SD Card Says “Card Is Full” Even Though It’s Empty — What’s Going On?

Hey everyone, I’ve run into a weird issue: my SD card is showing up as full, but when I open it, there are no files or folders (or just a few that don’t add up to the capacity). I’ve tried re‑inserting it, using a different reader, and checking on another computer, but the same thing happens. Why would an SD card show as full when it’s practically empty? Does this mean the file system is corrupted, or the card is fake? What steps can I take to fix or diagnose this?

Tagged: SD card

SD card

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Kai Vortex

Participant

October 14, 2025 at 4:52 am

If your SD card shows as “full” even when it looks empty, it’s often because hidden or corrupted files are using the space. Try enabling “Show hidden items” in your file explorer, or use a command such as attrib -h -r -s /s /d X:\*.* (replace X with your SD card’s drive letter) to unhide system files.
Hope it helps.

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