Can't delete files on micro sd card

[SlackerMcFly]

I have a Samsung Galaxy S9 phone and I am having issues where I can't delete files or folders on the SD card. A message pops up for a couple seconds saying failed to delete folder. I use the stock file manager to manage my files. I can however, delete files and folders in the internal storage.

Recently I added some music to the sd card and now I can't delete some of those files. I thought it was just an issue with those files but today I went to delete a completely different folder and it wouldn't let me. I have not tried connecting to a computer to do it yet. But if there is no other solution first I will try that. But I shouldn't have to connect my phone to a computer to do it.

Anyone know whats going on? My phone is completely updated with android version 8.0.0.

 

[methodman89]

Put the SD card in a pc and see if the problem persists. If so, may just be a bad card.

 

[Gayle Lynn]

SD Maid always gets good mentions, and it looks like the dev also provides a lot of support.

Might find SD Maid useful.

 

[SlackerMcFly]

Put the SD card in a pc and see if the problem persists. If so, may just be a bad card.

I just got around to using our laptop to do this. I plugged my phone into the laptop and tried it. I get an error message that says to remove the write protection. How do I do that? Do I have to reformat the card?

 

[Matzosy]

Simple. Remove your SD card from your s9 plus. Reboot the device and put the SD card in the phone. It happens to me sometimes. Try, that should work.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S9 phone and I am having issues where I can't delete files or folders on the SD card. A message pops up for a couple seconds saying failed to delete folder. I use the stock file manager to manage my files. I can however, delete files and folders in the internal storage.

Recently I added some music to the sd card and now I can't delete some of those files. I thought it was just an issue with those files but today I went to delete a completely different folder and it wouldn't let me. I have not tried connecting to a computer to do it yet. But if there is no other solution first I will try that. But I shouldn't have to connect my phone to a computer to do it.

Anyone know whats going on? My phone is completely updated with android version 8.0.0.

 

[Jimmy Le1]

I would take sd card out and use pc to save all files and do a format ..
Rebooth yr phone before putting sd card back in .. should work fine.

 

[SlackerMcFly]

Simple. Remove your SD card from your s9 plus. Reboot the device and put the SD card in the phone. It happens to me sometimes. Try, that should work.

I just did that and it hasn't worked. Probably have to reformat it. Bit thanks for the tip!

 

[SlackerMcFly]

I would take sd card out and use pc to save all files and do a format ..
Rebooth yr phone before putting sd card back in .. should work fine.

If I reformat will I lose any space on the card? Last time I did a reformat on one of my micro sd cards, I lost like 10gb of space. I can't have that happen as Im almost filled up as it is.

 

[Jimmy Le1]

You should get almost all space back after reformat ..
By the way ..
do this to repair it
Right click on sd card >properties>Tool
Click Scan and repair .. Done

 

[Gayle Lynn]

Never let storage get to almost full. It needs storage space pages to work. It needs to move data to new page, and should never get below 10 to 15% free.

Just ordered 256GB Samsung sdxc $45. And always have two backups plus cloud for insurance. Storage devices fail. An index can need repair.

 

[SlackerMcFly]

Never let storage get to almost full. It needs storage space pages to work. It needs to move data to new page, and should never get below 10 to 15% free.

Just ordered 256GB Samsung sdxc $45. And always have two backups plus cloud for insurance. Storage devices fail. An index can need repair.

I have my micro sd filled with music. I don't do anything else with it. So filling it up isn't an issue. But yes I do know that when your memory starts filling up, your device starts telling you to delete stuff and certain things won't function. I back everything up on my external drive in case I ever have issues of which I have had plenty of issues in the past so I have learned from all of that!

 

[L0n3N1nja]

If I reformat will I lose any space on the card? Last time I did a reformat on one of my micro sd cards, I lost like 10gb of space. I can't have that happen as Im almost filled up as it is.

You should never lose storage capacity from a reformat, sounds like it may have been a faulty card or one of the many fakes sold online for cheap.

It seems all these files are music files, how are you putting them on the SD card? If it's downloaded from within an app it may be adding protection to the files, meaning you would use the same app to delete.

If you're just dragging and dropping music files from another device, I'm not sure why it wouldn't let you delete them.

 

[B. Diddy]

If I reformat will I lose any space on the card? Last time I did a reformat on one of my micro sd cards, I lost like 10gb of space. I can't have that happen as Im almost filled up as it is.

That's very interesting -- as L0n3N1nja mentioned, that could've been due to a counterfeit SD card. It raises the possibility that this is why you can't delete certain files/folders from your SD -- it might also be counterfeit, and if you've already exceeded the true capacity of the card, some of the existing data on it might be corrupt.

Try running SD Insight to see if the cards are valid. (The app might not work on Oreo, but it's worth a shot.)

 

[SlackerMcFly]

You should never lose storage capacity from a reformat, sounds like it may have been a faulty card or one of the many fakes sold online for cheap.

It seems all these files are music files, how are you putting them on the SD card? If it's downloaded from within an app it may be adding protection to the files, meaning you would use the same app to delete.

If you're just dragging and dropping music files from another device, I'm not sure why it wouldn't let you delete them.

So most of the time I do everything on my phone and just move files I download from internal storage to the SD card. But if Im getting stuff off my external drive Im using a computer and dragging them to the SD card on my phone. The phone is plugged into the computer. The sd card I have now is an official sandisk card I got from Amazon. In the past I have used the cheaper "fake" cards that Ive gotten off ebay. Some have worked fine and others have eventually crapped out on me. This issue I have now has never happened to me so I know it isnt an app issue. I guess the only thing left to try is reformatting the SD card and see what happens.

 

[Gayle Lynn]

Solid state has spare pages in the event there are bad calls detected.

Just put in a Samsung 128GB in and it formats to 119GB.

Might be differences if formatted to something other than exFAT?

I wish the SIM / SDXC holder was like Apple's, metal and still and I think more reliable, doesn't bend it ever have trouble being inserted. Would make better contact. Amazed we can put 256GB for under $100 in a phone.

I am for no more than 80% used and usually less, ~60%. Also there are inexpensive SanDisk and Samsung USB-C 3.1 cards for external backups with even faster r/w speeds.

 

[SlackerMcFly]

So I just went ahead and bought a new micro SD card to save all of the hassle of the old card. The new card works perfectly! I can delete files, move files, edit the mp3's, everything I need too. So Im not exactly sure what was wrong.

However, before I bought a new card I tried reformatting my old card. That was a catastrophic failure. I tried formatting it in my laptop and in my phone. It wouldn't format in my laptop and just said something like there was a write protection on it and it couldnt format it. Indid both the long format and quick and both said the same thing. So I tried my phone and my phone was able to format it or at least it said it formatted it. But when I put it in mh computer I couldn't do anything and it wouldnt work in my phone anymore. So at that point I just bought a new card which works perfectly as I said.

Thanks for all the responses. It is much appreciated.

 

[Gayle Lynn]

I just jumped back into Windows 10 this last month. Have had trouble with USB SSD HD and USB SDXC when connected via Surface Dock.

Can't tell if it's W10 or the Dock or the adapter.
Same error message.
In past j could rely on Windows for those duties.
This time it was a 2015 MacBook 10.14 using Disk Utility that gave me the chance after first saying "unrecognized format."

Always a good idea to expect storage to fail and therefore have spare backups. I'm trying to convince myself I 'need' a new SDXC - I want to mirror my Google drive photos and OneDrive.

 

[bbgpsuser]

Solid state has spare pages in the event there are bad calls detected.

Just put in a Samsung 128GB in and it formats to 119GB.

What you are seeing is the difference in advertised vs actual size. See Understanding Advertised vs Actual Drive Storage Capacities

 

[MsJazzMaven]

I have a Samsung Galaxy S9 phone and I am having issues where I can't delete files or folders on the SD card. A message pops up for a couple seconds saying failed to delete folder. I use the stock file manager to manage my files. I can however, delete files and folders in the internal storage.

Recently I added some music to the sd card and now I can't delete some of those files. I thought it was just an issue with those files but today I went to delete a completely different folder and it wouldn't let me. I have not tried connecting to a computer to do it yet. But if there is no other solution first I will try that. But I shouldn't have to connect my phone to a computer to do it.

Anyone know whats going on? My phone is completely updated with android version 8.0.0.

Most stock file managers are somewhat behind the operating systems of the phones they're installed on and limited in function, IMHO. For some reason, it appears your SD card is write-protected. I have the same dilemma on my LG Stylo 2, runninngg Nougat 7.0 (upgraded from Marshmallow). No solutions I looked up online would fix the card without reformatting or converting to internal storage---something I would advise NEVER to do. Since I have valuable data I cannot lose, I needed an app that would enable management of existing data on both storages, both internal and portable. After going on the Play Store, I discovered fx File Explorer. It was, and still is, a godsend. I recommend spending the money for the Pro version for Web access, and a few more goodies. You can move files between storages, delete files, set up folders and do whatever you would usually do on a traditional PC. It also has a split screen for drag-and-drop and a pretty good tool set.