I think your confusion is from the two separate notes in the user manuals for newer Canon cameras that use SD cards. If you're using an SD-type card, and your camera can't write any images to it at all, it's possible that the write-protect tab on its side has slipped down, so take the card out and move this tab back to its uppermost position before carefully re-inserting it.Based on the user manuals, it appears the in camera low-level format does indeed overwrite the entire card.

If you encounter card-specific error messages, you may be able to solve these by simply formatting your memory card – just make sure that anything you need on this has been copied somewhere first. Regular formatting allows your camera to write information more efficiently to the card, so it's a good idea to do this once all the information on the card has been safely stored on a computer or hard drive. It has also offered a 'Low level format' option on many of its cameras, which it claims destroys any information on recordable sections of the card, which, in turn makes it it 'almost irretrievable.' How often should you format a memory card?Īs a general rule, it's good to get into the habit of formatting a card regularly than to simply delete images you don't need and continue shooting. This is admittedly extreme, but there are other options that you might want to try first to make possible retrieval more difficult.Ĭanon suggests that you help to overwrite this information by taking enough images with the lens cap on until you fill the card. The only secure way is to destroy the card so that its contents can't be read in any way. Read more: Why do some SD cards have two rows of pins? (opens in new tab)īut what should you do if you want to ensure a card's contents is gone for good? You may, after all, acquire a collection of memory cards that no longer work in a new camera, and want to pass them on to someone else. This is great news if you've accidentally deleted images or formatted a card that you intend intend to format, but there's no guarantee that you will be able to get these back successfully.

That's because it's still on the card, just not within the same folders as before. The information on the card, however, may still be retrieved using image-recovery software. So, you won't be able to access those images and videos through your camera, or through the normal way you would on a computer, as those folders are no longer there. Formatting a memory card gets rid of any existing folder structure that was set up from previous use, and refreshes it with a new one that's specific to the camera you're using.

How to format sd card in canon camera