Why do SD cards suddenly stop working?

There's a lot of reasons and SD card can suddenly quit but today we learned that even a dying battery can be the problem.

So let's review a few points

Why SD Cards Get “Corrupted”?

1. You Removed the Card Too Soon

If you pull your SD card out while the red light is blinking or before safely ejecting it from your computer, you’re interrupting a file write. That’s like yanking out a USB drive mid-save - the file system breaks, and your computer can’t find your images anymore.

2. Power Loss or Mid-Transfer Crash

If your camera dies while saving, or your PC freezes mid-transfer, the card can’t complete the writing process. The photos might still exist, but the “map” that tells your device where they are is broken.

3. Using the Same Card in Multiple Devices

Canon. GoPro. Drone. Back to Canon. Every time you switch devices, they write their own metadata and it’s not always compatible. Over time, this confuses the card and corrupts the folder structure.

When researching "Why my SD card file is corrupted" this was generally the most common answer as to why it happened.

Tip: We buy all of our SD cards fresh for the shoot to avoid any issues.

4. Low Battery During Shooting

If your camera dies while writing an image or video, you might end up with a half-written file. That can mess with the directory too.

5. Old or Cheap SD Cards

Every SD card has a lifespan. After thousands of writes, sectors can start to fail. That’s why pro photographers replace cards every 1–2 years.

Stick to trusted brands: SanDisk, Lexar, Kingston, or Sony.

🔍 How to Check If Your Photos Are Still There

Put the card back into your camera.
- If the photos appear on the screen, the files are still there the computer just can’t read them.
Enable Hidden Items on your computer.
- Sometimes the folders are hidden but not deleted.
Use recovery software.
- Try programs like Recuva, PhotoRec, or EaseUS Data Recovery.
- These scan the raw memory and can often recover your lost images.

This is why it's important to check all the data while on site and shoot with new SD cards.

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