How to Format a Damaged SD Card on Mac (Without Data Loss)

As one of the most popular portable storage devices, SD cards are widely used among users. However, SD card corruption is not uncommon. Many Mac users have reported that after inserting an SD card into their Mac, the system prompts them that the data on the damaged SD card is inaccessible.

If you find yourself in this unfortunate situation, don't worry; this article will teach you how to format a corrupted SD card on Mac and get it working again.

However, before you format to fix the corrupted SD card issue, you should recover the data stored on it, in case it's informative. Read on to know how to format a corrupted SD card on Mac without losing data.

Recover Data from a Damaged SD Card with Software

SD cards store a lot of important data, which is why many users are unwilling to format them after they get corrupted. In such a case, it is advised to perform SD card recovery on Mac before formatting. We recommend that you first use a professional and trustworthy data recovery tool like Tools Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Pro to recover data from the damaged SD card.

As one of the best SD card recovery software for Mac, this tool can recover files from SD card on Mac under various conditions, including when the SD card becomes RAW.

It can recover data from RAW SD card on Mac. For a clearer picture of how this user-friendly SD card data recovery tool works, here are some reference steps:

Step 1: Select the SD card

Connect the memory card to your Mac correctly. Launch the Disk Drill for Mac data recovery software. Select "SD Card Recovery," find your Canon/Nikon/GoPro/DJI/Sony SD card, and click "Search for lost files."

Note: Before you recover data, it's recommended to click “Disk Backup” on the left sidebar and create a backup for your SD card to prevent further data loss. After backing up your SD card, the software can restore data from the SD card backup. You can then remove the SD card and use it again.

Select the location to scan for lost SD card data

Step 2. Filter Lost Data from the SD Card

When the scan is finished, all files will be displayed on the left side of the Scan Results. Find the photos, videos, and other files you need.

Step 3. Preview and recover your data

Preview the SD card data and select the files you need, then click on the “Recover” button. To prevent overwriting of data, do not save the recoverable files to the SD card itself.

After recovering data from the corrupted SD card on your Mac and saving it to a secure location, you can format the corrupted SD card to get it working normally.

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Format a Damaged SD Card on Mac with Disk Utility

Formatting an SD card or any other external or internal hard drive on a Mac is done using a built-in program called Disk Utility. Here's how to format a damaged SD card on your Mac using Disk Utility:

Step 1. Connect the damaged SD card to your Mac, and launch Disk Utility from Applications > Utilities.

Step 2: In the Disk Utility window, find the SD card on your Mac in the list on the left. Select the damaged SD card and click the “Erase” button in the top menu.

Step 3. Assign a new name and file system format to the SD card (compare ExFAT vs Mac OS Extended).

Step 4. Click “Erase” again to confirm the formatting process.

Step 5. Wait for the formatting to finish, and then check if the corrupted SD card is now fixed.

When you insert the SD card into the reader and connect it to your Mac, you should find it listed under “External Storage” > “SD Card” in Finder or Disk Utility. However, sometimes the SD card won't show up in Finder, nor will its files. If this is the case for you, read on to fix the error.

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Format a Damaged SD Card on Mac Using Terminal (UTF-8)

In addition to using a disk utility to format a damaged SD card, you can use terminal commands to format a damaged SD card. Follow the steps in the article Format a Disk on Mac Using Terminal to do this.

Step 1. Connect the damaged SD card to your Mac and then open Terminal.

Step 2. Enter diskutil list to view the device list and select the damaged SD card.

Step 3. In the terminal, type the command to format the damaged SD card:

Conclusions

This article will introduce you to two effective methods of formatting a damaged SD card on Mac and remind you to recover data from the corrupted SD card before formatting. The tool "Mac Professional Data Recovery Wizard" is one of the best SD card data recovery software that can restore data from a damaged SD card. Install it on your Mac, and never worry about losing your data again!

Frequently Asked Questions on Formatting Damaged SD Card on Mac with UTF-8 Encoding

Here are some questions people also ask when searching for how to format a corrupted SD card on a Mac:

How to Format SD Card on Mac Without Losing Data?

Formatting the SD card will delete any data stored on it. If you want to format the card without losing your data, you should back up the data first, or use a tool like Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Pro to recover the data from the SD card before formatting it.

How to Repair Damaged SD Card on Mac without Formatting?

Insert your damaged SD card into the reader, and then plug the reader into your Mac.

Step Two: Open Terminal on your Mac and type in diskutil list.

Step 3: Type diskutil repairDisk /dev/disk2. Note that you should replace "disk2" with the identifier for your damaged memory card as it appears on your Mac.

Step 4: Type Y to begin the repair.