Usb Write Protection Removal Tool

Summary :

• IMPORTANT - Security enhancements to the ftp.ca.com end-user experience. Please be advised, there will be important changes made to the customer experience when leveraging ftp.ca.com file sharing purposes.
• The operating system will delete all files currently on the flash drive. It will then reformat it, restoring it to its original state while changing and resetting the write-protect options on the flash drive. Once the process is complete, you will be able write files to your PNY flash drive again.

Since the reasons for write protection USB are different, some step may fail to remove write protection from USB drive. If so, please skip the step to try next step. All the steps apply to remove write protection from SD card.

How to remove write protection on micro SD card, SD card, memory card? This tutorial provides 8 fixes with detailed guides to help you remove write protection on SD/memory card of SanDisk, Samsung, Transcend, etc. To recover data from SD card or format SD card, MiniTool software offers free tools for you, MiniTool Power Data Recovery, MiniTool Partition Manager.

When you try to add or modify a file on the miso SD card but get an error message “The SD card is write protected”, you can check the 8 fixes below for how to remove write protection on micro SD card so that you can smoothly write data on it.

SD Card Is Write Protected? Remove Write Protection from SD Card

1. Unlock the Micro SD Card
2. Remove Write Protection from SD Card with Diskpart
3. Edit Registry to Fix SD Card Write Protected
4. Run CHKDSK to Repair a Corrupted SD Card
5. Perform a Virus Scan for the Micro SD Card
6. Recover Data from Corrupt SD Card
7. Reformat the Micro SD or Memory Card
8. Change a New Micro SD Card

How to Remove Write Protection on Micro SD Card – 8 Ways

SD card can be write protected due to physical or logical reasons. Below we list some possible solutions to help you remove write protection from SD card on Windows 10 computer.

Fix 1. Unlock the Micro SD Card

Some micro SD cards or memory cards have a physical write protection switch. The first step to fix SD card write protected issue is to check the SD card lock switch. Make sure the lock switch is moved to the unlocking status.

If the micro SD card is write protected but not locked, continue to try other solutions below.

Learn how to mount or unmount SD card in this post. Mount SD card as permanent storage in Windows 10. Fix SD card won’t mount error in 4 ways.

Fix 2. Remove Write Protection from SD Card with Diskpart

You can easily remove the write protection attribute from micro SD card using CMD on Windows 10. Check how to do it below.

Step 1. Open Command Prompt. You can press Windows + R, type cmd in Run dialog, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter. Click Yes in the pop-up UAC window to open elevated Command Prompt on Windows 10.

Step 2. Open Diskpart tool. Next you can type diskpart in Command Prompt window, and press Enter to open Diskpart utility. Diskpart is a Windows built-in command-line tool letting you manage your disk.

Step 3. Type the command lines below and press Enter after each line to clear write protection on the micro SD card. You need to connect the SD card to computer beforehand.

• list disk (this command will list all detected disks on your computer)
• select disk * (replace “*” with the disk number of the micro SD card)
• attributes disk clear readonly

By doing so, the SD card should not be write-protected any longer. But if you still can’t write data onto the SD card, try other possible methods below.

Fix 3. Edit Registry to Fix SD Card Write Protected

Before you use Registry Editor to fix disk write protected error, it’s advised that you back up registry first since it’s dangerous if you make some mistakes in editing registry. (Check: Backup and Restore Registry).

Learn how to turn off write protection on the micro SD card below.

Step 1. Use an SD card reader to connect the SD card to your Windows computer. (Related: Fix SD card not showing up)

Step 2. Press Windows + R to open Run dialog, type regedit, and press Enter. Click Yes in the pop-up UAC window to open Registry Editor on Windows 10.

Step 3. Next expand the folder in the left panel as the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControl. And click StorageDevicePolicies folder.

If you don’t see this folder, then you can right-click Control folder and click New -> Key to create a new key named StorageDevicePolicies. Right-click StorageDevicePolicies folder and click New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value to create a new value named WriteProtect.

Step 4. Then double-click WriteProtect key in the right window and set is value data as 0 and click OK.

Step 5. Close Registry Editor window and restart your computer to make these changes take effect.

Fix 4. Run CHKDSK to Repair a Corrupted SD Card

If the micro SD card is corrupt or has some bad sectors, it may cause SD card stops working issue and make it impossible to write data onto the SD card. You can run CHKDSK to check and fix errors on the disk.

Step 1. Open Command Prompt window. Press Windows + R, type cmd, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to run Command Prompt as administrator.

Step 2. Next type chkdsk /f /r command with the drive letter of the SD card, e.g. chkdsk h: /f /r, and press Enter to run CHKDSK to check and fix errors as well as mark bad sectors on the SD card.

Fix 5. Perform a Virus Scan for the Micro SD Card

If the micro SD card is infected by malware or virus, it may cause the SD card write protected and not working issue. To fix this, you can run the antivirus software on your Windows computer to check and remove possible malware or virus on the SD card.

Fix 6. Recover Data from Corrupt SD Card

If the SD card has errors and you lost some files on it, you can use a top data recovery software to easily recover files from SD card.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery is a professional data recovery program for Windows users. You can use it to easily recover files from micro SD card, SD card, memory card, USB drive, external HDD, SSD, and Windows computer.

You can even use MiniTool Power Data Recovery to recover data from corrupt or formatted SD card. It is a 100% clean and safe program. Download and install MiniTool Power Data Recovery below.

Step 1. Connect the micro SD card to your Windows computer using the SD card adapter and SD card reader.

Step 2. Launch MiniTool Power Data Recovery on Windows computer, and select Removable Disk Drive in the left column. Select the micro SD card in the right window, and click Scan button.

Step 3. After this software finishes scanning all data on the SD card, you can check the recovery result to find needed files, and click Save button to store them to a new place.

Fix 7. Reformat the Micro SD or Memory Card

For how to remove protection on the micro SD card, you can reformat it with SD card formatter. But before you format it, you should back up all needed data. If you lost some important data because of SD card corruption, you can try Fix 6 to recover SD card data first.

Check how to format the SD/memory card with MiniTool Partition Manager that is a top free disk partition manager for Windows users. Download and install MiniTool Partition Manager below.

• Still, connect the SD card to your Windows computer. Launch MiniTool Partition Manager.
• Right-click the partition on the SD card and select Format option in the menu list.
• Select a file system format for the SD card like FAT32 or NTFS to continue formatting the SD card.

Fix 8. Change a New Micro SD Card

Usb Write Protection Removal Tool Download

If the SD card still can’t work, then you may change a new micro SD card for your device.

Possible Causes of SD Card Write Protected Problem

• The SD card is locked by the Lock switch on the side of the SD card.
• SD card is infected by malware or virus.
• SD card is corrupt and has some logical errors.
• SD card has some physical damage.
• You accidentally made the memory card read-only.

Conclusion

As for how to remove write protection on micro SD card, this post provides 8 possible solutions. If you have better way to fix micro SD card write protected issue, you can share with us.

Encounter problems when using the software from MiniTool? Please contact our official support team: [email protected].

How to Remove Write Protection on Micro SD Card FAQ

Summary :

Did you receive the message 'the disk is write-protected' when you tried to copy files or folders to a USB flash drive or SD card in Windows 10/8/7? Take it easy now! This post will show you how to remove write protection from USB or SD card with ease.

Help! The Disk Is Write-protected on USB/SD Card

“We have a Canon Powershot and want to transfer photos from computer back to camera. Says SD card is write protected. How do we remove the write protection?”tomshardware

Actually, a disk suddenly becoming write-protected is a very common issue, and it often comes out of the blue on a USB flash drive, pen drive, SD card or other data storage devices.

After plugging a drive into your PC to copy or modify a file & folder, a window might pop up with the error: “The disk is write-protected. Remove this write-protection or use another disk”.

According to users, the problem may be with Windows 10 Home and SD card built-in slot. When using a USB SD card reader, this problem may not happen.

When the write protection error occurs in Windows 10/8/7, it will continue to stay even if you click the Try Again button. Because of this, you might think that the disk is no longer usable and should be thrown into the dustbin.

Actually, it might not be completely unusable. This disk is still healthy; it is just in the write-protected state. That is, you can only read data from your device, but you are not allowed to write, delete, copy or do any other operations to modify the data.

As a result, the disk write-protected error will be invoked when files or folders are being copied to a USB drive, pen drive or micro SD card.

If you are also facing a similar situation, take it easy now. This post will show you how to remove the write protection from USB drive, SD card, or pen drive in Windows 10/8/7.

How to Remove Write Protection from USB Windows 10/8/7

You might ask: how do I remove write protection on a USB drive or SD card?

When searching for solutions to 'the disk is write-protected' error online, you will find many related forums and articles. Then, you might start to think removing the SD card/USB drive write protection could be troublesome.

But actually, it is a very simple process, and here we have summarized seven methods as follows. Just try them to easily remove write protection from USB/SD card/pen drive in Windows 7/8/10.

Solution 1: Format the USB/Pen Drive/SD Card

While you look for the solutions to the issue of USB/SD card write protected on the internet, you will find formatting the USB drive, SD card or other external storage devices being mentioned.

Usb Write Protection Removal Tool Download

This is considered a good method to remove write protection from USB/pen drive/SD card because the file system might have been corrupted, causing your drive to be in a bad state.

Well then, how can you format USB drive, pen drive or SD card to fix the disk is write-protected error so that your device can work properly again? Generally speaking, there are four write protected USB format tools you could use to perform this operation in Windows 10/8/7.

① Run MiniTool Partition Wizard

In order to successfully format your USB drive and remove the write-protected error, you could use a third-party write protection removal software as a good helper.

Which one is worth recommending? Here we will show you MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition which is compatible with Windows 10/8/7.

It is a professional and reliable partition and disk management tool with many powerful functions, such as extend partition, resize partition, delete partition, format drive, wipe partition, rebuild MBR, recover lost partition and so on.

You could use this freeware to remove write protection from USB drive or other devices via formatting. Now, download MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition and install it on your computer.

Follow the guide below to format your device in Windows 7/8/10:

Step 1: Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition.

Step 2: You will be directed to the main interface. After selecting this partition of USB flash drive or SD card, you will see the many features about partition management.

Here click Format Partition from the Partition Management menu. Alternatively, you can right-click the target drive and then select Format in Windows 7/8/10.

Step 3: Choose a file system as you'd like - FAT32, NTFS, Ext2, Ext3, Ext4 or Linux Swap. Click OK to continue.

Step 4: Execute this change by clicking the Apply button to remove write protection on SD card/USB flash drive.

② Use Diskpart

At your PC's desktop, type cmd to the search box and right-click it to choose Run as administrator to open Command Prompt. In the new window, type the following bolded commands one by one and each one should be ended by pressing the Enter key:

diskpart

list volume (all volumes on hard disks in your PC will be displayed here)

select volume n (n means the volume number of your SD card, USB flash drive or other devices)

format fs=ntfs label='new volume' quick (this command can directly format your storage device to NTFS file system)

exit

Hope the following screenshot will make this operation more intuitive:

Usb Write Protection Removal software, free download

③ Open Windows Explorer

In addition, you can directly open Windows Explorer, and then right-click the USB drive or SD card partition to select Format in Windows 7/8/10. Then choose a file system from the list and check the Quick Format option. Finally, click the Start button to format write-protected USB drive/SD card.

Usb Write Protection Removal Software Windows 7

④ Run Disk Management

Disk Management can also be used to format a write-protected USB drive/SD card. Right-click on the target drive and select Format to FAT32 or NTFS. Finally, click OK to perform this operation on Windows 7/8/10.

If the target partition on your USB flash drive/ micro SD card is larger than 32 GB, it can't be formatted to FAT32 with Disk Management and Windows Explorer.

In this case, please ask the third-party write protection removal software - MiniTool Partition Wizard for help; it can quickly perform formatting without any limit to fix the disk is write-protected error.

Kindly remind:

After finish formatting in Windows 7/8/10, the write protection on a USB drive, pen drive or SD card should be removed. However, formatting the drive will cause data loss. If you had important files on the device, they are erased.

Thus, we suggest recovering those files with a professional data recovery software; MiniTool Partition Wizard can help you with its Data Recovery feature to recover data from formatted USB drive.

Since this solution will lead to data loss, you might be reluctant to format your USB drive just to remove the write protection error. In this case, you should consider backing up all your data using MiniTool ShadowMaker.

Solution 2: Check and Kill USB Flash Drive Viruses

When a USB flash drive, pen drive, or SD card is plugged into a PC, it could be easily attacked by viruses attached to spyware downloaded from an illegal website. The files or folders on this device could also be easily filled with viruses that can lead to the disk is write-protected error on your storage device.

In this case, you need to download anti-virus software and set it to automatically scan your device. Once a virus is found, please kill it at once to remove the write protection from USB drive, pen drive or SD card.

Solution 3: Check and Unlock USB Flash Drive

Some external devices including pen drives, or USB flash drives have a mechanical switch used to lock or unlock your device, but some don't.

Therefore, you should check whether there is a switch like this on your device. It could be put into write protection mode to prevent accidental writing.

If it is, please move the switch to the unlocked position and then try copying files again. Perhaps this operation can be done successfully after the switch has been unlocked. If this method still cannot solve the disk is write-protected error in Windows 7/8/10, please try the next one to remove write protection on USB or pen drive.

Solution 4: Check and Make Sure USB Flash Drive/SD Card Isn’t Full

Sometimes if the USB stick or SD card is full with files, it is very likely to receive the write protection error when files are being copied to it.

Right-click this drive and select Properties. Then you can view the size of used space and free space in Windows 7/8/10. If there is enough free disk space and you still encounter this issue, it might be because the file you are trying to copy to the USB drive is too large.

Solution 5: Change File Not in “Read-only” Status

In addition, sometimes the file is set to the Read-only status, which indeed could cause the disk is write-protected error on a USB flash drive, micro SD card or pen drive.

To remove write-protection in USB, pen drive or SD card, right-click the file you want to copy and select Properties.

Then you can view three options on the bottom, among them, please ensure that the Read-only option is unchecked. Finally, click Apply to let this change effective.

Solution 5: Run Diskpart to Clear Write Protection

To fix the disk is write-protected error, you can also adopt the Command Prompt to do this work.

Please run CMD as an administrator, then type diskpart command and hit Enter to run diskpart. It is a built-in disk partition tool in Windows 7/8/10.

With this tool, you can modify the value related to your USB drive/SD card. Then type the following bolded commands one by one:

list disk (all disks on your computer will be listed here)

select disk n (n refers to the number of your USB flash drive or SD card)

attributes disk clear readonly (this command can disable write protection)

After performing this operation, try copying files again. The USB write protected error should be removed.

Solution 6: Edit The Registry

If the issue still persists, you should consider modifying the registry to remove the write protection from USB. The USB write.reg file could be enabled.

Click Win+R and then type regedit to open Registry Editor. Then navigate to the following location to look for a key named WriteProtect:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlStorageDevicePolicies

If this key exists, please right click it to select Modify to change the value from 1 to 0.

If you still get the disk is write-protected message, your best bet is to format the drive and recover files to disable this error, as shown in Solution 7.

Bottom Line

Here we have come to the end of this post. You should now have learned how to remove write protection from USB/pen drive/SD card in Windows 10/8/7 when you face the 'disk is write-protected' error message while trying to copy files/folders.

Now, it is time for you to try the solutions above so you can start modifying the data in your storage device.

Should you have any question or suggestion, just leave a comment below or email us via [email protected]. And we will reply you as soon as possible. Thanks in advance.

Disk Write Protected FAQ

Run Command Prompt as administrator. Then type the following commands one by one and press Enter after each one.

1. diskpart
2. list disk
3. select disk n (n means the disk number of the write-protected device)
4. attributes disk clear readonly