SD card says that it needs to be formatted
As a kind of storage device, SD card is widely used under different electronic
devices like Smartphone, camera or computer. Sometimes, you can keep getting the
message “You need to format the disk in drive E before you can use it” when you
insert the SD card into your computer via USB port (“E” refers to the drive letter
assigned to the partition on your SD card). And when you try to open it form Windows
Explorer, you’ll be told that the SD card is not accessible.

Fix the error for SD card without formatting
In fact, you need to format the disk error exists not only on SD card, but also on other USB drives like USB flash drive. When you are in such a condition, don’t be panic and you can enter Disk Management to check the status of the SD card. Usually,
you can see that your SD card partition present in RAW form. That is to say, your SD
card is without a recognized file system or the file system of it is corrupted.
At this time, you can connect your SD card via another USB port and restart computer
to see if the error disappears. If the error still shows up and you are unwilling to
format your SD card as it will cause data loss, you can run chkdsk.exe to convert
the SD card from RAW to normal by following the steps given below:
1. Run Command Prompt as administrator.
(Press simultaneously Windows + R, input cmd and
hit Enter)
2. Run chkdsk n: /r.
(“n” is drive letter of the RAW SD card partition)
3. After the process is over, type exit and hit Enter to close this window. Then, you can see whether you are able to open your SD card.
However, there are chances that you’ll get an error – CHKDSK is not available for RAW drive. If so, you can try the methods mentioned after.
Final solutions
Warning: The two ways mentioned in the next part will cause
data loss, thus you can recover your data from the RAW SD card using Recoverit Pro at first, if necessary.
When running chkdsk.exe can’t fix the error you need to format the disk in drive E
before you can use it save your SD card from RAW, it is time to choose to format the
SD card. In many cases, you can format the SD card directly within File Explorer.
Nevertheless, it is possible that you be prompted by Windows was unable to complete the format. In such a condition, you can refer to the two following ways to format RAW SD card.
Way 1. Clean SD card and create new partition
Press Windows +R at the same time, input diskpart and
press Enter to Run Diskpart as administrator. In Diskpart interface,
run the following commands in order:
list disk
select disk
clean
create partition primary
format fs =ntfs quick
(you can replace ntfs with fat32 or exfat if you want)
(f can be replaced with another available drive letter)

When the whole process is completed, you can exit from this window. Then, open your
Disk Management, the SD card partition has been formatted with NTFS file system.
Way 2. Format SD card using a GUI tool
When you are unfamiliar with Diskpart or want to format a large SD card to FAT32, you can employ AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard, a tool, compatible with Windows 10/8.1/8/7, XP and Vista. It
enables you to format RAW or other USB drives to NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, Ext2, Ex3 or
Ext4; and it allows you to format 32GB, 64GB or even large drive to FAT32. Download freeware AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard and take a
look at how it works:
Step 1. Install and run it. In the main console, locate the SD
card needs formatting, right-click it, and choose Format Partition.

Step 2. In pop-up window, select a proper file system for your
SD card and click OK.

Step 3. Now, click Apply and Proceed to execute the operation.

Note: You can get more advanced features, such as recover lost partition on SD card, change SD card serial number, etc. if you upgrade it to AOMEI Partition
Assistant Professional.
Verdict
It’s not rare to encounter the error you need to format the disk on SD card or other
USB drives. When you are in such a condition, you can try to solve it without
formatting at first. Or you can choose to format it directly if you don’t care about the data on the SD card or you have backed up or retrieved necessary files in advance.