What should I do if the SD card cannot be formatted/recognized?

Troubleshooting
Updated 03-01-2024 01:12:26 AM 444243
This Article Applies to: 

Most SD card will work with Tapo/Kasa cameras. It is recommended to test the SD card before using it. If you encounter issues such as unable to format and recognize SD card, rebooting, clearing app cache, re-inserting and changing another card may help.

Please note the following notifications before attempting the troubleshooting suggestions below

1. Some SD cards may not be suitable for use in cameras. Please make sure the SD card inserted in the camera is compatible with the Tapo camera. For more details, please refer to What Type of MicroSD Card does Tapo/Kasa Camera Support? | TP-Link

2. SD cards have a limited lifespan and may become faulty over time, please replace SD cards regularly.

Here are some suggestions

Note: Ensure your camera firmware and app version are up-to-date before you try the suggestions. Before initialization, remember to back up important files.

Step 1. Turn off the camera, remove and re-insert the SD card several times. Then turn on the camera and check if the SD card can be formatted/recognized.

Step 2. Clear the app cache and format the SD card in the Tapo APP again. Check if it works.

Step 3. Try another High Endurance microSD card.

Step 4. Insert the SD card into another camera or a computer with an SD card reader. Check if the SD card can be formatted/recognized by the computer/another camera. If you don’t have another camera, please go to step 5.

Note: When formatting a SD card on the computer, please un-check the default “Quick” option so it can mask out bad cells.

Step5. Please refer to this FAQ : How to Verify Fake Micro SD Cards | TP-Link to test the card with third-party software such as H2testW to ensure the SD card is qualified. If the result is fake, please change to another SD card; if the SD card is qualified, please contact TP-Link technical support.

Note:

1. Before testing, please format SD card on computer first.

2. When formatting SD card on the computer, please un-check the default “Quick” option so it can mask out bad cells.

Please contact TP-Link technical support with the following information if you still encounter issues with the SD card after the above suggestions.

1) The brand & model of the SD card, as well as its storage capacity and format type;

2) The model number of the camera and its MAC address;

3) Whether you have tried all the suggestions listed above or not. If yes, what are the results?

Get to know more details of each function and configuration please go to Download Center to download the manual of your product.

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