8 Best Fixes for SD Card Not Showing Up on Windows 11

Sommaire

To be frank, Most people with a PC or laptop have at least an SD card or other external drive. SD cards are widely appreciated for their capability to store data and back up images, files, and videos. Another great deal is their portability. Being small, you can take it anywhere and see whatever you want anytime.

But when our system cannot read the SD card, we panic. For example, Windows 11 users face issues with not showing SD cards. If you are one of them, you have reached the perfect place. Here’s the guide on how to fix SD card not showing up on Window 11 you have to follow.

Common Reason Why SD Card is Not Showing Up on Windows 11

SD cards are probably used on mobile phones, but laptops and PCs have dedicated slots for them. You can use an SD card reader or a dedicated slot if the system has one—many ways are available.

Until your system detects the card, it won’t appear on the screen. There are many reasons why Windows 11 cannot detect the SD card. However, let’s look at the common reason of why SD card is not detected in Windows 10/11.

SD card is corrupted or damaged.
Virus and malware infection.
Faulty SD card driver.
Outdated device driver.
System Bugs.

How to Fix SD Card Not Showing Up on Windows 11

Well, we discussed the reason the SD card did not show up. Now, we will focus on the possibilities of fixing this issue. After extensive research, we have devised these methods to fix this issue on Windows 10 and 11.

1. Few Simple & Basic Test

Before diving into advanced troubleshooting, we will run some basic and simple tests to determine whether the SD or the system is faulty.

Unlocked SD card: Did you know the small sliding switch on the SD card determines whether the card is locked? It prevents data manipulations. You can check out the card by unlocking it.
Faulty Reader: Most users face this problem when using a faulty reader. If you are using a reader to access an SD card, ensure that the reader is working perfectly.
Check the Card on Another System: You can check the card with a working reader with another system. If it works fine on another system, then the problem lies under the system. Let’s fix them all, one by one.

2. Clean SD Card and Port

Do you think your dirty card and port will make a sweet connection? The system cannot understand the SD card in a dusty port.

To make a clean connection between these two components, supply the cleanest reader and SD card. Don’t forget to clean the port as well.

3. Restart the System

Restarting or rebooting the system helps in various ways. It increases the availability of RAM, CPU, and other necessary elements. Even restarting the system removes glitches.

So, when your SD card does not show on the system or fails to detect it, you can try restarting the system once and checking the SD card again.

4. Update SD Card Driver

An outdated driver could be a possible reason for this issue. Sometimesthe driver gets corrupted as well. Here’s what you need to follow to fix it: Update your SD card’s drivers to make it readable.

Press Windows > search for Device Manager > Open it.
Find the Disk Driver, and click on the small arrow to expand its options.
Now select the SD card driver and right-click on it. Here click on the update.
On the next dialog box click on the Search automatically for drivers.
Your SD card driver will be up to date.

5. Perform Hardware Troubleshooter

Normally, a basic troubleshooter feature is available in the Settings for various other things. Here, we will perform advanced hardware troubleshooting to correct SD not showing up in Windows 11.

Open Runsearch for msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic and hit the enter button.
A window will open in front of you, names as Hardware and devices. Now click on the Next button simply.
It will troubleshoot the hardware, and now it will check whether the SD card is showing up in the File Manager.

6. Perform CHKDSK to Repair Corrupted Files

If you think the issue is caused by corrupted files, you can perform this method. Moreover, it also helps to spot the issue on the drive and fix it automatically.

Press Windows > search CMD/ Command Prompt > click on Run as administrator.
Now type this mentioned command, and hit enter. Don’t forget to add the drive name of your SD card.
```
chkdsk /f (drive name):
```
After a while, the scanning and correcting process will be complete, and you can now check the SD card.

7. Change the Drive Letter of the SD Card

Here is another considerable method that you should perform to prevent SD cards not detecting in Windows 11. However, in Windows, you can see all drive has a letter name. Your SD also has a letter name. We change the letter name or add a letter name if it has no.

Open Run > diskmgmt.msc > OK or Enter.
Disk Management tool will open. Now select the SD drive from the list.
Next, right-click on the drive, and click on Change Drive Letter and Paths.
Then click on the change button.
Select a letter from the drop-down menu.
Now click on Ok to save these changes.

8. Update Windows

Updating not only brings new features but also provides security to the device. It clears existing bugs to strengthen the performance. Moreover, when we update Windows, it directly involves updating other drivers inside the system.

Press Windows > Settings > Windows update.
Now click on Check for updates.
Then download and install the update.

Final Words

Wrapping up, that’s enough about how to fix an SD card not showing up in Windows. All shared methods will help you in this regard. If you have an issue with it, let us know in the comment section.