How to Mount SD Card as Permanent Storage in Windows 10 [2024] (2024)

Question: How can I mount an SD card as permanent storage or local drive in Windows 10?
"Hi, I recently purchased a new SD card for my laptop. When I tried to plug it in today, my device was unable to detect it. I was alerted with a message stating that my card is not mounted correctly and that I should need to pair first."

Do you need more space on your computer and do you have an extra SD card? Did you know that it can serve the same purpose as a hard drive on your computer? The only difference is that the local drive resides permanently in your laptop, while an SD card is a portable solid-state memory that allows you to store and carry data.

To use the SD card hard drive, you need to mount it on your computer or laptop. To install it correctly, you will need to format the card so that the operating system can recognize it. The good news about this, however, is that you don't need any special tools for it; as you can read here, operating systems on PCs and laptops are systematically ready for thisformat any SD card.

Part 1: Why Mount SD Card as Permanent Storage for Windows?

Why should you learnhow to make SD card as default storage? There are many reasons. You may have files and apps that you don't use and want to store them in a special place, or you may want extra space for your files on your computer.

Whatever your reasons, Windows understands your concerns. All you have to do is follow the simple formatting and linking steps. Then ensure that the drive runs normally on your PC or laptop. You also enjoy many more benefits if you have two types of storage on your device.

The hard drive's primary storage is not large enough to store all your files and is volatile. You can also lose your data quickly.Mounting an SD cardgives you the advantage of having sufficient permanent storage space for all your files and other data. Here are the benefits of an SD card for portable storage.

1Small memory space

It's unfortunate! But that's what you get with a regular, affordable laptop. They come with a small local disk storage that will leave you looking for more space after a while. Why the small space? First, laptops come with “eMMC” or SSD for storage, which is not the same as 32GB or 64GB PC storage. Secondly, people don't know that laptops are 2-4 GB smaller, which means they have less storage space than you might need.

2Windows installation size

Imagine this case; you get 32 ​​to 64 GB of storage space. The space is split in half to contain the OS files which use 2-6 GB of total storage space depending on the OS version you are using and other user files. Moreover, Windows Update files take up 6-12 GB of your fixed space. Although you can choose to disable the option of an automatic update to save 1-2 GB, this space is still not enough.

3Windows recovery partition

If you choose to have this you will lose another 4-6 GB. It's amazing what you're left with after all this. If you have a 32GB laptop or hard drive with Windows 10 OS, here's what you need to knowhow to make SD card as default storagebecause there is no more space for your files.

4Install apps

You can now have games and apps that take up a lot of storage space on a regular laptop. Thanks to the innovation of SD cards for portable storage, you can now buy an affordable laptop with 32 GB, install Windows 10, install apps and games in the separate space and enjoy your computer.

With Microsoft's new features in Windows 10 OS, you can use the SD drive as external storage for your files and data. The new thing here is that you can save them directly. Below you will learn a great way to make SD card the default storage on your PC or laptop.

Part 2: How to Mount SD Card as Permanent Storage in Windows 10?

When you buy a computer, it comes with a micro SD card slot that you can use to add more space. The problem is that you cannot insert the card directly, because the computer only recognizes the local hard drive available in it. You need to ensure that the SD card is recognized by following the steps below.

Trin 1: Make sure your SD card is formatted to NTFS

First, format the SD card so that it is the same as your computer's primary storage file system. In Windows 10, the file system is NTFS. For SD cards the format is FAT32. If you're not sure, follow the next steps.

• Take the SD card you want to mount and insert it into your computer
• Open "File Explorer" and then go to This PC

• Locate the SD card drive and open its properties

• Check the file system to know the format

Now there are two options. The SD card's file system could be NTFS, which is the same as your device and means you don't need Step 2, so you can skip to Step 3. Or it could be in the original FAT32 format and you'll need to change it to step 2.

Trin 2: Format the SD card to NTFS

In this step, you need to resize your SD card to fit your devices. It is good to know that the following action will result in the loss of all data contained in it. So, you need to backup your files and then follow the next steps to format them.

• Go to the SD drive and right click. Then click on the format

• Then select the NTFS file system from FAT32
• You don't have to change anything. You can do the below, leave the volume label blank and quick format checked before continuing.

• You will receive a warning about the loss of your data as mentioned earlier. If you're okay with that, click OK to continue.

• It should start your formatting process and when it's done, you'll get a warning.

Trin 3: Create a folder on your main drive

This is the step where you can see if your SD card format is the same as on your SD. Here, open the file explorer and go to drive C to create a folder and name it SD card.

Trin 4: Mount the SD card in the folder you create in C

The next big step you need to take ismount the SD cardso that the operating system recognizes the drive. To do this, check the following steps.

• Go to the Windows key and press to look for Disk Management

• Then click on create and format hard drive partition.

• It opens the disk management windows
• Locate your SD card listed in the removable file
• Right-click on the SD card and select Change Drive Letter and Paths

• Choose to add

• Then click browse

• Find the folder you created earlier on the C:\SD card and click ok

• You can see that the folder you created is in the mount path. Now click OK.

• Now the SD card is ready for use.

Trin 5: Checks whether the SD card is mounted correctly

How sure are you that the SD card is inserted correctly and ready to use? It is good that you double check this before you start saving your valuable data. To do this, follow these simple steps:

• Go to C: and check the icon. When the SD card is fully mounted, the SD card symbol will no longer look like a folder icon.

• If you click and open the SD card folder, you will see a regular SD card, but with a C:/SD path instead of the default C: path.

• Now that you're sure, you can go ahead and set a software installation path to the C:/SD card or designate a Dropbox folder to sync.

It's that simple! Yes, Windows 10 comes with a bit of user space than other Windows versions, but that doesn't mean you deprive yourself of the goodies that come with it. Thus, installing the SD card hard drive to use it as your local drive will give you the comfort of storing all your files without fear of losing them.

Video tutorial on how to fix SD card not found/showing/recognized?

Conclusion

Running out of space on your Windows 10 PC or laptop? You don't have to worry as much as you canmount an SD cardto act as a local drive on your device. Also, the advantage you have is that the SD card is portable and can store a lot of files because of the huge space it has.

So, to use the SD card for portable storage, you need to mount it. For that, your device must recognize the external storage as a local drive. The above steps will guide you to create SD card as default storage to mount it permanently in your Windows 10.