topic Re: Camera asking SD Card to Reformat in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

EOS Rebel T7 asking SD Card to Reformat

bhealy — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 13:10:14 GMT

I took my SD card out of my camera to upload some photos to my laptop. Now that I've reinserted the same SD card — one I've had no issues with — my camera (Canon EOS Rebel T7) is saying it cannot read the SD card. I'm not sure what to do as there is still more space on the SD card and I'd like to continue to use it and access my photos.

Re: Camera asking SD Card to Reformat

Tintype_18 — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 13:29:37 GMT

Is the card cleared of images? Try another card that has been formatted. I have a T7 and, so far, haven't experienced this.

Re: Camera asking SD Card to Reformat

kvbarkley — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 13:29:47 GMT

reformat it. There is a menu option to do that. Do not use SD cards for permanent storage of your photos. Always transfer *all* of the images to your laptop.

After I do that, I go ahead and low-level format in the camera.

Re: Camera asking SD Card to Reformat

kvbarkley — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 13:31:06 GMT

But do not choose the option to erase the images after transferring them to the PC. Always verify that the transfer went well before erasing them from the card.

Re: Camera asking SD Card to Reformat

stevet1 — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 17:50:05 GMT

bhealy,

I more or less had the same issue, only mine was with a card reader. I was rockin along and things were going well, and then one day, poof. My computer would not read that a card was present. I put it back in camera, and the camera told me I had to reformat the card. I could have tried to recover the photos using some kind of software recovery tool, but I was too lazy, and just went ahead and re=formatted the card. I lost about 200 photos, but none of them were really crucial.

I blamed the card reader and threw it out and bought another one.

I would buy a spare SD card though. You never know.

Steve Thomas

Re: Camera asking SD Card to Reformat

Tronhard — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 18:10:49 GMT

Hi again:
If you are using your SD card for storage after a shoot, I strongly recommend against it. They are not designed or robust enough for that. The correct procedure after a shoot is:
Turn off the camera and remove the card
Place the card into a SD card reader attached to your computer and it should appear as a removable drive
Copy the files from the DCIM folder to a location on your hard drive, and verify they are there
Remove the card (if using Windows use the Eject feature *)
Return the card to the camera and turn it on
Use the camera's format command to clean the card ready for a new shoot**

As Keith wisely suggested, in this case do a low-level format of the card and you may get it back.

* In Windows the Eject feature can be found by placing the mouse over the icon for the card and RIGHT-CLICK to get a pop-up menu, the Eject feature is on that. This can be important if the computer still has process links to the card and by just yanking the card out, it can result in card corruption. The Eject feature will close links if it can or will warn you to close processes using the card if it cannot.

** You should not delete files in the camera, over time this creates challenges for the table that locates files and can lead to corruption of the card - in some cases that is irrecoverable.

Re: Camera asking SD Card to Reformat

Waddizzle — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 18:45:19 GMT

Since no one’s asked I will pop the questions.

What brand and capacity card are you using? I strongly recommend 32GB, smaller, with this camera body.

Are you using full size SD cards? Never use the micro-SD cards that need a plastic adapter. They’re not recommended by Canon.

Avoid buying cards from the Amazon marketplace. There’s a lot of counterfeit cards, batteries, and other accessories there. Buy your accessories from a factory authorized dealer.

Re: Camera asking SD Card to Reformat

Tronhard — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 18:47:51 GMT

Fair question Bill!

Re: Camera asking SD Card to Reformat

bhealy — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 22:39:23 GMT

It is not cleared of images. I put in back in the same camera I used it in prior.

Re: Camera asking SD Card to Reformat

bhealy — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 22:41:40 GMT

It's a full size 132 gb SD card. I've had no issues with this same SD card for the last year.

Re: Camera asking SD Card to Reformat

Mbentzler — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 01:19:30 GMT

Hi- I'm randomly experiencing the "cannot read access card" on my T7 and forcing me to format my D drive when using an Insignia card reader on my laptop. Last night I used the reader for first time, offloaded some photos to view them. Reinserted same card into my Canon (had capacity left), took at least 100 shots throughout the day today, then midway I randomly got this error.

I inserted a brand new 128GB card into my T7 and there is no error. Is my "old card" somehow corrupt? Should I stop using card readers and begin to upload photos solely using the bluetooth feature?

I'm bummed if I've lost these photos of my family. Is there a system reset I can use on the Canon T7?

Re: EOS Rebel T7 asking SD Card to Reformat

Waddizzle — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 12:22:59 GMT

“ It's a full size 132 gb SD card. I've had no issues with this same SD card for the last year. “

I never fully understood this response at the time and still don’t. It’s an obvious typo. But what is the correct size?

In my experience with the entry level tier of Canon DSLRs, they don’t seem to behave well with SDXC cards, 64GB and larger.

My recommendation is to only use full size SD and SDHC cards, 32GB or less. Always use the camera to low level format cards prior to using them.

Never share the card with other devices. When using a card reader, never attempt to write files on the card.

Re: Camera asking SD Card to Reformat

stevet1 — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 13:17:42 GMT

Mbentzler,

If you took 100 shots and then started randomly getting getting a read error, then yeah, your card probably is corrupt.

I personally use the EOS Utility program and a USB cable connection to transfer photos from my camera to my computer. After I'm done, I reformat the card in the camera.

While others have had great success using card readers, I haven't.

Steve Thomas

Re: EOS Rebel T7 asking SD Card to Reformat

Tintype_18 — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 13:23:10 GMT

132 is way too big. My maximum is 32GB which will hold a sackful of photos. BTW, my Lenova laptop has a card slot in it. Insert and follow the Yellow Brick Road. Retired the card reader ages ago.

Re: EOS Rebel T7 asking SD Card to Reformat

normadel — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 18:58:17 GMT

Beside the fact the original poster started this eleven months ago, and can't even identify the size of the SD card (132 GB?), this looks like a dead issue, people.

Re: EOS Rebel T7 asking SD Card to Reformat

Waddizzle — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 16:17:47 GMT

Someone reopened it.

https://community.usa.canon.com/t5/forums/forumtopicprintpage/board-id/eosdlsrandmirrorlesscameras/message-id/136451/print-single-message/true/page/1