How to Delete Videos from SD Card on Mac
SD cards have always been the most widely used way for storing our videos on digital cameras, mobile phones, and drones. However, it is important to note that sometimes we have to delete videos from SD cards for a couple of reasons.
- 1. The SD card may have to serve a new purpose and as a result, you may have to delete the videos from it.
- 2. The SD card may be running out of space and therefore might require the deletion of some videos to clear off some space since videos occupy a lot of space.
- 3. The videos in the SD card may be private and as a result, you may want to destroy them before it reaches anybody.
- 4. The SD may not read in your mobile phone, camera, or computer and you may be required to eliminate all your files including the videos to make it readable again.
Whatever the reason you may want to delete your videos from your SD Card on Mac, it is important that you carry on the deletion process in a good manner to avoid SD card damage. In this article, you will learn about 2 ways for how to delete videos off your SD Card on Mac.
Method 1: How to Delete Videos off SD Card on Mac Manually
The first method involves carrying out the deletion process manually. That is, you send the videos to the trash on Mac. This method is advantageous in that it is easy and convenient for everybody. It is equally convenient in that you can choose the videos to delete and leave some videos you may not need to delete. During a manual deletion, you can decide to delete the videos and keep them in the trash to recover them later in time or you can decide to permanently delete the videos by equally deleting them from the trash after haven deleted them from the SD Card. To delete your videos manually,
1. Connect your SD Card to your Mac. Your SD card will appear as a drive icon on your desktop.
2. Open the SD card by double-clicking on the drive icon. Go through the files present in the SD card and locate the videos you want to delete from your SD card.
3. Select the videos you want to delete by clicking on them. If you want to select many videos at a time, hold the Command key while clicking on the different videos.
4. Drag the selected videos and drop them in the trash can from the SD card.
If you want to leave the videos in the trash for future recovery you can stop at this point. But if you want to permanently delete the videos, you should empty the trash after deletion. To do this, right-click on the trash can and select "Empty".
You are sure to permanently delete the videos from your SD card as well as from the Trash on Mac with the above-mentioned steps.
Method 2: How to Delete Videos off SD Card on Mac by Erasing the SD Card on Mac
This method of deleting videos off an SD card involves the use of the Disk Utility feature on Mac. This method consists of deleting everything including videos from your SD card. It has the advantage that it can help to fix any errors that were present in the SD card such as the SD card being corrupt, unreadable or even virus-infected.
To erase the SD card on Mac,
1. Connect your SD card to your Mac.
2. Open Disk Utility feature through Applications. By default, you will be found on the First Aid tab of the disk utility.
3. Locate your SD card by its name on the left, select it then click on the "Erase" tab.
4. Choose the name and file format you will want for your SD card once the Erase process has been completed. ExFat is the best file format for devices that you will be used for sharing files as it is compatible with both Windows and Mac.
This whole process of Erasing the videos from the SD card takes place in 3 parts.
- *Disk Utility: This helps in the management of internal and external disks on Mac. It has so many options such as burning DVDs, safe removal of disk among which formatting is also present.
- *Formatting: This is where the new file format of the SD card which is being erased is chosen. NB: if you plan to use the card on Mac, the format should be Mac-Os Extended journaled. MS-DOS format should be used in the SD card is to be used on mobile phones and digital cameras.
- *Security Options: This enables you to choose the security type of erasing you want to perform. There are 3 of these options Zero-out data, 7-Phase erase, and 35-Pass Erase. All these options have different security functions as they give more secured formatting to the SD card. 35-Pass Erase makes the deleted videos irrecoverable. However, this function makes the formatting process take more time which is dependent on the card size.
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers for Deleting Videos from SD Card on Mac
1. Why can’t I delete files from my SD card on Mac
As concerning as this problem may seem, it is not a very serious problem. Most times, it occurs as a result of the write protection of the SD card.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to fix write protection-related problems of your SD card on your Mac as you cannot change the SD Card’s write protection on Mac. However, to solve this issue you will have to move your SD card to a Windows computer and follow the solutions listed below.
* Disabled Write permission on the SD card: This is activated by the SD card user and shows an error message whenever you want to delete any video from within the SD card.
Solution: To fix this, you will have to enable write permission again. You need administrator access from your computer to be able to correct this error. To enable write protection
1. Either go to This PC or Windows File Explorer.
2. Then right-click on the SD card and click on Properties.
3. Click on the Security tab and select Edit. Here you will be requested an admin password if you did not enter through the administrator account.
4. This then opens the SD card Window. Finally, enable write protection by checking the allow box.
*Write Protection attributes are enabled on the SD card
Solution: To disable protection attributes on the SD card
1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog box.
2. Type cmd and press Enter.
3. Once in command prompt, type in the following commands in bold and press Enter after each command;
- diskpart
- list disk
4. Select disk X where X is the disk number as shown by the list disk command. It is important to know your disk size because the SD card name will not be shown. Only the number and disk size will be shown.
- Attribute disk clear readonly
Solution: You should follow these steps keenly to avoid doing any damage to your SD card. Diskpart command can also be used to completely erase your files from your SD card so make sure to follow the procedure perfectly.
*Write Lock Notch is enabled on the SD card: There is a tiny lock notch found by the side of most SD cards. Sometimes, you may slide this little notch without noticing and this may be the reason why you cannot delete files from your SD card.
Solution: This is an easy fix. All you have to do is to switch the little notchback to the open position in order to enable write protection.
Sometimes, it could also result from the fact that the SD card is incompatible with the OS: This is rare given that the new operating systems come with already installed drivers, but sometimes the problem may result from this. All you need to do is to install the drivers on your computer and you will solve the problem.
*Virus Attacks on the SD: Your SD card may have been infected and this prevents you from deleting files from it.
Solution: Scan your SD card with the latest antivirus so as to clear any malware from it.
2. How do you delete photos and videos from an SD card on Mac?
There are two ways through which you could delete photos and videos from an SD card on Mac;
Manual Deletion: This gives you the possibility to choose what should be deleted from what should remain within the SD card. To delete manually,
1. Connect your SD card to your Mac.
2. Open the SD card from your Mac and choose the photos and videos you want to delete.
3. Select the photos and videos then pull them towards the trash. This will delete them temporarily from the trash.
4. For permanent deletion, hold CTRL and click on the Trash. You will see Open and Empty options. Click on Empty and you will effectively delete the files permanently.
Erase method: This method consists of deleting all the photos and videos from your SD card while formatting it. This method is good if you want to fix an SD card issue. To erase your SD card,
1. Plug your SD card into your Mac and open disk utility through Applications.
2. Select your SD card on the left panel and move from the default First Aid tab to the Erase tab by clicking on it.
3. Finally select the format and security options for your SD card then complete the process.
3. How to Delete GoPro Videos from SD Card on Mac?
You may have wondered to know how to delete GoPro videos from SD cards on Mac. There are two ways in which you can proceed,
1. Connect your GoPro to your Mac using a USB cable or Insert the SD card into a card reader and connect it to your Mac. Once you have connected your GoPro’s SD card to your Mac you can continue with the deletion.
2. Open the SD card on your Mac after you have connected your GoPro to your Mac using a USB Cable or after connecting your SD card through your card reader to your Mac.
3. Locate the videos within the SD card from your Mac. Drag these videos and drop them into the Trash on Mac. This will delete them, leaving them in the trash. If you want to delete them permanently, hold CTRL and click on the Trash, then click on Empty and this will do the trick.
In summary, you should be able to easily delete unwanted videos from the SD card through the above methods. If you accidentally remove the video you need, don't worry, you can use iBeesoft Data Recovery to get back your lost files.