Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus SD Card Not Working? Here’s the fix

Are you experiencing the Galaxy S10 Plus SD Card not working issue? The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus supports most of the SD cards sold in the market today. However, there are times when issues occur either on the phone or the external storage device and that’s the reason why some of our readers have been complaining about their phones not being able to read the mounted SD card. 

How to Fix Galaxy S10 Plus SD Card Not Working: Quick Solutions

In this post, I will help you in determining the reason why your S10 Plus can no longer read the SD card mounted on it. We will consider every possibility to be able to know what the problem is and hopefully fix it. So, if you’re one of the owners of this phone and are currently having similar issue, continue reading as this article may be able to help you. 

Before we proceed, if you’re looking for a solution to a problem with your phone, try to browse through our Galaxy S10 Plus Help Guides page to see if we support your device. If your phone is in the list of our supported devices, then go to the troubleshooting page and look for similar problems. Feel free to use our solutions and workarounds.

How to troubleshoot Galaxy S10 Plus with some issues with its SD card

Before troubleshooting, verify and ensure that you are using a compatible SD card for your device. The Galaxy S10 Plus support a wide variety of microSD cards including class 10 rated and UHS-rated cards, ideally U3. You can always do some research on the leading and trusted brands before procuring an SD card to use on your device. Formatting the SD card prior to use is likewise recommended. If you’ve already done all these and your phone is still having trouble reading the card, then try these simple workarounds to rule out software errors.

First solution: Unmount SD card then mount again.

Unmount SD card then mount again

Should this be a random glitch on your phone’s SD card system, performing a soft reset or device restart will likely be able to deal with it. Otherwise, unmount the SD card on your Galaxy S10 Plus and then mount it again. Doing so can help clear out minor errors affecting the SD card reading functions on the phone. Here’s how to unmount and mount SD card on your Galaxy S10 Plus:

  • Unmount the SD card by going to Settings-> Device maintenance-> Storage-> More option-> Storage settings-> SD card-> then select the option to Unmount.

Unmounting the SD card first is highly encouraged to prevent data corruption to any of the SD card files. It’s like ejecting the SD card for safe removal. Continue with these steps after unmounting the SD card:

  1. Turn your phone completely off.
  2. With the display facing up, head over to the top corner of your phone and then remove the card tray by inserting the removal tool or a paperclip into the provided slot. Doing so will unlock the tray.
  3. Gently pull out the tray and then remove the SD card.
  4. Check the card for any visible signs of damage or dirt. If there’s none, insert the SD card back into the tray with the gold contacts facing down.
  5. Push the card tray back into its slot then press in to secure it.
  6. Turn on your phone.
  7.  After the phone boots up, mount the SD card again by going to Settings-> SD card and Phone Storage menu. Finally, tap the option to Mount SD card.

Try to access the SD card after it’s mounted and see if your device is able to read it this time.

Second solution: Try mounting SD card while in safe mode. 

Try mounting SD card while in safe mode

To determine if the problem is due to application errors, booting your phone in safe mode can help. Doing so will temporarily disable third-party apps on your phone thus, leaving only stock or preinstalled apps. This makes it easier for you to determine whether or not the problem is due to a third-party application. To enable safe mode on your Galaxy S10 Plus, refer to these steps:

  1. Press and hold the Power button until the power menu shows up on the screen.
  2. Touch and hold (long press) on the Power off option until it switches into a Safe Mode option.
  3. Then tap on Safe Mode.

Try to access the SD card while your phone is running in safe mode and see if it’s recognized. If your phone is able to read the card in safe mode, then you will need to remove the bad app. But first, you’ll have to determine which from your downloaded apps is the culprit. If necessary, you can disable or uninstall individual apps starting from your most recent download. After disabling or uninstalling an app, test your device to see if the problem is fixed. 

Third solution: Format or re-format your SD card.

Format or re-format your SD card

If your Galaxy S10 Plus shows an error message that says, SD card error: a read write error, which occurred when attempting to transfer files from the SD card, formatting your SD card will likely fix it. Here’s how to format an SD card on your Galaxy S10 Plus:

  1. Swipe up on an empty spot from the Home screen to open the Apps tray.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Device maintenance.
  4. Tap Storage.
  5. Tap Menu.
  6. Select Storage settings.
  7. Tap SD card.
  8. Select Format.
  9. Tap Format again to confirm action.
  10. Finally, tap Done.

Formatting the SD card deletes everything from the card including corrupted data that caused conflicts.

Fourth solution: Reset all settings on your Galaxy S10 Plus.

Invalid settings on the phone can also be the main reason why it’s unable to read external storage devices. This is usually transpiring after installing an update that automatically overrides your current settings. The newly applied settings might have caused conflict on to the SD card system and yields to a read/write error. To clear this out, try to reset all settings on your Galaxy S10 Plus with these steps:

  1. Swipe up on an empty spot from the Home screen to open the Apps tray.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Select General Management.
  4. Tap Reset.
  5. Select the option to Reset settings.
  6. Tap RESET SETTINGS to continue.
  7. If prompted, enter your PIN.
  8. Then tap RESET SETTINGS again to confirm

Unlike a factory reset, this reset won’t affect saved data on your device. All it does is to erase current system settings and then restores the default values. After the reset, you can configure necessary options, enable necessary features, and manage settings according to your previous preferences before the problem started.

Fifth solution: Factory reset your Galaxy S10 Plus.

Factory reset your Galaxy S10 Plus

A full system reset or master reset would be necessary to clear more complex system errors that prevented your phone from reading the SD card. The fastest way to master reset and restore the original factory settings on your phone is through the settings menu. Again this will delete your personal information on the internal storage including downloads, ringtones, photos, apps, contacts, and other contents. So don’t forget to back up these files beforehand. Here’s what you should do then:

  1. Swipe up on an empty spot from the Home screen to open the Apps tray.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Select Cloud and accounts.
  4. Then tap Backup and restore. You may select to enable Back up my data and Automatic restore options as you would prefer.
  5. Tap the Back key at the bottom right until you reach the main Settings menu.
  6. Scroll to and tap General Management.
  7. Tap Reset.
  8. Then select Factory data reset from the given options.
  9. Scroll to the bottom of the screen then tap RESET.
  10. Tap DELETE ALL to confirm.
  11. If prompted, enter your screen lock credentials or verify your Samsung account.
  12. Tap CONFIRM then wait until the reset is finished.

Your phone will restart automatically when the reset is successfully completed and then loads the factory default settings. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the initial setup process and then set up your phone as new.

Other options

Since you’ve already exhausted all possible means to clear out software problems that might had caused conflict but to no avail, service can be considered among the next options especially if the card is read by your other devices. There may be some sort of physical or liquid damage on the Galaxy S10 Plus SD card components and that therefore needs repair.

For further suggestions and assistance, you may likewise contact your device carrier or Samsung Support.

Connect with us

We are committed to helping our readers fix the problems with their phones as well as learn how to properly use their devices. So, if you have other issues, you may visit our Help Guides page so you can check by yourself the articles we’ve already published that contain solutions to common problems. Also, we do create videos to demonstrate how things are done on your phone. Visit our Youtube Channel and please subscribe to it. Thanks.


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