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Galaxy Note 4 not detecting SD card

Galaxy Note 4 showing corrupted photos in microSD card, other SD card issues

Do you have memory or SD card-related problems on your Galaxy Note 4? Our post for today may help you fix it.

Below are the topics discussed in this post:

Galaxy Note 4 unable to read photos and videos from 128GB microSD card
Galaxy Note 4 unable to move some apps to SD card
Galaxy Note 4 files on SD card showing black exclamation mark or grey square
Galaxy Note 4 showing corrupted photos in microSD card
Galaxy Note 4 not detecting SD card after flashing custom recovery
Galaxy Note 4 not detecting 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.

Problem #1: Galaxy Note 4 unable to read photos and videos from 128GB microSD card

I’m experiencing difficulties in reading pictures from my 128GB microSD memory card. It is a generic card but is listed as a class 10 card. Pictures or videos that I take that are saved to the memory card via the camera settings are unable to view or watch. I’ve tried moving these items over to the internal memory of the phone and still have no success…The file information is there when I click on file details or more info…. It shows me the date, time, file size and resolution however I’m unable to retrieve these items…

Is anyone else out there experiencing these issues? I saw one forum that suggested that I should switch to a Samsung memory card… I have one on order (128GB) and I’ll keep you informed of my success or continued failure with this problem… — Enrico

Solution: Hi Enrico. Try transferring your files from your microSD card to a computer. If you can do that, that’s an indication that the SD card might still be usable at this time. Once you have moved the files to a computer or another device, make sure to reformat the problematic microSD card.

To prevent losing important files in the future, make it a habit to keep copies of important digital stuff to another device in the event that the primary storage encounters a problem. We cannot emphasize this enough. Digital storage devices are not reliable are prone to failure. Even branded SD cards are not immune to common malfunctions.

If you can afford cloud services like Dropbox, Amazon Web Services, Windows Azure, try using them as alternate storage for important files. If your videos and photos are within manageable file size, you can also use the free cloud services of Google, Microsoft, among others.

Problem #2: Galaxy Note 4 unable to move some apps to SD card

I was getting multiple messages from everyone. After speaking to T-Mobile, trying everything they said, they said to do a factory reset. I did, got the phone all set up, no more multiple messages, everything seemed fine. That is until trying to move some apps to my SD card. Now it is saying can’t be moved, no more room. I have a 32GB card that is showing 25GB of free space. I did a soft reset, still the same. I had no problem moving these apps before the factory reset. What gives? — Nancy

Solution: Hi Nancy. The apps you are trying to move to the SD card may have been modified by their developers and can longer work properly when saved in an SD card. Keep in mind that not all apps are designed to work in an SD card for various reasons.

This is not an issue on your phone so there’s nothing that you can do on your end to fix it. Contact the developer of the app and ask them for support or more information about the topic.

Problem #3: Galaxy Note 4 files on SD card showing black exclamation mark or grey square

Randomly and out of the blue, I noticed I couldn’t see my photos in the Gallery, particularly in the ‘camera’ folder which is set to be saved on the microSD card (64GB). The thumbnails and total number of photos/videos is still showing but the thumbnails are either black with an exclamation mark, or just a grey square.

The SD card is showing most of its memory being full, as always, but going into it you can see any files. Says no files.

The problem is very strange though because some photos are saved on device, such as WhatsApp pics, and if I try to attach a photo from within WhatsApp from the Gallery, from the Whatsapp folder, it cannot see the photos (grey thumbnails, whereas if I go into the Gallery, and find the photo in the Whatsapp folder and select share via Whatsapp, I can send it. So I don’t know where the issue us… Is it the SD card or the phones ability to read the card, and or connect with the Gallery? I also keep getting app optimization notifications lately which I never used to get. Plus unsolicited email spam, which is new. Tying it all in together? I just don’t know how to fix this? Thanks. — Paul

Solution: Hi Paul. If still possible, make sure to save all files from the SD card to another device and reformat it. If it’s not an SD card issue, proceed to factory reset to ensure that firmware-level bugs will be eliminated. If you haven’t done a master reset before, here are the steps to do it:

Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Vol Up key.
Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
Now highlight ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Vol Down key and press the Power key to begin the reset.
When the master reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key.
The Note 4 will restart but it will be longer than usual. When it reaches the Home screen, then begin your setup.

Problem #4: Galaxy Note 4 showing corrupted photos in microSD card

Recently i have updated my phone with 95Mb package. After that the photos taken and stored in my 64GB SD card become black with question mark. The photos taken before are still good. But also it didn’t happen for all pictures photos, some are ok, some are black. My card free space is now about 6.5GB.

I thought maybe the space is not so big is the reason so i tried to delete the old photos. It looks ok but when reboot all deleted photos appear again. I tried to connect the phone to laptop and deleted by Windows but it didn’t help. The photos stored on the phone are ok. Following the instructions from internet, i uncheck all the photos and Google and photos and picasa web album sync option and then deleted the photos stored in SD card but after reboot the phone all deleted photos returned back again. It is nightmare for me. Please advise me how to solve this problem. It is possible that the latest Note 4 update is a reason ? Thanks for your support. — Kieu

Solution: Hi Kieu. You haven’t mentioned reformatting the SD card. Please reformat it first to see the difference. The issue may not be on the phone but rather on the SD card itself.

Refer to our suggestions for Paul above if nothing happens after reformatting the SD card.

Problem #5: Galaxy Note 4 not detecting SD card after flashing custom recovery

I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 that I just rooted and installed recovery from xda developer site. After the flashing of the cwm recovery through rom manager v5.5.3.7 without deleting cache partition and wipe data, the phone now refuse to mount ex – sdcard which was in the phone. It keeps telling insert sdcard each time I tried to mount it.

I tried to flash the stock rom for the phone but my window xp service pack 2 desktop pc could not open the phone sdcard. It keeps telling me to insert sdcard for both internal and external sdcard. I installed Samsung galaxy USB driver on the pc, then adb and fastboot usb driver for the phone too. When I connect the phone to the pc and tried using adb and fastboot cmd to push the stock rom file to the phone, the phone could not be listed by adb. I also tried Odin v3.04. It detected my phone but could not successfully complete the flashing of the stock rom. Please help me! — Philip

Solution: Hi Philip. Try flashing a stock ROM to your Note 4 using another PC. Sometimes, software bugs can cause problems when flashing so try to determine if the issue is on your PC or on the phone.

Assuming there’s no hardware problem at hand, try to narrow down the cause of the error further by using another USB cable.

Flashing has inherent risks due to many factors that can affect the process. Even a bad USB port can interrupt the flashing process and can result to failure.

Problem #6: Galaxy Note 4 not detecting SD card

I recently bought a new SD card. when i inserted it into my phone it was like i never mounted it. it won’t even give me the option to mount it. i tried reformatting it on my computer and nothing. So i tried the SD card on another phone and it worked, so the problem seemed to be my phone and not my SD card.

Now the question is how do i fix this because i am really low on storage and i have been having to delete pictures and apps just to make space. I have looked everywhere online and have not found an answer. I already tried to soft reboot or whatever its called (when you take out the battery for ten seconds) and that didn’t work. i have restarted my phone, I’ve completely turned it off and back on, nothing has worked so far. Thank you in advance. — Tania

Solution: Hi Tania. The usual software troubleshooting we suggest in this blog may not work in your case as the issue appears hardware in nature. Have you tried inserting another SD card to your phone? If the second SD card won’t work either, that’s a confirmation that either the card reader is defective, or another hardware is causing the problem.

Try to call Samsung for repair or replacement of the phone if that’s the case. If your carrier provided this phone, contact them and ask for a replacement.

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Galaxy Note 4 reboots on its own when an SD card is inserted, more SD card issues

Do you have SD card problems on your #GalaxyNote4? We’ve compiled four issues below that may be similar to your own problem. The troubleshooting and solutions for SD card problems are almost always universal so this post may of help.

These are topics discussed in this post:

How to format an SD card on Galaxy Note 4
Galaxy Note 4 reboots on its own when an SD card is inserted
Galaxy Note 4 not cannot read verified working SD cards
Helpful apps to allow Galaxy Note 4 to work smoothly with SD cards [tip]
Galaxy Note 4 not detecting 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 that page.

Problem #1: How to format an SD card on Galaxy Note 4

How do you reformat an SD card. — Gary

Solution: Hi Gary. There are two ways to reformat your SD card. One is by using your Note 4.

Go to Settings under the Home screen.
Tap Storage.
Tap Format SD card.

The second option is by using another device like a computer. Depending on what device you have, you can use Google to search for ways how to do it.

Problem #2: Galaxy Note 4 reboots on its own when an SD card is inserted

Hi there. I’m so glad I came across your site. I have been having some issues with my Samsung Galaxy Note 4..

About 3 months ago I had put in a 16GB SanDisk micro SD card (class 10 extreme PLUS). my phone hasn’t been the same since. I lost all my SnapChat photos/videos I had saved (unable to get them back as well).

The phone instantly was having terrible issues with the SD card. And shortly was unable to even stay on with the SD card in. So I had removed it backed up everything and did a factory reset. I got everything how I like it and all and the issue still seems to persist.. It will turn off without any warning. It turns off in my pocket. I’m not sure what to do. I have never once even dropped this phone. I bought it new from Verizon. I have tried cleaning the battery connections, I also replaced the battery and still have the issue.. It would mean the absolute world if you could help me with this as I feel a bit stuck. I’m running the stock current lollipop ROM. Phone was never rooted.

It seems to have a consistent average of turning off 5 times a day…which is very annoying, when it restarts it will display a message saying currently unable to download please try again later and also 2 tiny vibrates.. Not sure what it is! 🙁

Thank you so much and I hope so much I get a reply with some assistance! — Kevin

Solution: Hi Kevin. There had been recorded cases in the past when Samsung Galaxy devices suffered from random reboot problem due to bad SD cards so there’s a chance that your case may be similar. A faulty storage device can sometimes force an Android device to restart if it contains unreadable or corrupted sectors. However, the issue has also been observed to go away once the defective SD card is removed.

To verify if the SD card causes problems in the system, try using another one or simply take it out. If your phone works normally when there’s no SD card inserted or when using another one, you have to reformat the problem SD card using your phone or another device. Better still, simply replace it right away to avoid a similar problem in the future.

Keep in mind that SD cards cannot last forever. They have a limited lifespan of a few years depending on how they are being used.

Galaxy Note 4 randomly restarts without an SD card

If the phone still restarts on its own after removing the SD card, that’s a totally different problem altogether. It’s likely that inserting the SD card may have triggered the dormant issue, or may just be pure coincidence.

A phone that randomly reboots can be due to other factors totally unrelated to an SD card problem. You can refer to this post for additional troubleshooting.

Problem #3: Galaxy Note 4 not cannot read verified working SD cards

Upgraded to a new Note 4 recently (AT&T had them for *free* with 2 year contract). One of the benefits of choosing this phone was using SD cards to expand storage for music and videos.

Unfortunately, I can’t seem to get mine to be recognized. I purchased new from Newegg, and it came in factory packaging, a SanDisk 128GB SDSDQUA-128G-G46A and a Samsung Pro 64GB MB-MG64DA/AM. Both are formatted exFAT.

The SanDisk would never get past ‘preparing SD Card’. The Samsung initially formatted, and I put some photos on in. Later attempts to insert that card met a similar fate at the SanDisk. Inserting the card before powering on, the phone doesn’t ‘recognize’ it until I pull it out (“SD Card removed, Insert new SD Card”). Reinserting it, ‘Preparing SD Card’. I let it go for days, just to see what would happen (a lot of nothing).

Using SD Insight reveals legit manufacturing data for both cards.

The cards themselves work fine. I’ve been able to put stuff on and, in the case of the Samsung card, save the pictures I put on it when I hook it up to my computer. I emailed Samsung support and they confirmed, with the model numbers, that these cards were compatible. Only suggestion they gave is to format in ex FAT (moot) or FAT32 (why?), or try “the SDHC card on the device” (which looks like another accessory I’d have to purchase).

It’s looking like it’s the phone, but I can’t determine if its software or hardware/warranty related.

Background info: I’ve built/upgraded windows based computers infrequently over the years, but, after six years of iPhones and an adulthood of little cell phone patience (hence Apple), I’ve moved to Android (My phone is safe, I’ve calmed in my older years).

Is there something I’m missing/overlooking? — Nick

Solution: Hi Nick. This issue happens albeit rather rarely. We say you have already done everything on your end to know where the problem lies. That you have isolated the issue to your phone may be good, but getting the exact answer whether the phone suffers from hardware or software problem can be tricky. Based on our experience with similar problems, the issue is almost always hardware in nature. It won’t hurt though if you can try restoring the phone’s factory defaults by doing a master reset to see there are any firmware or driver-related problems involved.

If nothing changes after a factory reset, that suggests that there must be a rare hardware failure causing this trouble. Unfortunately, diagnosing the issue involves tearing the phone apart and checking all relevant components and circuits. We don’t think you would want to go that route yourself so we say you go ahead and simply get a phone replacement.

Problem #4: Helpful apps to allow Galaxy Note 4 to work smoothly with SD cards [tip]

Following your article related to Samsung Note 4 and micro SD card issues, I would like to share my experience with my Note 4. I just got the Samsung micro SD 64GB PRO. The default file manager app from Android was not allowing me to transfer or write data onto my micro SD, so then I tried thru the “Gallery app” and then, I was able to transfer and write the data on the micro SD, so I thought it is a software issue.

So I went to the Google store and downloaded a bunch of file managers app to try out. I found out that many of them don’t work properly with my Note 4, but I found 3 file managers app that works great, allowing my Note 4 to transfer and write onto the micro SD smoothly. Those 3 apps are: ASTRO, FX and File Commander.

Since using those, my Note 4 haven’t had any issues with the micro SD, so I’m gonna keep using those for now and that will prevent me for having to do a factory reset. 🙂 — Patrick

Solution: Hi Patrick. We appreciate the effort and time in sharing your positive experience with the above mentioned apps. We are glad to know that you are back to using your device normally. Doing a factory reset is only recommended as a last resort and after you have exhausted all available software troubleshooting.

Let us know if you have other tips and helpful solutions for our Android community in the future.

Problem #5: Galaxy Note 4 not detecting SD card

I recently updated my service from Virgin Mobile to Straight Talk. My old phone was a HTC desire 816. I have a 128GB SD card. When I placed the card in the new phone it is not reading it. It is like there is no SD card at all. I have taken it out and put it back in and even turned the phone off and back on. — Jeannie

Solution: Hi Jeannie. Make sure that the SD card is working with other devices. If you have another phone or tablet, try inserting the SIM card to it.

If you are trying to re-use this SD card on your new phone, make sure to format it on another device before inserting it to your Note 4. if the Note 4 is still unable to detect the SD card, try using a different SD card to verify if the issue is with the phone.