All Five Ways to Remove Write Protection from USB, SD Card, Internal or
External Hard Drive
What
Is Write Protection?
Write protection is regarded as a
data protection mechanism that disallows your storage device with saved data to
be modified or erased. Once your USB flash disk, SD card, internal or external
hard drive is write-protected, you can neither access the saved data nor do any
changes to the device.
In a word, you cannot add files in
or remove any saved data in your device with write protection enabled.
How to Remove Write Protection
When you try to format a disk or manage data on it but receive the error
message "The
disk is write protected", it means that you can no longer use the
current device until remove the write protection from the bottom to the top. To
remove write protection from a USB flash drive, memory card, computer HDD or
SSD, you can do it using manual methods as well as automatic write protection
remover software. Here's a quick view of all the effective solutions to write
protection removal.
All Five Ways to Remove Write Protection from USB, SD Card, Internal or
External Hard Drive
Here in this part, you'll find five methods to remove and disable write
protection on a hard drive, USB or SD card, etc in Windows 10/8/7
computers. We will take USB as an example to show you the whole process of
clearing device write protection.
Follow on to get rid of this problem on your device now:
Method 1. Remove Write Protection from USB/SD with Lock Switch
In order to protect data security on USB or SD card, some manufacturers
would add a switch on the device. Once the USB drive or SD card is locked (with
switch locked), the device will become write-protected on all PC or devices.
Note: The option only works for you to unlock USB or SD
card so to remove the write protection. You won't lose any data on your SD or
USB flash drive.
To remove the protection, all you need is to use the physical switch and
unlock it:
Step 1. Find the physical switch on your USB or SD
card.
Step 2. Turn the physical switch from ON to OFF and
unlock the device.
Image 1 - USB flash drive, flash disk or pen drive write protection switch:
Image 2 - SD card lock switch:
Step 3. Insert the USB or SD card to your computer and
you can access the saved data by then.
Method 2. Apply Diskpart Command to Disable Write Protection
This option applies to disable and clear
read only (namely write protection) on an internal or external hard drive,
and it also works on a USB flash drive or SD card.
Let's see how to use Diskpart command line fix this issue now:
Step 1. Press "Win + R", type cmd to open
"Command Prompt".
Step 2. Type diskpart and hit Enter.
Step 3. Type list disk and hit Enter.
Step 4. Type select disk 0 (Replace 0 with
the write-protected device number) and hit Enter.
Step 5. Type attributes disk clear readonly and hit
Enter.
Step 6. Type exit to close the diskpart
window once the write protection removing process is finished.
After this, restart your PC and check if you can access and use the saved
data on your USB or hard drive again.
Method 3. Run Third-party Write Protection Removal Software
If you are not professional in computing management and not familiar with
command lines, don't worry. EaseUS R&D team has promoted a fresh kit for
helping you resolve the write-protection issue on your hard drive, external
hard drive, USB or SD card, etc., devices.
EaseUS Tools M is a practical computer fixing tool that is safe and light-weighted.
It's a perfect alternative to the command line.
Use this one-click tool to solve the write-protection issues on your own:
Step 1:
DOWNLOAD and install EaseUS Tools M for free.
Step 2: Run EaseUS Tools M on your PC, choose the
"Write Protection" mode.
Step 3: Select the device which is now
"Write-Protected" and click "Disable" to remove the
protection.
Method 4. Use Registry to Clear Write Protection on All Devices
Using Registry to fix USB, SD or internal/external hard drive
write-protected error is effective. However, false operation with Registry may
affect the system performance. If you're not professionals with solid computer
background, this method doesn't fit. For experienced users, follow the below
steps to remove write protection in the Registry editor in Windows
10/8/7/XP/Vista.
Step 1. Connect your write-protected removable device to
PC.
Step 2. Open Registry by clicking "Start"
> Type regedit in the Run dialog > Click "OK".
Step 3. Click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > Expand "System".
Step 4. Click "Current Control
Set" in System list > Click on "Control".
Step 5. Check "Storage Device
Policies" > Change DWORD value data to "0" > Click "OK".
Step 6. Exit Registry and reboot PC.
Wait for the computer to restart, then you can check if your device is
accessible.
Method 5. Turn Off BitLocker Partition in Windows 10/8/7
Mostly, when you enable BitLocker on your hard drive partition, it will
protect your files with its encryption feature. So, you won't be able to do any
changes to the BitLocker partition unless you remove or unlock the protection
from it.
Here are the detailed steps for unlocking write-protected BitLockertai
folders or partitions on your PC:
Step 1. Open File Explorer, right-click on your BitLocker
partition or storage devices, select "Manage
BitLocker".
Step 2. Select the locked device and click Turn
off BitLocker.
Step 3. Wait for BitLocker to decrypt on its own.
After this, you'll be able to see your partition or hard drive showing
BitLocker off. Without BitLocker write protection, you can manage data on your
partition and save new files to it again.
Remember to Format Your Write-Protected USB Drive
After removing write protection from your storage devices, remember to
format and reset your USB, SD card, internal or external hard drive file system
to NTFS or FAT32. This will guarantee you a usable and secure circumstance on
your storage device for saving data again.
NOTE:
#1. Download EaseUS
Data Recovery Wizard to recover any lost data during the write protection
removal.
Download
for PC Download for Mac
#2. Back up
important data on your USB drive before formatting it.
How to
format your USB drive to NTFS or FAT32:
Step
1. Open the Run box and type diskmgmt.msc and hit
Enter.
Step
2. In Disk Management, locate and right-click on the USB, SD card or
other target devices, choose "Format..."
Step
3. Reset the file system of your USB or other devices to FAT32 or
NTFS and click "OK" to confirm.
Conclusion
This page
offers five methods to help you get rid of USB, SD or internal/external hard
drive write protection issues, including:
- 1. Swapping USB
or SD card physical switch to the "Off" state
- 2. Using
Diskpart command to clear read only
- 3. Changing
Registry DWORD value to 0
- 4. Turn off
BitLocker partition
If you are
having a similar question like "How do I remove write protection on a
USB drive?", "How can I remove write protection fro a USB drive in
Windows 10?", and "How can I remove write protection from my USB in
Windows 7?", just follow the article to unlock your write-protected device
with ease.
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