5 Methods on How to Remove Write Protection from SD Cards

It is the modern age where we all are using all the trending and latest technologies. Out of the so many unique and innovative technologies coming every now and then, there are some basic technologies, devices, and equipment that have become one of the irreplaceable parts of the people’s life. Memory cards are one such necessity that many of us have been using in our smartphones.

There are varieties of smartphones available in the market. A number of users use such memory cards for storing their files and to perform a number of operations like transferring the files, copying the files, etc. using the memory card. But like any other equipment, even this has some shortcomings. The memory card can easily be formatted which results in loss of the data. While there can be a case when someone else can use your memory card for pasting some irrelevant data on it. Thus to protect the memory card from such issues, many memory cards are now coming with write protection.

UPDATE: 3 Methods to Format Write Protected SD Card in 2020

What is Write Protection in SD Cards?

A write-protected SD card is nothing but a locked SD card that prevents the data inside it to get copied or transferred to any device. This feature also allows users to safeguard their files and data from being deleted and formatted. This is just the case that the memory card cannot be used for any of the copying, deleting or transferring features.

There are many people who are in favor of this as they find it a safe option that can protect their data to be mishandled. These kinds of memory cards are used in offices and companies for the protection of their sensitive data for being leaked but there are many who are not so happy with this. If you are one of them who are often troubled by this locked or write feature of the memory card then here are some quick ways by which you can get rid of this problem.

How to Remove the Write Protection from SD card?

For making and using your memory card or SD card usable, it is important that you remove the write protection from it. Though the process of removal of write protection is very essential, it is relevantly very easy to do. You just have to follow some of the basic steps to do the needful, post which your memory card will be all set and ready for transferring, copying and formatting files. Have a look at the various ways that you can try for removing the write protection from your SD card:

• Check for a lock: Before going in any depth with the process, first make sure that your memory card has any lock or not. Having any locks in the memory card also prevents it from getting formatted. Observe and analyze your SD card and look for any special type of marks that it contains. If you find any special marks of any lock, make sure that you push those in the opposite direction to unlock it.

• Scan the card: There can be a possibility that your memory card is not supporting any of the features of transferring or formatting because of the presence of some harmful viruses. Thus, it is advisable to scan your memory card against a powerful memory card. Any of the available strong antiviruses will help the memory card to overcome the write protection and will allow the users to perform the necessary actions with the memory card.

• Use registry editor: If none of the above methods turns useful, then you may have to get inside the registry of the system. To solve this write protection issue, you can perform the following steps:
  • Click on start
  • Type “regedit” followed by opening the “Registry Editor.”
  • Once the registry editor has opened up, you need to follow the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/StorageDevicePoliciesÂ
  • Following this path, you will land on the option of “write protection.”
  • Double click on that option and then set its value as ‘0‘
  • Once you have set the value as 0 you have successfully overcome the write protection from your SD card. You now can try to perform the operations of transferring, copying and deleting the files from it.

• Using Diskpart Utility: If none of the above methods were successful, then you can try this method for removing the write protection.
  • Open the command prompt. Type ‘diskpart‘ and press enter
  • In the diskpart, type ‘list disk‘ and press enter again
  • Type ‘select disk 1‘ for selecting your SD card. Once done press enter
  • Type ‘attributes disk clear readonly‘ and press enter
  • Once you are done with these steps, type ‘exit’ and press enter to move out from the diskpart utility area
  • On successful completion of the steps and successfully exiting from the diskpart utility, right-click on your memory card and click the option of format for successfully formatting your SD card.

• Formatting the SD card: This is one of the easiest methods that most of the people follow. This is quick, fast and convenient to be done and that is why it is followed by so many people. Here are the steps that you can follow for formatting the SD card and to get rid of the write protection:
  • Connect your SD card to your computer
  • Open my computer and then click on ‘this PC’ option
  • Right-click on your SD card and then click on the ‘format’ option
  • After that click on the ‘restore device defaults’ option
  • Once you have done this, click on ‘start’
  • Lastly, click ‘ok’ for the various warning messages
  • The process of formatting the SD card will take some time but after the completion of the formatting process, you will be able to use your SD card in a normal manner without any write protection.

UPDATE: 3 Methods to Format Write Protected SD Card in 2020

Conclusion

These are some of the easy methods by which you can remove the write protection from your SD card and can use it for performing all the relevant operations on it. Removing the write protection from the SD card is not that much difficult as some of the users think. It just simply takes implementing the right process to undo the protection which can suit your needs and requirements.

Worrying about not being tech-savvy? That’s not a problem at all. All these processes are very simple to implement, therefore it is not mandatory that the person has to have technical knowledge of performing these steps. Even the non-technical persons can perform these steps and make their SD card free from the write protection.