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Formatting an SD card/Windows: Difference between revisions

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m note not to restore SD contents on 64gb or larger if this is in the middle of another guide
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<li><translate><!--T:34--> Wait for the format to finish</translate></li>
<li><translate><!--T:34--> Wait for the format to finish</translate></li>
<li><translate><!--T:35--> Click "Close"</translate></li>
<li><translate><!--T:35--> Click "Close"</translate></li>
{{info|<translate nowrap> <!--T:57--> To confirm that your SD card was formatted correctly, navigate to This PC, right-click the SD card drive, and select Properties. Ensure that the file system is set to FAT32. </translate>}}
<li><translate><!--T:36--> If the SD card had any files and folders on it before the format, copy everything back from your computer, unless you were linked to this by another guide that needs the SD to be formatted and blank</translate></li>
<li><translate><!--T:36--> If the SD card had any files and folders on it before the format, copy everything back from your computer, unless you were linked to this by another guide that needs the SD to be formatted and blank</translate></li>
</ol>
</ol>
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<li><translate><!--T:18--> Click "OK"</translate></li>
<li><translate><!--T:18--> Click "OK"</translate></li>
<li><translate><!--T:19--> Close SD Card Formatter</translate></li>
<li><translate><!--T:19--> Close SD Card Formatter</translate></li>
{{info|<translate nowrap> <!--T:58--> To confirm that your SD card was formatted correctly, navigate to This PC, right-click the SD card drive, and select Properties. Ensure that the file system is set to FAT32. </translate>}}
<li><translate><!--T:20--> If the SD card had any files and folders on it before the format, copy everything back from your computer, unless you were linked to this by another guide that needs the SD to be formatted and blank</translate></li>
<li><translate><!--T:20--> If the SD card had any files and folders on it before the format, copy everything back from your computer, unless you were linked to this by another guide that needs the SD to be formatted and blank</translate></li>
</ol>
</ol>
</tabber>
</tabber>


==SD Card not formatting or has some other issue.==
<translate>
Refer to the [[SD Clean/Windows|SD Clean]] guide.
== SD Card not formatting or has some other issue. == <!--T:59-->
 
<!--T:60-->
Refer to the {{ml|SD Clean/Windows|SD Clean}} guide.
</translate>


{{hg imported|Guide_3DS}}
{{hg imported|Guide_3DS}}


[[Category:General guides]]
[[Category:General guides{{#translation:}}]]

Revision as of 23:43, 7 August 2025

Other languages:

This is an add-on section for formatting an SD card to FAT32.

This page is for Windows users only. If you are not on Windows, check out the Linux or Mac pages.

Choose your SD card size

What You Need

Instructions

  1. Insert your SD card into your computer
  2. If the SD card has any files and folders on it, copy everything to a folder on your computer
  3. Run SD Card Formatter Setup (the .exe file) in the downloaded .zip file with Administrator privileges, then install the program
  4. Run SD Card Formatter from the Start Menu
  5. Select your SD card’s drive letter for "Select card"
    Warning icon Make sure you choose the correct drive letter, otherwise you might accidentally erase the wrong drive!
  6. Ensure that "Quick Format" is selected
  7. Click "Format"
  8. Click "OK"
  9. Wait for the format to finish
  10. Click "OK"
    11. Info icon You're not done yet! Your SD card will be formatted to exFAT at this point. The following steps will format it to FAT32.
  11. Close SD Card Formatter
  12. Run guiformat.exe
  13. Select your SD card’s drive letter for "Drive"
    Warning icon Make sure you choose the correct drive letter, otherwise you might accidentally erase the wrong drive!
  14. Select a size for "Allocation unit size"
    • If the SD card is 64GB, choose 32768
    • If the SD card is larger than 64GB, choose 65536 (note that if GUIFormat reverts to 32768, this does not mean it selected the wrong cluster size!)
  15. Ensure that "Quick Format" is selected
  16. Click "Start"
  17. Click "OK"
  18. Wait for the format to finish
  19. Click "Close"
    20. Info icon To confirm that your SD card was formatted correctly, navigate to This PC, right-click the SD card drive, and select Properties. Ensure that the file system is set to FAT32.
  20. If the SD card had any files and folders on it before the format, copy everything back from your computer, unless you were linked to this by another guide that needs the SD to be formatted and blank

Common errors with guiformat

Failed to open device: GetLastError()=32

Close everything that may be using the SD card, such as any File Explorer windows. If it does not resolve the issue, try formatting the card to NTFS, then run GUIFormat again.

GetLastError()=1117

Your SD card write-protection switch may be enabled. The lock must be flipped upwards to allow writing to the SD card (including formatting).

What You Need

Instructions

  1. Insert your SD card into your computer
  2. If the SD card has any files and folders on it, copy everything to a folder on your computer
  3. Run SD Card Formatter Setup (the .exe file) in the downloaded .zip file with Administrator privileges, then install the program
  4. Run SD Card Formatter from the Start Menu
  5. Select your SD card’s drive letter for "Select card"
    Warning icon Make sure you choose the correct drive letter, otherwise you might accidentally erase the wrong drive!
  6. Ensure that "Quick Format" is selected
  7. Click "Format"
  8. Click "OK"
  9. Wait for the format to finish
  10. Click "OK"
  11. Close SD Card Formatter
    12. Info icon To confirm that your SD card was formatted correctly, navigate to This PC, right-click the SD card drive, and select Properties. Ensure that the file system is set to FAT32.
  12. If the SD card had any files and folders on it before the format, copy everything back from your computer, unless you were linked to this by another guide that needs the SD to be formatted and blank

SD Card not formatting or has some other issue.

Refer to the SD Clean guide.

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