How to recover data from corrupted Galaxy S7 SD card, other issues

Many smartphone users tend to disregard the proven advice of always keeping a copy of their important data. For these folks, their files appear secure unless they’re otherwise. Today’s troubleshooting article covers some #GalaxyS7 owners who encounter problems with their SD card going bust. Keep reading to see how to best minimize the impact of a corrupted SD card.

If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page.

When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Problem 1: How to recover data from corrupted Galaxy S7 SD card

I’m have a bit of a strange problem with my Samsung Galaxy S7. I have over 1300 videos and pictures on my SD card. It’s about 60GB/128GB full. I haven’t backed anything up for over a year so I manually connected my phone to my laptop as I like to usually copy and paste my photos and videos from my phone to my laptop. I noticed certain files were not being read by my computer. Using a micro SD card reader I found the files would download then crash. E.g., a 688MB video would download to my laptop then crash at 14MB and then give a file error. So I opened the file on my phone and the video would crash at the same point each time. I have also noticed my Gallery being very slow and certain videos keep crashing. There seems to be a correlation in the videos crashed and they are not backing up. I am now trying to back everything up using Google drive but the same issues is happening with the same files. My Gallery app is very slow to load all my files, and now It also seems to be corrupting more files as I keep opening the app trying to back it up. What would you recommend? My default camera storage is the SD card. I want to back up all my files. I’m assuming my SD card is corrupt? How has that happened and how do I fix it? — Asim

Solution: Hi Asim. SD card corruption can happen due to a wide variety of reasons. Below are some of the most common ones:

interrupting the device like your phone while it’s trying to read from or save to the card
intentionally or unintentionally removing the SD card while it’s being used
phone suddenly turning off while an app is using the SD card
trying to modify a file (changing its name, deleting it, or opening it) while it’s being accessed by a computer
inserting the SD card to another device which did not format it initially
malware
using the SD card to another phone or device like a computer without formatting it first

The thing is, it’s often very difficult to know the exact cause unless one knows the full history of the device. There’s no way that we can tell what might have caused your SD card to get corrupted.

How to fix a corrupted SD card

As far as fixing a corrupted SD card is concerned, we’re afraid there’s not much that you can do. The most that you can try is to stop using the SD card immediately so you can prepare it for data recovery process. Once you’re done copying the files to your computer, turn off your phone and remove the SD card. Using it further may overwrite the damaged the sectors, deleting them forever. Since the SD card appears to be still readable at this time, you may still be able to recover your files with the help of recovery programs.

The effectiveness of your recovery effort largely depends on the condition of the files and the recovery program itself. Some programs may be able to recover more files than others. Some can recover only photos while others can cover a wide range of file formats. In picking a recovery program, be sure to use the one that’s capable of recovering the files stored in the card, which in your case is mainly composed of photos and videos.

Data recovery is not 100% effective

In general, trying to recover data using recovery programs is easy and straightforward. Steps are often few and easy to follow. However, data recovery is a tricky business and there’s no saying how much you’ll be able to recover. Be sure to ask support from the software developer if you encounter problems during recovery, or if you have product-specific questions.

Good recovery programs are often proprietary and not free. However, this site does provide a list of free photo recovery software that you can try. We haven’t tested any of the products mentioned in that link and we can’t vouch if they contain malware or not. Try them at your own risk.

Let a professional do the recovery

Another good way to try and recover corrupted files is by seeking help from people who does it for a living. This is especially true if you can’t find a good recovery program, or if nothing that has come out after testing some of them. Do a quick Google search and look for data recovery labs in your area. Professional data recovery is often expensive but if you think those digital memories are worth it, it’s the best way to go.

Problem 2: Ways to create a backup from the SD card of your Galaxy S7

Hi. I was using my phone like I usually do. Out of nowhere, it said that my SD card got removed. Even though I didn’t unmount it. I tried soft reset. I also, tried inserting a different sd card. That one worked, perfectly. Please help me, I have about 4000 pictures on that phone. Pictures from 4 years ago which I don’t want to lose. Thank you. — K

Solution: Hi K. No storage device is 100% reliable. Some may run without problems for years at a stretch while others can fails shortly after you start using them. This is true for both affordable and top-of-the-line media. That’s because there’s a lot of things that can go wrong in a software environment, aside from the common causes mentioned above. If you’re lucky and your SD card is still readable, you may be able to recover some of your files by using recovery software, or by tapping the help of professionals. For additional information, refer to our suggestions for Asim above.

To prevent this issue from happening in the future, make sure to regularly create a backup of irreplaceable files. It’s exactly the situation you’re in right now that the wisdom of always creating a backup has never faded. Don’t put too many precious files in one big basket. Remember, storage devices can fail at any time and the only way to minimize heartache when it happens is by creating a copy of your files whenever possible. If you tend to accumulate a lot of files in a short time, we recommend that you use cloud services so your device can automatically back your data up. For example, Samsung offers a relatively decent amount of free cloud storage (15GB) for every Samsung account. Their cloud storage can keep a copy of your contacts, calendar, memos, browser, keyboard data, and files in the Gallery app. While it’s not much, it should be enough to give you flexibility when it comes to securing only the most precious files you can’t afford to lose. Other major companies like Microsoft and Google also offers their own limited free cloud services so you can use them as well. Of course, if money is not an issue, you can always invest in larger cloud storage spaces.

The best option of course is still the old school way to backing things up, by saving a copy of files in your computer. Creating a backup in your computer is the most simple way to keep files secure. Unless your computer’s hard drive crashes later on, those files are most probably in a good position for years to come.

Problem 3: Galaxy S7 won’t read SD cards

Namaste. My phone loses pictures and will not accept new info from my phone, though the SD card(s) will work in other phones and the computer. I can save to the card via computer and it will read it. I’ve tried many types and sizes of cards, including 2×64 gig class 10 directly from Samsung. I’m running the latest software and have tried pretty much all types of rebooting…in vain as it behaves the same with each card. I bought the phone new from ebay (100% seller) and it hasn’t worked properly for most of that time. By the time I was in the position to ask for a return or replacement, it was too late. Any ideas? — Kai Anders

Solution: Hi Kai. If your S7 does not recognize any SD card you insert, that’s a clear indication that its SD card reading capability may be broken. This can by caused by either a software glitch or hardware malfunction. To see if it’s something that you can fix at your end, we suggest that you do a factory reset. Here’s how:

Create a backup of your important files.
Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7.
Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
Now highlight the option Yes — delete all user data using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

If the phone still won’t read any SD card immediately after doing a factory reset, bad hardware must be to blame. The SD card slot may be damaged, or there’s an unknown hardware error behind it. Unfortunately, there’s really nothing much that you can do about it except to have the phone replaced.