[Solved] Windows 8 does not see microSD card

We noticed a problem with our Windows 8.1 tablet where the microSD card is not found in Windows despite being properly inserted into the microSD card slot.

The Internet has many discussions about this with speculation that it could be caused by a bad microSD card or a loose connection between the microSD card and the slot connection. Others have suggested tape and other solutions. Still, others suspected a bad Secure Digital storage device driver causing the Removable Disk to be sometimes not found.

The problem is that if you insert the microSD card with the tablet off, Windows does not recognize that you have a new card in the slot. We have observed that this happens with Windows 8 and 8.1 and found that the problem is not related to the microSD card, slot, or driver at all. By default, Windows is configured to boot up quickly and as a result will not rescan for new hardware. If you have a dual-OS tablet, you may have noticed that Android does see the presence of a microSD card all the time.

In short, the solution is to disable the fast bootup option in Windows.

Here is the fix:

Go to Control Panel->Power Options->System Settings.

Choose option to "Change settings that are currently unavailable."

In the section for "Shutdown settings", uncheck the option for "Turn on fast startup (recommended)".

Reboot

The microSD slot will now be checked when you do a full Windows boot up.

Hope this helps!

Here is another solution if you have a Dual-boot Windows/Android tablet and see this problem.

The problem occurs when:
1. You are in Windows 10 mode and you have access to the microSD card.
2. You boot into Android from Windows.
3. You boot back into Windows from Android mode. Windows will no longer see a microSD card even though it is there.

Here's the solution:
1. Power off the tablet and remove the microSD card.
2. Power up into Windows 10 mode. It will recognize that there is no microSD now.
3. Power off and put the microSD card back in.
4. Power up into Windows 10 mode and it will see the microSD card.

Hope this helps.