Having your SD card suddenly become corrupted can be extremely frustrating. After all, SD cards allow you to expand the storage capabilities of your phone and store important photos, videos, music and other files. When corruption happens, you risk losing those valued files forever.
Fortunately, SD card corruption on phones is usually fixable. Understanding the common causes can help you avoid corruption in the future and increase your chances of recovering data from a corrupted card.
Quick Answers
Here are quick answers to common questions about SD card corruption on phones:
What causes an SD card to become corrupted on a phone?
The main causes include:
- Improperly ejecting the SD card from the phone
- Experiencing a sudden power loss when writing data to the card
- Using low quality, fake or damaged SD cards
- Malware or other software issues infecting the card
- Exceeding the storage limits of the SD card
How can I recover data from a corrupted SD card?
First try your phone’s built in repair utility. If that fails, use data recovery software or services to extract data from the card. Photo, video and document files have the best chance of recovery.
How can I avoid SD card corruption on my phone?
Key tips include:
- Always eject the card properly before removing it
- Use high-quality cards from reputable brands
- Don’t overload the storage capacity of the card
- Regularly back up important files stored on the card
- Check cards occasionally for errors using your phone’s diagnostics
What Causes SD Card Corruption on Phones?
SD card corruption can occur due to a number of different factors. Here are some of the most common reasons SD cards become corrupted on phones:
Improperly Removing the SD Card
One of the biggest causes of SD card corruption on phones is removing the card from the device without properly ejecting it first. When your phone is writing data to the card and you physically remove the card, it can interrupt the transfer process and leave data incomplete or damaged. This can lead to the files and folder structures on the card becoming corrupted over time.
To avoid this, always use your phone’s eject feature located in the Storage settings. This ensures any pending write processes are completed before you remove the card. Trying to force the card out without ejecting can easily lead to corruption.
Sudden Loss of Power During Write Operation
Similar to improper removal, sudden power loss while your phone is writing data to the SD card can also corrupt it. If the phone loses power due to the battery dying, being turned off, restarting, or other causes, the write operation will be unexpectedly interrupted. This can result in incomplete data being written to the card, leading to corruption over time as more incomplete data accumulates.
Making sure your phone does not suffer unexpected power losses while writing data can help avoid this issue. Also eject the card properly before rebooting your phone to ensure no pending writes are interrupted.
Low Quality, Fake or Physically Damaged Cards
Using low quality, fake or physically damaged SD cards also increases the chances of corruption. Lower quality cards often have higher failure rates and are more prone to corruption over time. Fake or counterfeit cards may be using incorrect capacities or low grade memory that is prone to errors.
Physically damaged cards with scratches, bends or moisture damage can develop bad sectors where data cannot be reliably written. Damaged cards are more likely to eventually become corrupted with regular use in a phone.
Stick with major, reputable brands like Sandisk, Samsung or Kingston when buying SD cards. Inspect cards for damage before using them. Perform regular backups to protect your data in case a card with physical defects corrupts.
Malware, Viruses and Software Bugs
Malware or viruses that infect your phone can sometimes damage or corrupt data on inserted SD cards as well. Software bugs and crashes when writing data to the SD card can also lead to corruption over time.
Using comprehensive mobile anti-virus software, keeping your phone’s software up to date and avoiding unvetted apps can help mitigate this risk. So can immediately replacing the SD card if you do suspect your phone has become infected with malware.
Exceeding the Card’s Storage Limits
Writing more data to an SD card than its storage capacity can lead to corruption and data loss. This is especially risky if you’ve purchased a counterfeit card that claims to have more capacity than it actually does.
Avoid adding more data than the card’s rated capacity to prevent errors. Your phone may warn you when the card reaches full capacity. Some phones even automatically stop writes to prevent corruption once the card fills up.
Recovering Data from a Corrupted SD Card
If your SD card does become corrupted, don’t panic! In many cases, it is possible to recover some or all of your data.
Use Your Phone’s Built-In Repair Utilities
Most Android phones have SD card repair utilities built into the storage settings. On Samsung phones this is called ‘Repair SD Card’ and can be found in the SD card or My Files apps. It will scan your corrupted card and attempt to recover data and repair corruption.
Similarly, on LG phones look for the ‘SD Card Diagnostics’ or ‘SD Card Check’ utilities to scan and recover corrupted cards inserted in the phone.
If the built-in tools of your phone successfully repair the card, you should be able to access your files again normally. If they fail to fix the corruption, you will need more powerful data recovery methods.
Use Data Recovery Software or Services
When DIY repair fails, you will need dedicated SD card data recovery tools. These powerful software tools scan every sector of your damaged card and reconstruct files. Popular recovery apps like Disk Drill, Stellar Photo Recovery, and EaseUS Recovery Wizard can successfully recover data even from highly corrupted cards in many cases.
Free trial versions with limited recovery capabilities are available. For full and unlimited recovery, purchasing a license for the software is typically required. SD card data recovery services are also available if you would rather have professionals handle the process for you.
Prioritize Recovering Photos, Videos and Documents
When recovering data from a damaged SD card, focus your efforts on photo, video and document files if possible. Media files and Office documents have the highest chance of successful recovery from corrupted cards. This is because they typically use contiguous file storage practices.
Music and compressed video files are more prone to data loss because of their smaller fragmented storage on the card. Still, recovery tools can retrieve them as well in many cases.
How to Avoid SD Card Corruption on Phones
Following best practices for using your phone’s SD card can help avoid corruption and data loss in the first place:
Eject the Card Properly Before Removing It
As mentioned previously, always eject your SD card properly before removing it from your phone. On Android phones this is done by going to Storage settings, selecting your SD card, tapping the eject icon, and then confirming on the prompt. Wait until you see the ‘Safe to Remove’ message before physically taking out the card.
This step protects against corruption caused by interrupting write operations to the card. Get in the habit of always ejecting properly before removal.
Use High Quality SD Cards from Reputable Brands
Stick with well-known SD card brands like Sandisk, Samsung, Kingston, Sony and others sold by authorized retailers. Avoid generic, off-brand cards which often use inferior memory chips prone to failure and data loss. Carefully research cards sold by lesser known brands before purchasing.
Higher end cards from reputable brands are more reliable and better engineered to handle constant read/write cycles from your phone without as much corruption risk.
Avoid Filling the Card to Full Capacity
Try not to use more than 80% of your SD card’s total rated capacity when storing data long term. This provides wiggle room for the card to operate and re-allocate data without exceeding its limits. This helps prevent corruption due to overload.
It’s fine to fill a card up to 100% temporarily when first transferring a lot of data over. But long term, maintain at least 20% free space for best reliability.
Regularly Back Up Important Data
No SD card is corruption proof. To protect your valuable photos, videos, documents and other data, be sure to regularly back it up to another location. Copy important files to your computer or to cloud storage for redundancy. This provides a copy of data if your card becomes corrupted.
How often to backup depends on how frequently you add new files that need protection. If you add data daily, weekly backups are a good rule of thumb. For less frequent data additions, monthly backups may suffice.
Periodically Check Your Card for Errors
To catch corruption before it becomes severe, periodically scan your SD card for errors using your phone’s built in utilities.
On Androids go to the Storage settings and select your SD card. Look for an option like ‘Verify & Repair’, ‘Run Diagnostics’ or ‘Check for Errors’ to manually initiate a scan. This may catch and correct minor issues before they escalate.
Schedule a check monthly or quarterly to give your card a periodic health checkup and identify problems early.
Conclusion
SD card corruption can cause serious headaches when it leads to data loss on valued files stored on your phone’s expandable storage. But being aware of the common root causes like improper ejection and sudden power loss can help you avoid these issues.
Recovering lost data is often possible with the right software tools or professional data recovery services. And implementing preventative measures like ejecting properly, using quality cards, limiting capacity, backing up data, and running occasional diagnostics checks can help keep your removable storage healthy and protect your phone data.
With vigilance and safe usage habits, an SD card failure doesn’t have to be the end of the world for your phone’s photos, videos, documents and other important files.