How to Convert SD Card RAW to FAT32/NTFS in Windows 11/10/8/7

Do not worry if your SD card becomes RAW and you can't access saved data. This page will tell you practical solutions to convert RAW SD to NTFS/FAT32 without losing any data by formatting or other ways. Follow to see how to recover RAW to NTFS or FAT32 on your own now.

PAGE CONTENT:

Step 1. Recover Data from RAW Drive Before FOrmatting
Step 2. How to Convert/Format SD Card RAW to FAT32/NTFS

SD Card Becomes RAW, How to Convert RAW to NTFS/FAT32

According to Google searching result, it seems that the SD card RAW issue has now:

SD card RAW to NTFS/FAT32.

Due to diverse reasons, SD card, USB drive, external hard drive, and even hard drive partition in Windows 11/10/8/7 all become RAW, inaccessible. So how to effectively change the file system from RAW to NTFS or FAT32 on SD card, USB, external hard drive, etc. devices becomes a question.

Fortunately, here on this page, Qiling software has gathered some useful tips and methods to guide you to convert RAW SD to NTFS/FAT32 as an example for you to follow and resolve the RAW drive or RAW file system error on your own. Let's see how to repair or recover RAW SD to NTFS/FAT32.

Here's a tutorial on converting the RAW file system to NTFS and how to recover data from a RAW system. Watch the guide and follow the detailed steps.

Step 1. Recover Data from RAW Drive Before FOrmatting

When your SD card or hard drives become RAW, you are unable to access the drive and export the files. But you can restore and export data with the help of SD card data recovery software - Deep Data Recovery. This powerful data recovery software supports deleted file recovery, formatted file recovery, RAW drive recovery, and more.

Recover deleted, formatted, and inaccessible data in different data loss situations.
Recover photos, audio, music, and emails from any storage effectively, safely, and completely.
Recover data from the recycle bin, hard drive, memory card, flash drive, digital camera, and camcorder.

Download and run this RAW drive recovery software to get back RAW data:

Step 1. Select file types and click "Next" to start

Download and install Deep Data Recovery on your Windows PC.
Use the proper way to connect your SanDisk/Lexar/Transcend SD card to the computer.
Open Qiling SD card recovery software. Select file types and click "Next" to start.

Select file types that you want to recover

Step 2. Select the SD card to scan

All connected drives will display here. Select your SD card and click "Scan".

Step 3. Check for scan results

Wait for the scanning process to complete.
Click "Filter" and specify one or several file types to show up, like Pictures, Word, Excel, PDF, Videos and so on.
Click "Preview" to check if they are the wanted files.

Step 4. Recover SD card data

Choose desired files and click "Recover".
Choose a different location to save the recovered files instead of the original SD card.

Step 2. How to Convert/Format SD Card RAW to FAT32/NTFS

After you have restored SD card data, you can convert the SD card to FAT32/NTFS with useful methods. You can right-click the SD card and format the SD card, use Disk Management or a third-party format tool.

Right-click to Format RAW SD to NTFS or FAT32
Use Disk Management to Format RAW SD to FAT32 or NTFS
Use CMD to Convert RAW SD to FAT32 or NTFS
Run Qiling Partition Master to Convert to FAT32/NTFS

1 - Right-click to Format RAW SD to NTFS or FAT32

This is the easiest and quickest way to convert RAW SD to FAT32/NTFS. You don't need to download any software or extra tool.

Step 1. Connect your SD card to your PC and go to "This PC".

Step 2. Right-click on the SD card and choose "Format".

Step 3. Click "Restore Device Defaults" in the popup window.

Step 4. Choose the desired file system FAT32, exFAT, or NTFS and click Start to begin the format process.

convert RAW SD card with right-click

2 - Use Disk Management to Format RAW SD to FAT32 or NTFS

You can also go to Disk Management and convert your RAW SD card to FAT32/NTFS.

Step 1. Go to "Disk Management", and right-click on the RAW SD card, select "Format".

Step 2. Set Volume Label, File System (NTFS), and Allocation unit size. The default format option is Quick Format. Then, click "OK" to start the operation.

Step 3. After reformatting, you can access and use the RAW file system partition or drive as standard.

convert RAW SD card to FAT32/NTFS with disk management

3 - Use CMD to Convert RAW SD to FAT32 or NTFS

If you are familiar with CMD, you can convert your RAW SD card to FAT32/NTFS with Command Prompt.

Step 1. Type cmd in the search box in Windows 11/10, and then you'll get the best match Command Prompt. Right-click on it and choose "Run as administrator".

Step 2. In the command prompt, type diskpart and press "Enter".

Step 3. Type list disk to list all the available drives and press "Enter".

Step 4. Type select disk + disk number ( for example, select disk 2) to select the SD card you want to format and press "Enter".

Step 5. Type list volume and press "Enter".

Step 6. Type select volume + volume number (or example, select volume 10) and press "Enter".

Step 7. Type format fs=ntfs (or format fs=exfat) and press "Enter" to format the drive with NTFS or exFAT.

convert to FAT32/NTFS with CMD

Then, you can continue typing create partition primary and assign a letter and type exit to close the program when Diskpart says it has successfully formatted the volume.

4 - Run Qiling Partition Master to Convert to FAT32/NTFS

Another way to change RAW to NTFS is by using Qiling Partition Master. This partition manager software can help you easily format RAW to NTFS. What's more, you can cancel the process before you click Execute. This software also has many highlights that can help you immensely.

Windows Partition Manager

Transfer free disk space from one drive to another directly.
Resize/move, merge, clone partition, and check file system error.
Clone disk, convert to MBR/GPT, convert to dynamic/basic, and even wipe data.
Migrate OS, increase partition space, and more

Free Download
Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

Step 1. Launch Qiling Partition Master.

Click on the RAW partition or RAW external hard drive/USB/SD card that you need to format and choose "Format".

Step 2. Format RAW Partition and reset the file system.

Assign a new partition label, set the file system to NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT, and cluster size to the selected partition, then click "Proceed".

Step 3. In the Warning window, click "OK" to start formatting your RAW partition/USB/SD/external hard drive.

Free Download
Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

Why Does Your SD Card Become RAW

Generally, the file system of your SD card turns to RAW due to the following reasons:

1. There are some bad sectors on the vital area of the Micro SD card.
2. The file system of the SD card partition suffers structural damage.
3. The partition table of the Micro SD card gets corrupted.
4. Virus or malware attack.

If the Micro SD card becomes RAW format, you will get the error message "The volume does not contain a recognized file system" or "The disk in drive X is not formatted. Do you want to format it now". But you can solve the RAW drive issue with the solutions above.

Conclusion

You can convert RAW to FAT32/NTFS in four ways. Before formatting, you should run data recovery software to rescue your data to avoid data loss problems. You can then try any of the solutions above to format the SD card to FAT32/NTFS.

SD Card RAW to FAT32 FAQs

If you want to get additional help, you can read these questions and answers below:

1. Why does my SD card need to be formatted?

The formatting message on memory cards occurs due to the corrupted or interrupted process of writing in the SD card. The computer or camera files required for reading or writing purposes are lost. Therefore, the SD card is inaccessible without a format.

2. How do I fix a RAW file system on my SD card?

Step 1. Recover Data from RAW Drive Before FOrmatting

Step 2. Convert/Format SD Card RAW to FAT32/NTFS

How do I know if my SD card is FAT32?

When you insert your SD card into your computer or laptop, there is a quick way to double-check that your card is in the right FAT32 format. Right-click your SD card and click "Properties". Then, you can check your SD card is NTFS or FAT32.