluster size for the selected partition and click “OK“.
  4. Click the “Apply” button on the top to apply the change.

Here is a video tutorial on how to fix “This memory card cannot be used”.

Chapter 3 – 11 Simple Tips to Avoid Memory Card Problems

As a matter of fact, in addition to the error “memory card cannot be used”, other common errors also occur with memory cards. For instance, Blank SD card. SD card is blank or has unsupported file system.

Now, I guess you might be wondering:

“Is it possible to avoid these problems, or at least to minimize the frequency with which they occur?”

Of course, we can. Here are 11 tips to help you avoid memory card problems.

  1. Think twice before deleting files.
  2. When you are saving or displaying photo and video files, you should not remove the memory card from your device.
  3. It is recommended to let the memory card stay in the camera or Android device while turning on and off the device.
  4. Never switch the memory card while the camera or Android is on.
  5. Stop viewing and taking photos and videos when the battery is low.
  6. Stop shooting before the memory card is full.
  7. It is recommended to choose memory cards from reputable manufacturers, such as SanDisk, Panasonic, Sony, Kingston, Lexar, and so on.
  8. Keep the memory card in a safe environment. (Many things can damage your memory card, including water, dust, static electricity, and even the smallest amount of static.)
  9. Stop using the memory card immediately when you see errors.
  10. Please note that memory cards do not work forever. For instance, a typical memory card has a lifespan of around 10,000 write/erase operations.
  11. Don’t put all eggs in one basket – always back up. (Here, I guess you might be interested in this post – Clone SD Card to PC.)
Fix SD Card Stops Working on Windows – 7 Solutions
Fix SD Card Stops Working on Windows – 7 Solutions

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Bottom Line

See! If our memory card cannot be used, we can format this card to reuse it. However, formatting will delete all original data on this card, thus we have to recover lost data from the damaged card before formatting it.

If you have any questions or suggestions about MiniTool Power Data Recovery, you can directly send an email to [email protected]. Thanks in advance!

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