Remove Write Protection on SanDisk Micro SD Card - How-to Guide

Are you looking for ways to remove write protection on SanDisk micro SD card? This article will provide a quick and easy way you to unlock your SanDisk micro card. Let's get started!

"I recently received a write-protected message from multiple micro SD card adapters. Both micro SD cards are SANDISK 32GB Pro, and both have been used on a GoPro previously, with less than five times reading/writing/deleting between the two. I have never had this issue, but I formatted my laptop to factory defaults Windows 10 within the last 60 days. Theories?" - Microsoft Community

Finding your SanDisk micro SD card to be write-protected can be frustrating. You won't be able to get access to the data you stored on the micro SD card before. When experiencing this issue, don't panic. In this guide on EaseUS, we will provide you with several ways to help unlock your SanDisk micro SD card. Below is a brief list of them:

• Method 1. Check the Lock Switch on the Adapter
• Method 2. Use EaseUS Partition Master
• Method 3. Use Command Prompt
• Method 4. Use Registry Editor
• Method 5. Use Antivirus Software

How to Remove Write Protection on SanDisk Micro SD Card

To get your hands on your stored data and make your SanDisk micro SD card back to work successfully, it is a must-do to learn how to remove write protection. In this section, we will explore several ways to unlock your SanDisk micro SD card.

Method 1. Check the Lock Switch on the Adapter

Before turning to more technical methods, you can first check your micro SD card adapter physically. Generally, micro SD cards don't have built-in physical write protection like fully-sized SD cards, but micro card adapters do. As mentioned above, you cannot read the micro SD card if the switch is in the locked position on the adapter. Thus, you need to make sure that the lock switch on the left side is up and is in the unlocked position. If the adapter lock switch becomes loose and moves easily, you should replace it with a new one. Then, you can check if you can access your SanDisk micro SD card by inserting it into the adapter. If the error persists, you can check for more technical methods below.

Method 2. Use EaseUS Partition Master

One easy and direct way to remove the write protection on your SanDisk micro SD card is to use a third-party tool. Using a reliable tool can relieve you from the trouble of carrying out complex tasks to unlock the card. EaseUS Partition Master Professional can help unlock your SanDisk micro SD card directly with the "Write Protection" feature. With this feature, you can safely disable the write protection in a few clicks.

Follow the guide below to unlock your SanDisk micro SD card:

Step 1. Download and install EaseUS Partition Master, go to the Toolkit section, and click "Write Protection".

Step 2. Select your write protected USB, USB external disk or SD card, and click "Disable".

Simple and quick, your SanDisk micro SD card will be able to work again. The data stored on it will be displayed for you. The tool will perform the task automatically without bothering you. All you have to do is click some buttons and wait for your card to be workable again.

Apart from fixing SanDisk write protected, EaseUS Partition Master can be applied to other devices as well. If you have write-protected SD cards or USB, you can resort to this tool to unlock them. Click to learn more:

Method 3. Use Command Prompt

CMD is a built-in tool designed to fix various kinds of problems you might encounter in the Windows system. Thus, you can utilize it to remove the write protection on your SanDisk micro SD card.

Here is a step-by-step guide for you:

Step 1. Insert your SanDisk micro SD card onto your computer.

Step 2. Type cmd and press enter to open Command Prompt from the Start Menu.

Step 3. In the command window, type diskpart and press Enter.

Step 4. Enter the following command lines below, and hit Enter each time.

• List disk
• Select disk x (x represents the letter drive of your SanDisk micro SD card)
• Attribute disk clear readonly

CMD can be used to remove write protection from external hard drives. Once the process finishes, your write-protected SanDisk micro SD card will be workable again. Using Command Prompt can be very effective. However, if you are not confident in handling the complicated command lines, you can resort to a professional tool like EaseUS Partition Master instead.  

If you find the instructions helpful, feel free to share this article with others who need to remove write protection on the SanDisk micro SD card.

Method 4. Use Registry Editor

Another way to disable the write protection on SanDisk micro SD card is to use the Registry Editor. Like Command Prompt, Registry Editor is also a built-in tool to make adjustments according to your needs.

The steps go as follows:

Step 1. Connect your SanDisk micro SD card.

Step 2. Press the "Win+R" keys and type regedit to open Registry Editor.

Step 3. On the left upper side, navigate to the catalog:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies.

Note: If there is no StorageDevicePolicies, you can right-click the Control folder and select New > Key to create a new value named as "StorageDevicePolicies".

Then, right-click StorageDevicePolicies folder and click New > DWORD (32-bit) Value to create a new value named as "WriteProtect".

Step 4. Open the "WriteProtect" file. Set the value data as 0 and click "OK".

In this way, you can modify the Windows Registry Key value and fix the write protection problem on your SanDisk micro SD card.

Method 5. Use Antivirus Software

A virus or malware will cause your SanDisk micro SD card to malfunction. To eliminate such a possibility, you can run an antivirus software. Scan your SanDisk micro SD card to check if there are existing viruses or malware. You also use tools to check SD/MicroSD cards health to avoid errors. 

Conclusion

In this article, we tackle the problem of your SanDisk micro SD card failing to function properly because of write protection. This can be really frustrating when you need access to the data stored on the card. It is hoped that the reasons and methods discussed above shed some light on this issue. You can choose a suitable way to remove the write protection on your SanDisk micro SD card. Among them, using a third-party tool like EaseUS Partition Master can make it simple for you. Within a few clicks, your SanDisk micro SD card will work again.

FAQs about How to Remove Write Protection on SanDisk Micro SD Card

In the following part, we list some questions about how to remove write protection on your SanDisk micro SD card.

1. What is write protection?

Write protection is a feature or mechanism that prevents writing or modifying data on a storage device. The data on the device cannot be deleted or changed when it's write-protected. It can be applied to several devices such as SD cards, disks, and USBs. Some people use it as a way of protecting data from accidental changes or protecting privacy.

2. How do I remove write protection from an exFAT SD card?

If you are told "the disk is write protected" when reading the exFAT SD card, there are several solutions you can try. First, you can check the physical write protection switch. Ensure that the lock switch is up. If the error persists, you can resort to other solutions. You can use the built-in tools such as Registry Editor and Command Prompt. Using a tool such as EaseUS Partition Master is also a good choice.

3. How to format a write-protected SD card?

Usually, you can use Windows built-in tools such as Disk Management and File Explorer to format a device. When it comes to a write-protected SD card, the situation becomes complicated. You can choose a professional formatter tool such EaseUS Partition Master to help you. It can help remove the write protection on your SD card, and format it afterwards. The process won’t take you long.