Maybe most of us encounter write protection errors when we try to format or erase the data on our USB stick or SD card. Some USB sticks and SD cards have a protection switch that can easily turn on or off. This is a safety feature added by some manufacturers to prevent accidentally formatting the device.
But sometimes, even if the USB or SD card doesn’t have a write-protect switch or the write-protect is already turned off, still, you cannot write or erase anything on the device.
Although you can still read the content stored inside, but you can’t delete it. To fix this, here are some ways you can try to remove the write protection on the USB stick or SD Card. Please take note that there is no guarantee that this solution will work due to some circumstances like your USB Stick or SD card are corrupted , already broken, etc. If this is the case you may consider replacing your device with the new one.
To disable write protection on a USB stick or SD card using Registry Editor in Windows
Open Registry Editor : Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter.Navigate to the Path : Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies.Modify or Create Key : Double-click WriteProtect . If it doesn’t exist, create it (DWORD 32-bit).Change Value : Set Value data to 0 and click OK.Restart Your Computer : Remove the USB, restart, and check if the write protection is disabled. If “StorageDevicePolicies” doesn’t exist, create the folder first.
If changing the WriteProtect value doesn’t work you can try using Diskpart. Follow the steps below.
To disable write protect using diskpart, insert your USB Drive, then run the command prompt by simply searching cmd on Windows search bar. You may need to run it as an administrator.
Step 1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator
Press Win + X and select Command Prompt (Admin) or Windows Terminal (Admin) .
Step 2. Start Diskpart
Type diskpart and press Enter to open the Diskpart utility.
Step 3. List All Disks
Type list disk and press Enter to see all connected disks. Identify your USB drive by its size.
Step 4. Select Your Disk :
Type select disk X (replace X with the number of your USB drive) and press Enter.
Step 5. Clear Write Protection
Type attributes disk clear readonly and press Enter. This removes write protection from the selected disk.
Step 6. Close Diskpart
Type exit to close Diskpart and then close Command Prompt.
Here are some common questions about erasing or formatting a write-protected USB stick or SD card:
What does it mean if a USB stick or SD card is write-protected?
How can I check if my device is write-protected?
Can I remove write protection physically?
What software can I use to format a write-protected USB?
What if I can’t disable write protection?
Can I recover data from a write-protected USB?
Does formatting a write-protected USB erase all data?
How do I know if write protection is removed?
What if my USB is not recognized by the computer?
Are there any risks in removing write protection?
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