Instructions in this article apply to Windows 10, 8, and 7.

No SD card slot?

Use an SD card reader that can plug into a USB port.

Right-click the SD card drive and select Format.

To format an SD card on a Windows PC:

Insert the SD card into your gear.

Open File Explorer and locate the drive letter for your SD card.

Right-hit the drive and selectFormat.

Set the File System and select Start.

If theCapacityof your SD card is less than 64 GB, set theFile SystemtoFAT32.

If it’s 64 GB or higher, set theFile SystemtoexFAT.

you might give the formatted drive a name by entering it into theVolume label.

Select OK to ignore the warning and begin formatting the SD card.

SelectOKto ignore the warning that the data on the drive will be erased and begin formatting the card.

Right-click theStartmenu and selectWindows PowerShell (Admin)onWindows 10orCommand Prompt (Admin)on Windows 8.

You may need to navigate through the menus to find the Command Prompt icon.

Right-click the Start menu and select Windows PowerShell (Admin) on Windows 10.

Typediskpartin the Command Prompt window and pressEnter.

A list of available disks on your rig appears.

Look for the disk number that resembles the size of the SD card.

Type diskpart in the Command Prompt window and press Enter.

Typeselect disk#(where#is the number of the disk for the SD card) and pressEnter.

Typeattributes disk clear readonlyand pressEnter.

Before you’re able to re-purpose that SD card for other uses, you must remove the partition.

Type list disk and press Enter.

To determine if your SD card has a partition, right-click theStartmenu and selectDisk Management.

On Windows 7 or earlier, click theStartmenu and typediskmgmt.mscin the search box to find the Disk Managementtool.

Next to the disk number for your SD card, you may see a number of partitions.

Select the disk number for the SD card.

Usually, the first partition is namedunallocated.

If this is the only partition listed, the instructions above should work.

However, if there are multiple partitions, the partitions must be removed before you might format the card.

Type attributes disk clear readonly and press Enter.

On Windows 7 or earlier, select theStartmenu, right-clickCommand Prompt, and selectRun as administrator.

You may need to navigate through the menus to find theCommand Prompticon.

Find the disk number that matches your SD card (it should be the same size).

Type clean and press Enter.

Typeselect partition 1and pressEnter.

Repeat steps 6 and 7 until there are no more partitions.

Typecreate partition primaryand pressEnter.

When the process is complete, type exit and press Enter, then close the Command Prompt.

When the process is complete, wrap up the Command Prompt and format the SD card as normal.

Select thethree dots>Move>SD card> choose the destination >Done.

Right-click the Start menu and select Disk Management.

Beside the disk number for your SD card, you may see a number of partitions assigned to your SD card in the Disk Management tool.

Type list partition and press Enter.

Type select partition 1 and press Enter.

Type delete partition and press Enter.

Type create partition primary and press Enter.