How to Fix “This Memory Card Cannot Be Used” Error

For various reasons, some more common than other, memory cards stop working or at least give the impression of failure. One of the errors that we will discuss about in this article is fix “This Memory Card Cannot Be Used” error solution. We will go through recovery options depending on each scenario and if nothing works we can always use Professional Data Recovery Software.

Part 1: Overview of “This Memory Card Cannot Be Used” Error

Whenever you grab your Nikon camera to take some photos you don’t expect to see the message “This Memory Card Cannot Be Used” and sometimes followed by “Card may be damaged. Insert another card”. This means that if you did not have any photos on that memory card, you are in luck. However, if you did, then there are high chances that your photos might be gone forever. This error can ruin someone’s vacation memories. Most people will give up and throw away the memory card, in acceptance that everything is lost. However, this is not the end as the photos might still be in there somewhere. Although your camera cannot use the memory card, a computer might be able to, so there is still hope.

Part 2: If your data from Nikon Memory card is not important you can format it

Formatting a memory card doesn’t consist of just deleting all the content on it. This procedure is different from one device to another and the reason for this is to assign a file format that the device is capable of reading.

Formatting a memory card can in most cases be done directly from the camera. The procedure is different from camera to camera. To find out how to do this on your own camera, you should check for instruction in the user’s manual, it is that little book that you found in the original box of the camera.

If for any reason you are unable to format the memory card by using your camera you can use your Computer to do so. Here are the steps:

Step 1 Insert the card into the memory card slot in your Computer (if your computer doesn’t have one you can purchase an adaptor from any IT store).

Step 2 Once you have the Memory card inside, press the Windows key + E and then click on “This PC” or “My Computer” depending on which windows version you have.

Step 3 Under “Devices with Removable storage” you should see your Memory card.

Step 4 Right click on the icon and select “Format”

Step 5 Select the “File System” format you wish (you should check the user’s manual to find out which format is most suitable for your camera and memory card”. Usually it is Fat32 for 32GB cards and EXFAT for 64G.

Step 6 It would be recommended to uncheck the option “Quick format” but not necessary.

Step 7 Click start and wait. After it’s finished the card is formatted.

Part 3: If you want to recover data from damaged Memory card by using Data recovery software

Formatting a Memory Card will most probably make it usable again by your Camera. However, this will also mean that everything on the card will be deleted. If by any chance neither the camera nor the Computer is able to read the Data on the card. Don’t think about getting a new one and forget about your beloved photos because there is a solution to this. Windows might not be able to help you but there is software called Wondershare Data recovery that can recover data from memory card.

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  • Recover lost or deleted files, photos, audio, music, emails from any storage device effectively, safely and completely.
  • Supports data recovery from recycle bin, hard drive, memory card, flash drive, digital camera and camcorders.
  • Supports to recover data for sudden deletion, formatting, hard drive corruption, virus attack, system crash under different situations.
  • Preview before recovery allows you to make a selective recovery.
  • Supported OS: Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista, Mac OS X (Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8, 10.9, 10.10 Yosemite, 10.10, 10.11 El Capitan, 10.12 Sierra) on iMac, MacBook, Mac Pro etc.
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Recovering your data could not be made easier. With Wondershare Data Recovery you can enjoy your precious photos in no time. If you wish to recover data from memory card because of the message “This Memory Card Cannot Be Used”, follow the next simple steps to perform memory card data recovery:

Step 1 Select the file type you want to recover from memory card, you can go to select the option "All File Types" to start.

recover lost data from memory card

Step 2 Choose where you want the software to look for lost data. Select “External removable device” to scanning lost files.

recover data from memory card

Step 3 You can go to deep scan if quick scan can't get your lost data, the deep scan will deeply search more file from memory card.

deep scan memory card

Step 4 After the scanning has finished, you will be presented with a preview of what the scan has found on your Memory Card. At this point you can chose to save one file or all of them by selecting them.

memory card data recovery

Losing Pictures and videos from your Camera is never a fun experience. This inconvenience is unpredictable and in some cases many people give up and don’t even try to repair the Memory Card. Depending on the situation, in most cases recovering files might not be possible by using traditional methods. Luckily there is Wondershare Memory Card Data Recovery.

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