How to Format a Micro SD Memory Card

Micro SD is a very small memory card, often used to increase memory for devices such as cameras, GPS navigation devices and mobile phones. In most cases, you can format the micro SD card using the built-in command on the device. However, you can also format a micro SD card right on a Windows or Mac computer.

Table of Contents

On Android

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Tap the “Settings” app on the home screen of your Android device. The “Settings” app will be somewhere on the home screen, scroll through the pages to find it.

The “Settings” app icon may look slightly different depending on your Android version, but on most phones it should be a gear.

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Tap the “Storage” or “SD & Phone Storage” option. This option will have a different name depending on the Android version. Look for the option that contains the word “Storage”.

You can recognize this option by looking at the SD card icon.

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Select the option “Erase SD card” or “Format SD card”. This screen will include information about SD card memory, free space, and options to “Unmount SD Card” and “Format SD Card”. ^{[1] X Research Source}

If the “Format SD Card” option is grayed out, you need to unmount the SD card first. In this case, tap on “Unmount SD Card”.

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Tap the option to confirm that you want to erase the data on the SD card when Android asks. The Android device will begin to format the micro SD card and erase all data on it. ^{[2] X Research Source}

Several screens may appear asking if you are sure you want to format the SD card. If you confirm, all data on the card will be deleted.
Follow the instructions to erase and format the memory card.
Once done, the memory card will be formatted to the FAT32 file system type. All data will be erased and you will have a newly formatted memory card for Android phones.
Note: With Android 6.0 Marshmallow, you will have the option to set the memory card as internal or removable storage. If you choose to use it as removable storage, the SD card acts like portable storage, allowing you to take it out and copy data to a computer or other device. If you choose as internal memory, after formatting, the computer will not be able to read the content on the card. The SD memory card will become the main storage system on the device. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

On Windows Phone

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Find the “Settings” app. This method is for Windows phones, such as Windows Phone 8 and later; HTC One M8; Nokia Lumia 635; Nokia Lumia 830; Microsoft Lumia 735.

You can find the “Settings” section through the pinned tiles on the home screen or the app list. ^{[4] X Research Sources}
Depending on your phone and current firmware, you may need to find the “Storage Sense” app in the App list. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

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Scroll down and tap the “phone storage” option. On the “Settings” screen, scroll down to find the “phone storage” option located between the “battery saver” and “backup” sections.

The “phone storage” option will show the available storage space on your phone and SD card.
After tapping on “Storage Sense”, you will see an option for “SD card”. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

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Tap the “Format SD card” option. On the “phone storage” page, a graph showing how much memory is being used on the device will appear. Click on the “SD card” section.

Formatting the SD card will erase all content stored on the card. You need to make sure you back up your data somewhere.

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Click on the “format SD card” option. After clicking on the “SD card” section, the next screen will appear with two options: delete the card and format the card. Tap the card format option.

After you click on “format SD card”, the screen will show a warning prompt that erasing the SD card will erase all data and files on the card. The system will also ask if you want to continue, then click “yes” to format.
Once the process is complete, the phone will recognize the card again and automatically ask if you want to configure the card. At this point, follow the instructions.

On Windows

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Plug the micro SD card into an adapter or micro SD card reader. For example, with a SanDisk micro SD card, you need the included micro SD adapter. The adapter looks like a regular SD card but has an extra slot at the bottom for you to insert a micro SD card into.

Note: most Micro SD cards of 32 GB or less are formatted with the FAT32 standard. Cards with a capacity of 64 GB or more are formatted with the exFAT file system. If you format the SD card for use on your Android phone, Nintendo DS or 3DS, choose the FAT32 standard. With Android, if you’re an advanced user, many apps or custom recovery won’t be able to read the exFAT standard.
Formatting to FAT32 is usually the best option, however, a memory card formatted with FAT32 will not allow you to copy or store files larger than 4 GB.
You can also purchase a third-party micro SD card adapter if you don’t already have one. Note: the adapter must be compatible with your micro SD card. Some third-party products also include a built-in USB head and act as a flash drive.

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Plug a memory card reader or adapter into a USB port or SD card slot on your Windows computer. Whether you use the SD card slot or the USB port depends on the computer and the adapter type.

If using a micro SD card adapter, make sure the lock switch is facing up and in the open position. If this switch is in the locked position, the computer will not be able to read the card or allow you to make any changes. The memory card will be in “Read only” mode.
It is better to copy the data on the memory card to the computer to save. This way, you will have a copy of your data and files to copy back to the card after formatting.

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Click the Start menu and select “Computer” or “My Computer”. This method works on Windows 7 and later.

The “Computer” window will appear on the screen along with a list of all the drives on the computer.
Find the SD card. The card can be identified by the brand name (unless you have renamed the memory card before). If you have renamed the tag, search by that name.

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Right-click the memory card reader in the list of drives and select “Format”. A window with formatting options will appear on the screen.

If you don’t see the “Format” option, you may need to download and install the fat32format utility for the GUI (graphical user interface) version.

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Check the box next to the “Quick Format” option. If you can click on the “Format” option, a box with various options including “Quick Format” will appear. Check this box for best results.

If the computer has fat32utility installed, a similar box will pop up after you launch the guiformat.exe file.
Before clicking the “Start” button, you need to make sure that the other tags and options are correct. Check that the “Capacity” section shows the appropriate amount of memory. You need to properly format the desired file system, usually FAT32.

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Click the “Start” button. The computer will begin to format and erase all data on the micro SD card. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

Once done, you will have a new micro SD card with no data, formatted for use.

On Mac

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Plug the micro SD card into the adapter or micro SD card reader. For example, with a SanDisk micro SD card, you need the included micro SD adapter. The adapter looks like a regular SD card but has an extra slot at the bottom for you to insert a micro SD card into.

Note: most Micro SD cards of 32 GB or less are formatted with the FAT32 standard. Cards with a capacity of 64 GB or more are formatted with the exFAT file system. If you format the SD card for use on your Android phone, Nintendo DS or 3DS, choose the FAT32 standard. With Android, if you’re an advanced user, many apps or custom recovery won’t be able to read the exFAT standard.
In addition, on Mac OS 10.6.5 (Snow Leopard) and earlier, we will not be able to use or format the exFAT card because older versions of Mac OS do not support this file system. At that time, you need to upgrade the OS operating system.
Formatting to FAT32 is usually the best option, however, a memory card formatted with FAT32 will not allow you to copy or store files larger than 4 GB.
You can also purchase a third-party micro SD card adapter if you don’t already have one. Note: the adapter must be compatible with your micro SD card. Some third-party products also include a built-in USB head and act as a flash drive.

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Plug a memory card reader or adapter into a USB port or SD card slot on your Windows computer. Whether you use the SD card slot or the USB port depends on the computer and the adapter type.

If using a micro SD card adapter, make sure the lock switch is facing up and in the open position. If this switch is in the locked position, the computer will not be able to read the card or allow you to make any changes. The memory card will be in “Read only” mode.
It is better to copy the data on the memory card to the computer to save. This way, you will have a copy of your data and files to copy back to the card after formatting.

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Click the search icon in the upper-right corner of the taskbar at the top of the screen. Type “Disk Utility” and click on the “Disk Utility” application.

The Disk Utility application will appear on the screen along with all available drives and memory systems.
You can also open “Disk Utility” by going to “Applications” folder > “Utilities” > “Disk Utility”.

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Click the micro SD card name shown in the left pane on Disk Utility. In the left pane of the window is the computer’s hard drive, the bottom includes partitions (if any) and external drives.

The SD memory card will display the amount of storage it can be, just like a removable drive.
Click on the SD card drive to open the options list page.

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Select the “Erase” radio button. A page that allows you to delete and format tags opens. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

There are also three or four radio button options at the top: “First Aid”, “Erase”, “Partition”, “RAID” and “Restore”. You may also see an “Unmount” option if you’re using the El Capitan version. To continue, click the “Erase” button.

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Select the desired format. A drop-down box with formatting options will appear. ^{[9] X Research Source}

We have options for Mac OS Extended (Journaled), Mac OS Extended (Case-Sensitive, Journaled), MS-DOS (FAT) and exFAT. In which, MS-DOS (FAT) is the option to format the micro SD card to the FAT32 standard. ^{[10] X Research Source} The exFAT option will format the memory card to the exFAT file system, allowing you to copy and store files larger than 4 GB.
After selecting the desired format, enter a name for the memory card.

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Click “Erase” to restore and format the memory card. Once clicked, a window will pop up asking if you are sure you want to erase and format the memory card. This window will warn you that if you continue, the data on the card will be completely erased. Click “Erase” on the pop-up dialog to confirm.

When you click “Erase”, the computer will format and erase the memory card. Once the process is complete, the new name of the card will appear. So the micro SD card is formatted.

Advice

It is recommended to format the micro SD card if the memory card stops working or when certain files on the card cannot be accessed. The process of formatting the micro SD card will usually fix technical errors that you encounter while using the memory card.
Formatting will erase all data. Don’t forget to save the data to a safe place before formatting the memory card.
For optimal results and to avoid future technical errors, it is recommended that you format the micro SD card directly on the device instead of the memory card reader whenever possible.

Warning

Note: formatting will erase all data on the micro SD card. Take the steps to back up your personal data before formatting if you want to keep your photos, music and all other data.

Steps