4 Methods | How to Convert RAW to FAT32 for Micro SD Card/USB

A USB, SD card, or external hard drive may become RAW suddenly and the data on it will be inaccessible. To help you regain access to your files and use your storage device again, we will show you how to recover data from the RAW drive and then convert RAW to FAT32 with professional RAW to FAT32 converter.

Raw to FAT32 Conversion - Do it in quick steps:

1. Step 1. Recover data from the RAW sd card, USB or external hard drive (optional).
2. Step 2. Launch EaseUS free partition manager and choose Format.
3. Step 3. Configure the partition label, and choose FAT32 as the target file system.
4. Step 4. Click Apply to convert RAW to FAT32.

How to fix the RAW device or convert RAW to FAT32 on SD card, USB? Mostly, when SD card, hard drive, USB, etc., becomes RAW, Windows will detect the error and pop up with a warning message as shown below: "You need to format the disk in Drive *: before you can use it. Do you want to format it?"

Don't rush to click the Format disk button. This will cause data loss. Follow the content below, and pick up the best RAW to FAT32 converters to fix RAW devices without losing any data:

How Do I Convert Raw to Fat32 without Losing Data

"Does anyone know how I convert raw to FAT32 without losing data on a USB drive? I have a 64GB SanDisk USB flash drive that saves about 20GB of files but it turns to RAW for no reason.

Is there a way that works to change the RAW file system to FAT32  on my USB and allows me to reuse those files again?"

RAW, also known as RAW file system, is a state that indicates your hard drive, SD card, USB, or external hard drive has no or unknown file system. With a RAW file system on SD or USB, it's called RAW SD, RAW USB, etc. When this issue occurs to your device, you can neither open the device nor access the saved data.

How to Fix RAW Error? 4 RAW to FAT32 Converters Free Download

If a USB flash drive, SD card, or external hard drive shows as RAW, you won't be able to open the device and access the files on it. In this part, you will learn 1. Why do storage devices become RAW; 2. Ways to convert RAW to FAT32, convert RAW to NTFS again.

Why does your storage device become RAW?

When you see the file system of your storage devices is shown as RAW, it could be one of the following causes that makes your device RAW:

• The device has not been formatted with a file system yet
• The file system of the device is not recognized by the computer
• The file system of the device is missing or damaged

3 Tools to Convert RAW to FAT32 

So how do I fix a RAW USB? As stated above, the best way out is to format or change the file system of your RAW micro SD card, USB, or external or internal hard drive to a Windows-supported file system, such as FAT32, NTFS, etc.

Here, we collected 4 tools that can help you execute the operation within only a few simple clicks:

1. #1. 3rd-party RAW to FAT32 Converter for SD, USB, Hard Drive - All Levels of Users
2. #2. Convert RAW to FAT32 in Windows File Explorer -  Beginners
3. #3. Change RAW File System on Device to FAT32 in Disk Management  - Experienced Users
4. #4. Convert RAW SD/USB to FAT32 via DiskPart CMD - Administrators

How to Recover Data from RAW SD Card, USB in Windows

Applies to: Restore all valuable files from the RAW device to another secure device before RAW to FAT32 conversion. 

If you don't need to perform RAW data recovery, jump to the methods below to convert RAW to FAT32 directly.

To help you access and recover the data on your RAW SD card, USB, external hard drive, or other storage devices, you'll need to turn to a reliable data recovery software for help.

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard with its Quick Scan and Deep Scan features will thoroughly scan rescue the RAW drive and find all your precious files successfully. This video guide shows you how to recover data from RAW SD cards or USB flash drives with EaseUS data recovery tool. Watch this video and follow the steps to fix your problem.

Follow the steps below to recover files from the RAW device with three simple clicks:

Step 1. Select and scan the RAW partition

If the RAW partition contains a partition label, you can directly select it from drives list and click "Search for Lost Data" to look for the lost files. If the RAW partition lost its label, it will be recognized as "Lost Partition", just select the "Lost Partition" and initiate an overall scan on the RAW drive.

Step 2. Preview found data from the scan result

After the scan is completed, all available files in the RAW hard drive will be displayed. View these files and find the files you want to recover. You can sort the scanned data by file format or search directly in the "Search files or folders" box. 

Step 3. Recover data from RAW partition

Select all files and click "Recover" to get all the data back. Select another internal/external hard drive or Cloud drive to save the recovered data and click "OK" to start RAW drive recovery.

EaseUS data recovery software also supports OS crash recovery, virus attack recovery, and lost partition recovery other than RAW drive recovery. It's well worth trying. Except for data recovery software, we also provide users with manual data recovery services to restore lost data in complicated situations.

After getting all your previous data out of the RAW drive, move to the following tutorials to convert RAW devices to FAT32 without worrying about data loss.

Method 1. Use Third-party RAW to FAT32 Converter for SD, USB, Hard Drive

Best for: All levels of Windows users.

Free partition software - EaseUS Partition Master is one of the third-party RAW to FAT32 converter that works to fix RAW error on storage devices with ease.  You can first use its Check File System feature to fix the file system error first. Then use its Format feature to convert RAW device to FAT32 or other file systems for free. 

#1. Check and Fix RAW File System Error 

After this, open File Explorer and check if your device is accessible again. If the device still displays as RAW, continue with the steps below.

#2. Format RAW to FAT32 on SD, USB

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the partition you intend to format and choose "Format".

Step 2. In the new window, enter the Partition label, choose the FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4 file system, and set the cluster size according to your needs, then click "OK".

Step 3. Then you will see a warning window, click "Yes" in it to continue.

Step 4. Click the "Execute 1 Task(s)" button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click "Apply" to start formatting the partition to FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4.

In addition to being a RAW to FAT32 converter, it also provides other functions that help you flexibly partition hard drive and even optimize the performance on your computer. 

Now, your SD card or other storage devices is no longer RAW. It's available for you to save the previous recovered data back on the drive again.

Method 2. Convert RAW to FAT32 in Windows File Explorer

Best for: Windows beginners, easiest.

For most beginners, they may not know that does the error message "You need to format the disk...Do you want to format it" mean. Some of them may directly click "Format disk" and format the RAW drive to a Windows supported file system then.

If you clicked the Format button, complete the formatting. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard with data recovery steps as presented above can help.

If you clicked the Cancel button, we suggest you revert to the tutorial as shown in How to Recover Data part to let EaseUS hard drive recovery software to scan and find all your files first. Now, you are good to go with steps here to convert RAW to FAT32 for your micro SD card, USB, etc., in Windows File Explorer:

Step 1.Connect the RAW device to your PC.

Step 2.Open File Explorer, locate and right-click on the RAW USB or SD card, select "Format".

Step 3.Set the FAT32 as the target file system, tick "Quick Format" and click "Start" to convert RAW to FAT32.

Wait for the formatting process to complete, your drive is with FAT32 file system now. And you can save the restored data back on your device again.

Method 3. Change RAW File System on Device to FAT32 in Disk Management

Best for: Experienced users that uses Windows 10/8/7/XP, etc.

Generally, When your SD card, USB, or external hard drive becomes RAW, it can still be recognized by your computer. Thus, you can also use Disk Management to format RAW to FAT32.

Here are the steps to format RAW device to FAT32:

Step 1. Connect your RAW USB, SD card to PC.

Step 2. Right-click on "This PC" > Select "Manage" > Click "Disk Management".

Step 3. Right-click the RAW USB, SD card and choose "Format".

Step 3. Set the file system as FAT32, NTFS or exFAT according to your needs, and then click "OK".

When the formatting completes, close Disk Management. There, your device is no longer RAW and you can save data on the device again.

Method 4. Convert RAW SD/USB to FAT32 via DiskPart CMD

Best for: Administrators and experienced Windows users who knows how to use DiskPart CMD commands properly, difficult.

As for some advanced users and administrators, you may prefer to convert RAW to FAT32 using DiskPart CMD commands.

The only thing is that, if you use the "convert" command, you will inevitably receive the notification "chkdsk is not available for RAW drives".

Therefore, instead of using the "convert" command, you should apply the "format" command to convert RAW to FAT32 in DiskPart. Here are the steps to convert RAW to FAT32 using CMD:

In Command Prompt, you can also use the diskpart command to convert RAW to FAT32 by formatting:

Step 1. Connect RAW drives, USB, or SD card to your computer.

Step 2. Press Windows + R keys, type cmd and hit enter.

Open Command Prompt as an administrator.

Step 3. Type diskpart and hit Enter.

Step 4. Type the following commands and hit Enter each time:

• list volume.
• select volume X (Replace X with your RAW device.)
• format fs=fat32 quick

Step 5. Enter exit to quit DiskPart.

When the process has finished, close the window and check the file system of your SD card, USB, or external hard drive by right-clicking the device and choosing "Properties". It should be FAT32 now.

Video Tutorial: Convert/Format RAW to FAT32

The Bottom Line

This page explains what is RAW file system and what to do if Windows computer detects your RAW SD card or RAW USB flash drive. We also offered 4 reliable RAW to FAT32 converters to fix the RAW devices with ease.

To avoid unnecessary file loss, we suggest you apply reliable data recovery software like EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard to scan and restore all valuable files from the RAW device first.

Then you can apply a reliable method to convert RAW to FAT32 for your micro SD card, USB flash drive, etc., with ease.

RAW to FAT32 Conversion FAQ

If you have further questions in file system conversion, check questions and answers below. You may find a quick solution.

1. How do I convert fat32 to ntfs?

To convert a FAT32 device to NTFS, you have two options:

• Format FAT32 to NTFS manually
• Convert FAT32 to NTFS using EaeUS partition manager software

For a step-by-step guide, you may refer to Convert FAT32 to NTFS for help. 

2. Can exFAT be converted to FAT32?

To convert your exFAT device to FAT32, you can follow through the following steps:

1. First, back up important data to another location.
2. Next, apply EaseUS exFAT to FAT32 converter, Disk Management or CMD for help.
3. Convert exFAT32 to FAT32 by formatting.

3. What do I do if Windows was unable to complete the format?

There are many causes that may prevent Windows from completing the format process on your devices, such as "The device contains RAW file system error", bad sectors, virus or malware infection, device is lockec, etc.

To fix this issue and complete the formatting on your device, you'll need to turn to professional solutions for help. Check out 7+ Fixes for Windows was Unable to Complete the Format in 2020. You'll get a way out.