How to Wipe a Memory Card: Guide to Erase & Format SD Cards
Are you trying to figure out “How to wipe a memory card?” We hear you. Whenever you find that your SD/ Memory card storage is full, you need to format the memory card to make use of it. You may also need to wipe out your SD/ Memory card when you are selling your old device/ camera and trying to clear storage space in the SD card.
Whatever your reason may be, your memory card must be wiped out permanently to use the complete storage and to ensure no one can recover data from your SD card after you have handed it over.
In this guide, we will cover 5 methods that help you format your memory card completely, including how you can also delete hidden files from the SD card in a professional way. So let’s dive in.
What is an SD Card/Memory Card?
A memory card/SD is an external chip-like device often connected to a PC, a laptop, a camera, a gaming console, or another device for extending its storage. The main purpose of a Memory card is to retain and store data.
It is a powerful device that may seem tiny but carries a huge amount of important data. It is like a small hard drive that safeguards all the professional and personal data of users.
Once the SD card storage (e.g., 32GB, 128GB, 1TB) is fully occupied, you may need to format the memory card. SD/ Memory cards are of different types, like SDHC, SDXC, and SDUC. In this guide, we will show you how you can easily erase any of these memory cards quickly and permanently.
Quick Steps To Wipe a Memory Card
You can erase all data from your SD card in a few simple steps:
- Connect your Memory card to your PC directly or using connector.
- Go to File Explorer in Windows or Disk Utility on Mac.
- Select the SD card you need to format.
- Right click. Hit Format to empty the memory card.
Why Do We Erase Memory Card Data?
There are several reasons when a user wants to wipe memory card; however, it completely depends on their situation. Such as;
- Whenever we decide to offer our SD to a friend, colleague, or any person, we should always delete SD card data to ensure our sensitive or personal information is secure.
- Sometimes the memory card runs out of storage. It completely depends on the limit of your SD card. To free up its space and store other information, we often need to wipe data from the memory card.
- Another reason for erasing memory card data can be errors that can never be anticipated. However, wiping it off can fix the errors and give a clean memory card.
How to Wipe a Memory Card? Step-by-Step Guide
You can perform several methods to clean up your SD card data. In the following, we have explained the step-by-step manual and the professional’s suggested solutions that can help you to effortlessly wipe memory card data.
Method 1- Erase Memory Card Data Using Diskpart Command
- Press Win+R and search for Diskpart.
- Now type the following command and press the Enter button after typing each of them separately:
- diskpart
- list disk
- select disk
- clean all
Warning: Be careful while performing this method. Make sure you have selected the right disk and entered the correct commands to wipe memory card data. Please skip if you find it confusing.
However, if you attach a memory card to the computer and delete the junk files or waste files. You feel your data is permanently deleted from the Micro SD card. But they can still fall into the wrong hands as your data is deleted only from the index directory, not from the SD card.”
When you are in a vulnerable position, don’t let any hacker take advantage of it. They can save all your sensitive data with the help of any Data Recovery Software.
To completely delete SD card data while ensuring safety, ease, and peace of mind, we recommend you to use the second method.
Method 2: How To Wipe A Memory Card On Mac?
Follow the steps to reformat an SD on a Mac device easily:
- Make sure you have connected your Memory/ SD card to your Mac.
- Go to Applications.
- Click on Disk Utility.
- Look for the SD card that needs to be formatted on the left drive panel. Your memory card is likely to be at the bottom under the “External Device” section.
- Hit the Erase button in the top-center of the screen.
- If the memory card is never formatted, it’s likely to reflect as “Untitled”. You will need to rename the SD/Memory Card in such a scenario.
- Select the format option for the SD card.
Suggested:- FAT32: If you need to use the Memory cards in cameras or phones. FAT is for files less than 4GB.
- exFAT: Choose this format for files larger than 64GB.
- Mac OS Extended: If you only plan to use the SD card in a Mac.
- APFS: Only for plans to use the memory card for SSDs and new Apple devices.
- Click on Erase to wipe memory card.
Method 3: How To Wipe A Memory Card On Phone?
You can also clear the data on an SD/ Memory card simply through your mobile device.
- Insert your memory card into the SD card slot or connect the card through a connector.
- Once connected, go to Settings.
- Look for a Storgae option.
- Click on the SD card from the storage option.
- Click on Storage Settings. If you are not able to find such an option, click on the three-dot menu and then SD card Storage Settings.
- Hit Format or Erase SD card.
- Tap Confirm to wipe the memory card on the phone.
Method 4: How to Quick Format SD/ Memory Card Using File Explorer On Windows?
If you need to completely clear your memory card using File Explorer On PC, follow the steps below:
- Insert the memory card into your Windows device.
- Open File Explorer.
- Click on This PC and locate your SD card. Most likely, it is at the bottom of the left panel.
- Right-click on your Memory/ SD card.
- A Format window will open. Choose FAT32 if your SD card storage is up to 32 GB or exFAT if it’s greater than 32 GB.
- Keep the Allocation unit size settings as Default.
- Hit Start. Confirm to completely delete data from the SD card.
Best Way to Wipe Memory Card Completely
If you want to wipe your memory card permanently and overcome your obstacles. Then, you can do this by using a professional solution. Secure Data Wipe Software is the finest tool in this digital era to wipe memory cards in a secure manner.
The Software is capable of overwriting the data in the memory card over and over again. So, it’s difficult to recover the original data. It will be easier for you to completely wipe the memory card, and you can get rid of data simply and systematically.
Steps to Wipe Memory Card Using an Advanced Tool
- Firstly, run and install the software on your system to delete SD card data.
- Secondly, Mark on the “Logical Drive” to wipe the specific drive.
- Then, choose “Free Space” (for deleting free space) or “Total Space” (For wiping complete data) from the wipe options to wipe memory card.
- Select Drive which you want to sanitize files from the Memory card.
- The utility automatically uploads the files, check the files to eraser from the SD card.
- Now, click on the Filter Option to delete specific data within the data range.
- Select the Wipe methods from the multiple wiping options.
- After clicking the wipe option, the software will show you the warning option and hit the yes button to wipe memory card data.
Merits of Memory Card Eraser Software
- Overwrite or delete SD card data completely. You can erase data beyond recovery from Hard Disk Drive (HDD) in PC, Desktop, and external drives (Memory Card) with this program.
- Capable of wiping data from multiple storage devices such as HDD, SDD, SATA, PATA, Flash Drive, USB, etc.
- This tool allows erasing of e-waste data while maintaining complete data privacy.
- Memory card eraser software is capable to wipe memory card data from all brands i.e., SanDisk, Samsung, HP, Strontium, etc.
Final Words
Whether you need more space or want to save your memory card from any anti-virus. There can be different situations when users want to wipe memory card data completely. But the problem lies when users don’t know the process of doing it. This can be done by learning methods for how to delete SD card data from this blog. Hence, we have explained memory card eraser software that can securely erase SD card data.