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DJI Mini 4 Pro SD cards: putting one in, getting it out, formatting it

September 3, 2026 · 2 min read

By DroneNoobs

Where the microSD slot is, which way the card faces, how the push-to-eject works, and the DJI Fly menu path to format — each step quoted from DJI's own pages, with the gaps marked.

The card slot on a Mini 4 Pro is small, unlabelled once you are outdoors, and sits next to a USB-C port that is roughly the same size. Get the card in the wrong way round and it will not seat; pull it out instead of pressing it and you risk the slot. None of that is difficult, but it is worth knowing before you are standing in a field.

Everything below is quoted from DJI — the user manual, the specs page, and DJI's own support articles. Where DJI does not say something, this guide says so instead of filling in the gap. There are three such gaps and they are marked in amber as you go.

A note on the diagrams

The animations here are our own schematic drawings, built from DJI's written instructions. They are not photographs, not renders, and not traced from DJI's product images or from anybody's video — those belong to the people who made them. Each one is labelled as an illustration and shows only the parts of the procedure we could verify. Where DJI does not state something, the drawing stays abstract about it rather than inventing a detail that would look authoritative.

Getting a card in

Inserting the card

The slot sits at the tail of the aircraft, immediately beside the USB-C port. The card goes in with its contacts facing up.

Schematic: a microSD card, contacts upward, sliding into the slot beside the USB-C port at the tail of the aircraft and pressing home.tail of aircraftUSB-CmicroSD slotcontacts — face uppress until seated
Illustration — not to scale|Original schematic, drawn from DJI's written instructions. Relative positions are diagrammatic — DJI states that the slot sits beside the USB-C port at the tail, not its exact placement on the airframe. Procedure from DJI Support — Installation and Removal of Drone Storage Card.
  1. 1

    Find the slot

    Look at the tail of the aircraft, next to the USB-C port. DJI's aircraft diagram labels the two openings as callouts 12 (USB-C Port) and 13 (microSD Card Slot).

  2. 2

    Contacts up

    DJI's per-model table gives the card orientation for the Mini 4 Pro as upward — the gold contact pins face up as the card goes in.

  3. 3

    Press until seated

    Slide the card in and press it home. It is a spring-loaded slot, so it holds the card once seated.

DJI’s wording

What we could not verify

  • Whether the aircraft must be powered off before inserting a card. DJI's instructions do not say, and the manual's only warning about card handling covers removal during shooting (below) — so we do not tell you either way.
  • The exact face of the airframe the slot opens onto. DJI states only that it is at the tail beside the USB-C port, so the illustration shows that adjacency and nothing finer.

Getting a card out

The thing worth internalising: this is a push-to-eject slot. There is no door and no latch. If you find yourself gripping the card to pull it, stop.

Ejecting the card

It is a push-to-eject slot. There is no door, latch or cover to open, and the card should never be pulled straight out.

Schematic: a seated microSD card being pressed in and springing partly back out of the slot beside the USB-C port at the tail of the aircraft.tail of aircraftUSB-CmicroSD slotpresscontacts — face uppress, release, card pops out
Illustration — not to scale|Original schematic of the push-to-eject motion. How far the card protrudes once released is not stated by DJI and is not depicted to scale. Procedure from DJI Support — Installation and Removal of Drone Storage Card and DJI Mini 4 Pro User Manual (EN).
  1. 1

    Press in

    Push the exposed edge of the card gently further into the slot until the spring releases.

  2. 2

    Release

    Let go. The card springs partly out of the slot on its own.

  3. 3

    Not while shooting

    Do not pull the card while the aircraft is taking photos or recording. The manual warns this can damage the card.

DJI’s wording

What we could not verify

  • How far the card protrudes once ejected. No first-party page states it, so the illustration shows the card released but does not pretend to a measurement.

Wiping the card

Formatting is done from the app, not from the aircraft. A new card is worth formatting in the drone before its first flight — cards arrive formatted for whatever the manufacturer assumed, not for this camera.

Formatting the card

Formatting happens in the DJI Fly app, from the camera view — not on the aircraft itself.

Wireframe in three beats: tap the System Settings mark in the upper right of the camera view, open Camera, then tap Format.camera view1 — tap System Settings, upper rightCameraTransmissionAbout2 — enter CameraCameraFormat3 — tap Format (this erases the card)
Illustration — not to scale|Original wireframe of the DJI Fly menu path, not a screenshot. Unlabelled rows are settings we know exist but cannot name from a first-party source. Procedure from DJI Support — Aircraft MicroSD Card Recognition Error.
  1. 1

    System Settings

    From the camera view, tap the System Settings icon in the upper right corner of the screen.

  2. 2

    Camera

    Open the Camera section of the settings panel.

  3. 3

    Format

    Tap Format. Formatting erases the card, so export anything you want to keep first.

DJI’s wording

What we could not verify

  • The confirmation dialog after tapping Format — its wording, and whether it asks you to confirm at all. No first-party page shows it, so the illustration stops at the Format control.
  • Whether this exact menu path is current for the Mini 4 Pro specifically. The DJI article giving it is written for DJI camera drones generally and does not name the Mini 4 Pro, and the Mini 4 Pro manual's Storage Settings list does not include a Format entry at all.
  • Whether the aircraft's 2 GB internal storage is formatted by the same control.

What card you actually need

Card type required

A UHS-I Speed Grade 3 card or better. DJI ties the requirement to the read and write speeds its high-resolution video needs.

“A UHS-I Speed Grade 3 rating or above microSD card is required due to the fast read and write speeds necessary for high-resolution video data.”

DJI Mini 4 Pro User Manual (EN) — p. 72

Internal storage

The aircraft has 2 GB of its own storage, which it can record to when no card is fitted.

“Internal Storage 2 GB”

DJI Mini 4 Pro User Manual (EN) — p. 102, aircraft specifications

Cards DJI recommends

DJI's recommended list runs from a 32 GB SanDisk Extreme PRO up to 512 GB Lexar 1066x and Samsung EVO Plus cards.

“SanDisk Extreme PRO 32GB V30 U3 A1 microSDHC … Lexar 1066x 512GB V30 U3 A2 microSDXC … Samsung EVO Plus 512GB V30 U3 A2 microSDXC”

DJI Mini 4 Pro — Specs

And the question everyone asks first, which we cannot answer:

Maximum card size — unknown

DJI does not state a maximum card capacity for the Mini 4 Pro on its specs page, in the user manual, or in either storage-card support article. We are not going to pick one of the numbers circulating elsewhere. What is verifiable is that DJI's own recommended list includes 512 GB cards — which says those cards are recommended, not that 512 GB is the ceiling.

If you want a card that is definitely fine, pick one off DJI's own recommended list above. That list is a statement about those specific cards, which is narrower — and more reliable — than a capacity ceiling nobody at DJI has published.

The Mini 4 Pro's own numbers

Sources

Sources — all first-party

Every page above is DJI's. We have not cited a reseller, a review site, or a forum thread, and where those sources disagree with each other about capacity we have left the question open rather than picking the most popular answer.