Should I format my Micro SD card first before using it on my Nokia Lumia 520?

[Kerry Andrews]

Should I format my Micro SD card first before using it on my Nokia Lumia 520? It's a SanDisk card. Did you format yours when you first bought it?

 

[hopmedic]

The best bet is always to use the phone to format a new card.

 

[Tribanj]

Yes, but if you something on your Card, copy it on PC. After format your Card you it can back on your Card. For Windows Phone 8.1 you need have 6, 8 or 10 Class Card. 2 and 4 Class Card not work on Windows Phone 8.1.

 

[Kerry Andrews]

The best bet is always to use the phone to format a new card.

How do I do this?

 

[Kerry Andrews]

What happens if I don't format the SD card?

 

[Tribanj]

Try use SD Card without format and you see what happens. Maybe format and will not be required.

 

[intransitmatt]

A format will most likely be required, the 520 is capable of performing the format but you won't be able to recover what was on it.

 

[Kerry Andrews]

How will I know whether it needs to be formatted? Will it show a pop-up message of some kind advising me to format the card? Are there options for what type of form to format the card to like FAT32 NTFS etc? Which format should I go for?

 

[unshavengarvit]

Word of advice : There is no need to format the SD card.If you want to format it, then format it.Else, let it be.I've updated my phone 3 times without formatting the SD card and as of now haven't run into any issues whatsoever.

 

[fdalbor]

Most; if not all cards are formated when you buy them using the old Windows Fat 32 format so they can be read by most devices.

 

[Tomazon]

Yes, but if you something on your Card, copy it on PC. After format your Card you it can back on your Card. For Windows Phone 8.1 you need have 6, 8 or 10 Class Card. 2 and 4 Class Card not work on Windows Phone 8.1.

My card is class 4 and it allowed me to move my Spotify app and saved playlists (1.22 GB). Spotify is working fine with no visible delay. I'm gonna try to move more apps to SD and check if there's a performance improvement/decrease.

 

[Tribanj]

I read somewhere that Windows Phone 8.1 does not support SD Card 2 and 4 class.