Factory Reset/SD card`

[SimonWilding]

Hi all, this is a question that I really should know but I need to check.... If I do a reset of my phone after an update with the SD card inserted, will the reset wipe the contemnts of the card or is it literally just the internal memory that gets wiped? If the card will also be wiped, if I take it out before doing the reset and then put it back in will it work OK? Cheers

[bazchops · Accepted solution]

Hi there, From what I've seen an external SD card will not be affected. However my S4 (and I presume this is the standard build) has an SD partition built from internal memory. So although it looks like an SD card within the file system its still part of the phone internal hardware and it will wipe some of the contents on it. (I've been doing factory resets a lot over the weekend unfortunately) If in doubt take the card out. But remember if you have encryption enabled you must disable it before removing and doing the phone reset otherwise the rebuilt phone will not be able to read it afterwards. Regards, B

[jeffkinn]

The factory reset will only wipe the internal memory and not the external SD card.

Personally, I'd recommend belt and braces and remove it and re-insert it afterwards but the reset won't or shouldn't touch it.

[hrym]

All that said, I've heard of cases of an external sd card being wiped by the reset process.  I suspect this happens if the card is set as default storage for, say, the camera.   I'm with Jeffkinn - it shouldn't happen, probably, but belt 'n' braces is safest.