Quick question on SD card Usage for Garmin Nuvi

I use SD cards in my nuvi to hold a topo map and in my eTrex for the same purpose. They can be swapped between units and also in my computer's media reader. Honestly, I don't think I formatted the cards--I used them straight from their packaging so they must have been preformatted.

[Edit--one more tip] If your computer recognizes the SD card in the nuvi, the computer could format the SD card there. Please avoid that if possible and even be careful deleting files from the SD card when it's in the nuvi. I can so easily imagine a slip of the fingers or mind that results in formatting the nuvi instead of the nuvi's card or deleting an important nuvi file, and that won't be fun...or much worse.

Good luck with whatever you plan to put there.

I did not format mine. I bought mine new so it was empty.

As I recall, I did not format mine, but as has been mentioned above, it may have come formated for windows and works fine in my 765t.

There is nothing in my manual that indicates I needed to format the SD card. So - the Nuvi probably does not have the capability to do so.

No need to reformat the card for a Nuvi if it is aready in FAT or FAT32. A SD or micro-SD is never associated with a particular garmin device, only the file system matters. Garmins understand only FAT and FAT32. Most (but not all) SD cards are formatted correctly right out of the box. I've recently come across a few micro-SD cards that required formatting before using them.

Your Nuvi SD may not work in all other devices without being reformatted and it depends on the device. There are a digital cameras that format/prepare the card in a proprietary mode when you do a card format/setup (which they all seem to recommend). So if you have used the card in a digital camera there's a good chance it won't be recognized by your garmin until it is re-formatted.

Formatting the card is no big deal but be careful if you do it while it's plugged into a Nuvi attached to your PC as a usb drive. There have been several folks that have mistakenly formatted their Nuvi when they intended to format the card because they accidentally selected the wrong drive for formatting. That's not very good if you don't have a full file backup of your Nuvi (hint!).

Also, the Nuvi can't format the card. The Nuvi acts as a card reader/writer which allows you to format the card from your PC via the Nuvi.

I believe, if the Nuvi can see the contents of the card, then there is no need to format it.

and correct.

I appreciate the wealth of information =)

My 855 manual makes no mention of the need for formatting the microSD card. It's obviously depends on your model.

I think it uses FAT32 system which is why Windows has no trouble recognizing it.

SD cards come formatted in FAT32 so most devices are able to recognize them.