Clone SD Card to Larger Card without Data Loss (FREE)

About the SD card you’re about to clone

SD card, the abbreviation of Secure Digital card, is a memory card that is mostly used in portable devices through SD card slot or reader, such as digital cameras, music players, Android phones, tablets, personal computers, etc. 

It has 4 four card families (SDSC, SDHC, SDXC, and SDIO) available in three different sizes (Original, Mini, and Micro). Besides, it has different capacities, file systems, and brands.

So, if you feel like your SD card is too small, you can clone the SD card to a bigger one and format it with any file system you want. It's a good idea to use popular SD card brands like SanDisk, Polaroid, Silicon Power (SP), Samsung, Transcend, or Lexar. These are trusted names known for their quality and reliability.

Why clone the SD card to a larger card?

In general, several common reasons account for the behavior of cloning SD cards in all Windows systems, like cloning Raspberry Pi SD cards to larger cards. See if you’re in one of those situations.

• Not enough space to store data. You may be told the SD card is in low disk space, you need to free up space or use a larger SD card. 
• Long-term data protection. The cloning method makes an exact copy of the SD card, so you can recover them quickly when it is failing, or infected by a virus. 
• As a fast recovery method. Once your SD card is damaged or corrupted, you can directly replace it with a new one, with no restore and data loss. 

Besides, data transferring between SD cards is also a factor that leads to SD card cloning. Nevertheless, what counts next is to figure out how to clone SD card to SD card in Windows 11/10/8/7 securely and efficiently.

Before You Clone the SD Card

Before you start cloning an SD card, there are a few things you need to do:

1. Get your target drive ready. This is where all the data from your original SD card will go. Make sure it has enough space to hold everything from the source card. Connect it to your computer—it should be as big as or bigger than your original SD card.

2. Have an SD card reader handy. You'll need this to access the files on the SD card and move data back and forth. Make sure the SD card is properly inserted into the reader, and the reader is connected securely to your computer.

3. Download and install SD card cloning software. Cloning an SD card can be tricky and time-consuming, but there's software out there that makes it easier. We'll recommend some software options later on to help streamline the process.

Once the cloning is done, remember that all the data on the target drive will be wiped out. So, it's a good idea to back up your data to a safe spot beforehand. You can rely on AOMEI Backupper to do this job effortlessly. Just follow the on-screen instructions, and you'll be able to back up your files and folders with ease.

Best free tool to clone SD card in all Windows systems

How do I clone my SD card to a bigger SD card? AOMEI Backupper Standard is free yet professional SD card cloning software that earns its reputation due to its reliable and powerful features. It can help you clone SD cards to bigger as well as smaller SD cards easily. 

Intelligent Clone: It can clone only used sectors of SD cards, not limited to Android or Raspberry Pi, thus you can easily clone SD card to other SD cards with different sizes, even for smaller ones. 

Sector by Sector Clone: With this option, you can clone all sectors of the SD card to another one, including bad sectors and empty sectors. You can also clone SD card to a smaller card without choosing it.

 Flexible cloning solutions: Except for cloning the entire SD card, you can also clone specific partitions or volumes on it. 

Support all the SD card families and brands, such as Polaroid SDXC, Silicon Power (SP) Micro SDXC, Samsung SD Card, Raspberry Pi SD card, etc.

What’s more, the cloning process will be running in the background and it won't interrupt you using the PC.

With AOMEI Backupper, copying an SD card to a bigger one for your Raspberry Pi is a breeze thanks to its easy-to-use interface. Just download it before you get started. It works on Windows 11/10/8/7/XP/Vista, so you're covered no matter which version you're using. If you're a server user, give AOMEI Backupper Server a try for your larger-scale needs.

How to clone SD card to larger SD card securely 

Here we take an example of cloning an Android SD card to a larger SD card using the best SD card cloning software AOMEI Backupper, please follow the preparations and steps below:

1. Connect both SD cards to your PC and make sure they can be detected properly. Open AOMEI Backupper Standard. Click Clone and then Disk Clone.

2. Select the smaller SD card as the source disk. Click Next.

3. Then, choose the larger SD card as the destination disk. Remember to click Next in each step. 

4. Confirm your operation and click Start Clone to clone the SD card to a larger card easily. Wait for the process to complete.

Related tips: 

 👉 Tick the Sector by Sector Clone option to clone all sectors of the SD card when you clone an Android SD card to a larger one or an equal-sized one. Please note it will make partition editing unavailable.

 👉 Click on Edition Partitions to resize the larger SD card size. You have 3 options in the following. (The last two options are available after upgrading to the Pro or higher versions.)

• Copy without resizing partitions: It will not resize the partition size.
• Add unused space to all partitions: It will reallocate the unallocated space to each partition of the target disk, appropriate for the disk size.
• Manually adjust partition size: It allows you to extend unallocated space to any partition on the destination disk you want. More flexible but requires human intervention.

★Tips:

 To clone a specific partition only, please choose Partition Clone in the first step.

 You're allowed to clone an SD card to a USB flash drive or SSD through the above steps.

 Except for SD cards, you are able to use this software to clone hard drives or SSDs, regardless of disk size and model, such as cloning Windows 10 to NVMe SSD, cloning hard drive to larger drive, cloning large HDD to smaller SSD,  etc.

 If you cannot connect two SD cards to your computer simultaneously, it is suggested to do the backup & restore operation for the SD card copy to another one. Firstly, connect the old SD card and create a backup with AOMEI Backupper. You can back the SD card to the computer directly. Secondly, disconnect the first card and connect the larger SD card to your PC. Finally, perform the image restore to the larger SD card, and done.

FAQs about cloning SD card

1. How to Back Up Your Micro SD Card to Your Computer

If you want to back up your micro SD card to your computer, you can use AOMEI Backupper. It's a powerful Windows backup software that lets you back up partitions and disks. Simply install and launch the program, then go to the Backup tab. From there, choose your backup source and destination, and start the process.

2. Transferring Files from Your SD Card to Your Computer

You can also use AOMEI Backupper to transfer files from your SD card to your computer. This program has a Sync feature specifically for sharing and transferring files between devices. Once you have the program installed, navigate to the Sync tab. Select the files on your SD card, then choose the sync destination to initiate the transfer.

3. Is Disk Cloning Faster than Copying from an SD Card?

Generally, disk cloning is much faster than copying from an SD card. The exact speed difference varies depending on your setup. Additionally, you can't copy all files from a disk drive because some containing the operating system are locked and won't work on your computer.

4. Troubleshooting: SD Card Not Recognized by Computer

If you insert your SD card into your computer and nothing happens, it might be because your computer is low on virtual memory. In this situation, try closing all running programs and allowing your computer to idle for a few minutes. Then, re-insert your SD card to see if the issue is resolved.

Summary

With AOMEI Backupper Standard, cloning SD cards to larger or smaller ones is a piece of cake. The process is straightforward, and it's the same whether you're going from small to large or vice versa. With just a few clicks, you can transfer all your data from the old SD card to the new, bigger one. This method works for cloning a larger drive to a smaller drive, whether they're HDDs or SSDs.

Besides, AOMEI Backupper is also a powerful backup solution and disaster recovery tool for Windows. It is suggested to keep it installed to set continuous data protection for your computer. You can also create bootable media just in case.