There can be many reasons behind this issue. The most common one is your SD card being locked which basically means that your card is write protected. Your computer might not be able to read or recognize a protected card. Another reasons might be bad connectivity. This includes bad port, bad SD card, bad adapter and bad card reader etc. All of these can cause this issue. Lastly, your card might be inaccessible for your computer because of some badly configured options on your PC. Since there are quite a few things that can cause the issue, there are a wide range of methods to solve this issue. Start from method 1 and keep moving to the next method until your problem is solved.
Method 1: SD Card Lock Switch
Most of the SD Cards (but not all) have a small switch on the side of the card (usually on the left side). This switch is not present on all of the SD cards available out there but if your card does have it then follow the steps in this method. The switch on your SD card makes your card writable/not-writable. So, if the switch is in the lock position then the contents of your SD card cannot be modified. Mostly, your computer will let you know about the locked SD card by giving a message like “Your card is encrypted”. However, there are cases where you won’t see this message at all and your card won’t be recognized by your computer. So, look for a small switch on the side of your SD card and make sure it is in the middle or at the unlock position. Again, this will depend on the manufacturer of your card but there should be an indicator for the unlock/lock side. Once you have successfully moved the switch to the unlock position, try to use your SD card again.
Method 2: Change Write Policy
As mentioned in the method 1, if your SD card is write protected then your computer might not be able to recognize the card. If the method 1 didn’t work or if your card didn’t have a lock switch (a lot of them don’t have that) then follow the instructions below to change the write policy from registry editor.
Now close the registry editor and check if the SD card works or not.
Method 3: Remove Write-Protection
Another way to remove the write protection from your card is from the device manager. It is the simplest way to remove the write protection, which might be causing the issue, but it isn’t available for all card or systems. You can still try and see if the option is available. Insert your card in the computer
Note: if you can’t see the option in the general tab then select the Policies tab and look for the write-protection option in that section.
Method 4: Card Adapter
A lot of us use an Adapter for our micro SD card while inserting into the computer. If you are using an adapter then that might be causing the issue. Sometimes, the adapter that you are using for the micro SD card might be faulty of incompatible with your card. Even if the adapter and the card are of the same manufacturer, there are cases where the micro SD card and Adapter of the same brand didn’t work together. So, try to change the adapter and see if it works or make sure that the adapter that you are using is compatible with your SD card.
Method 5: Check Card Reader
Make sure that the card reader you are using is functional and is compatible with your SD card. There can be a compatibility issue between the card and the card reader. So, try changing the card reader to see if the card works or make sure that the card is readable from the card reader you are using.
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