Summary: Have you come across an error message saying ‘Sorry, this media file doesn’t exist on your SD Card’ or may be the message says ‘Sorry, this media file doesn’t exist on your internal storage’?
Well, if this is the situation with you and you are trying to get rid of it then this blog is definitely for you. Here you will come to know about how to fix ‘Sorry, this media file doesn’t exist on your SD card/internal storage’.
To make you understand better, let us see an example where one of the user has reported about the problem.
Real example
Sorry, this media file doesn’t exist on your SD Card (WhatsApp error). Can you please help me?
I have copied some of the videos from device memory to SD Card and deleted those videos which were in the device memory. When I try to open a video on whatsapp, it pops up ‘Sorry, this media file doesn’t exist on your SD Card’. Most of the videos are blurred. I have already transferred the videos to SD Card and this pops up.
As you have seen the above example, several users have faced such unexpected situation while they were trying to access WhatsApp to view photos or videos. The media files were either missing or blurred without any reason.
If you are the one who have experienced such problem on your phone and want to fix it, follow the troubleshooting ways below without any problem.
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Must Read: Android SD Card Recovery: Retrieve Deleted Files from Android SD Card
What does ‘Sorry, this media file doesn’t exist on your SD card/internal storage’ mean?
Well, when you come across such error then it has a simple meaning that the file you are wishing to view don’t exist further to view. We use WhatsApp on daily basis and the photos and videos we generally send on WhatsApp disappears from server when they are downloaded by the end user.
And later on when you try to access those pictures or videos then you come across ‘Sorry, this media file doesn’t exist on your SD card/internal storage’.
Reason behind ‘Sorry, this media file doesn’t exist on your internal storage’?
The reason is not so surprising because its simple that whenever the media files is deleted by the user end then it get disappears from its server and you are not able to access it. In fact, another reason was found because of software update on your phone.
Yes, when your device is updated or if you use cleaning software then it clears every junk files from WhatsApp and also the downloaded status are deleted after which you get error message while you try to access it.
Even some cases might be the files were wiped away due to some other possible reason and when you try to find it on WhatsApp then you are unable to see them.
So whatever the reasons might be, its important to fix the error message so that you don’t have to suffer a lot.
Now its time to deal with the error message you have received. Below mentioned are some of the possible ways to solve ‘Sorry, this media file doesn’t exist on your SD card/internal storage’ on Android phone.
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Effective ways to resolve ‘Sorry, this media file doesn’t exist on your SD card/internal storage’
Method 1: Restart your phone
The simple and effective solution to find out the media files on your phone or SD card is by restarting your phone once. For that, you have to:
Switch off your phone first
Now again turn it on
Wait for some time until all files from internal or your device reads SD card
Now access the media files on your phone
If you come across the same error, again then move further and follow the other methods.
Method 2: Copy missing media to original WhatsApp folder
The data you receive on Whatspp includes videos and photos and all these data are saved in your Android phone gallery automatically. You might have also moved some data to SD card due to less storage space.
So once you should check Android gallery to find the files and you are not able to see because you have moved them to other place.
So in this situation, when you try to remove ‘Sorry, this media file doesn’t exist on your internal storage/SD card’, you only need to copy those media files and paste them in WhatsApp original folder and now check the gallery again.
Hopefully, this method will solve the problem you are coming across on your Android phone while accessing WhatsApp media files.
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Method 3: Easy way to restore WhatsApp from backup
This method might be helpful in fixing the error and getting back all media files. Follow the steps:
First, uninstall the WhatsApp App and then go to storage and clear cache and data
Now tap on back button and after that uninstall the app
Again after sometime, re-download the WhatsApp app again
While the set up process is in process, you can restore the files from last backup that can help you to get back all those files that were missing
Method 4: Eliminate write protection from SD card
Many times, due to write protection on SD card, the error message might come. Therefore you can remove write protection from SD card by following the below steps and check whether the problem is solved or not.
Step 1: First, connect your SD card to computer
Step 2: Now tap on Start button
Step 3: Here search for CMD
Step 4: Click right Command Prompt search result and select Run as administrator
Step 5: Now type diskpart and click Enter
Step 6: Here you have to type attrib -h -r -s /s /d ‘drive letter’:\*.* and then press Enter
Step 7: Then type exit and hit on Enter
Method 5: Unmount and mount your SD card
This is yet another way to fix the error and get back the lost media files from Android phone. Follow the below steps:
First, open your Settings and then go to Storage
Click on Unmount SD card
Wait for sometime
Then click on Mount SD card
Now go to File Manager and check the media files
Even after following all the above method, if you still fail to recover the lost media files then it may be the files are deleted or wiped away.
In this situation, you have to use a powerful tool to recover the lost or missing media files and also to fix the error that says “Sorry, this media file doesn’t exist on your SD card/internal storage”.
Recommended: How to Retrieve Deleted or Lost WhatsApp Messages from Android
Method 6: How to recover inaccessible files from Android phone
When time comes to recover deleted files on Android devices then its better to use a powerful recovery program. Android Data Recovery is one of the trusted and reliable software that easily retrieves every erased data from Android phone. Whatever data you have lost are retrieved such as photos, videos, contacts, call history, documents, WhatsApp messages, music files and many others.
Its easy to use and there is no need of any technical knowledge. However, interesting part is that it supports all Android phone brands and OS including Android Pie 9.0. So, without any worry, its time to Download Android Data Recovery Tool and restore erased or wiped away files from Android phone with ease.
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Note: It is recommended to download and use the software on your PC or laptop. It is because recovery of phone data on the phone itself is risky as you may end up losing all your data because of data overriding.
Steps to follow to restore deleted files on Android
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Bonus Tips: How to avoid “Sorry, this media file doesn’t exist on your SD card/internal storage” error
Ensure your phone’s internal storage or SD card have enough space to save WhatsApp media files
Also make sure the SD card you are using is healthy as damage SD card can show error in saving files
Conclusion
So, all these are some of the best methods to deal with “Sorry, this media file doesn’t exist on your SD card/internal storage” error. Obviously all these ways will work to resolve the issue and hope that you can get back the media files that were invisible on your phone.