To consistently achieve the best results with your GoPro it is important to select microSD cards that are known to work well with your camera. We recommend only purchasing name-brand SD cards through official resellers.
| HERO11 Black HERO11 Black Mini HERO10 Black HERO10 Black Bones | microSD card with v30 or UHS-3 rating | Sandisk Extreme, Extreme Plus, Extreme Pro: 32/64/128/256/512GB Lexar Professional 1066x Silver Series: 64/128/256/512GB Samsung EVO Plus, EVO Select, EVO PRO Plus: 128/256/512GB ADATA Premiere Pro: 512GB Gigastone A1 and A2: 128/256GB |
| HERO9 Black HERO8 Black MAX HERO7 Black and older cameras (* See exceptions below) | microSD card with at least Class 10 or UHS-1 rating |
*Additional Information
- HERO4 and HERO Session: Support up to a 128GB microSD card.
- HERO3 Black, HERO3+, HERO+, and HERO+ LCD: Support up to a 64GB microSD card.
- HERO (2014): Supports up to a 32GB microSD card.
- HD HERO2: Requires a Class 10 SD card up to 32 GB.
- HD HERO Original & HD HERO 960: Require a Class 4 SD card up to 32 GB.
- Standard Definition HERO: Support up to a 2GB standard SD memory card.
Best SD Card Practices
For best results while recording and saving media, we recommend that you delete the files from your SD card (referred to as formatting your SD card) frequently using the format/delete all options in your camera's settings. For instructions on formatting your SD card with your specific camera, please check out this article.
These are the best memory cards for GoPro cameras with their corresponding performance take from an SD slot in a Galaxy smartphone. The latest GoPro Hero 9 can take memory card sizes up to 256GB, but 128GB cards work very well for normal usage. Several of the camera before the Hero 8 would only take memory cards with a
maximum size of 128GB, so be sure to check to see if your camera is compatible if you need a bigger card. After testing microSD cards in GoPro cameras for several years, this guide has been developed to help you find the best SD card for your GoPro camera. If you experience freezes, glitches, or crashes, it is very often a problem with SD card compatibility, and swapping to a different card can usually fix these issues.Quick GoPro Memory Card Recommendation List
Recommended SD Cards
Write Speeds
Read Speed
Order
Sandisk Extreme A2 U3 128GB – Top Pick
54MB/s
79MB/s
Amazon
Samsung EVO Select U3 128GB
40MB/s
69MB/s
Amazon
Netac Pro A1 U3 128GB
37MB/s
83MB/s
Amazon
Lexar 667X A2 U3 128GB
38MB/s
86MB/s
Amazon
Sandisk Extreme Plus A2 U3 128GB
75MB/s
80MB/s
Amazon
Delkin Black V30, U3 128GB
71MB/s
77MB/s
B&H
What is the Best SD Card For GoPro?
The best SD memory card for any GoPro camera including the GoPro Max 360 or the new Hero 9 is still the Sandisk Extreme. This card now comes with new A2 capabilities with a U3 speed class.
It has the best compatibility and is often bundled by GoPro with its cameras.
GoPro SD Card Compatibility
All the latest GoPro cameras take micro SD memory cards. The GoPro Hero 8 and Hero 9 will perform best with U3 memory cards and have a maximum capacity of 256GB.
U3 vs U1 – This is your memory card, speed class. U1 has a minimum write speed of 10MBs, and U3 has a minimum write speed of 30MBs. To guarantee performance with the Hero 8 or the Hero 9, you must use a memory card that is the U3 speed class since the camera writes at about 12MBs – above the U1 spec.
SDXC vs SDHC – SDXC, and SDHC refers to the file structure. 32-bit vs 64-bit. SDHC is always in 32GB cards and smaller whereas SDXC is always found with 64GB cards and larger. 32-bit file structure found in the 32 GB cards means, that you will not be able to record clips that are larger than 4GB. However, today GoPro cameras still only record clips with a limit of 4GB which is known as chaptering. Regardless of what camera you use, it won’t make a difference if you decide to go with SDHC or SDXC memory cards.
UHS-I vs UHS-II – There are now UHS-II memory cards but the GoPro cameras do not have the hardware to take advantage of these cards. They will still work, but will just run at UHS-I speeds.
GoPro SD Card Capacity
The size of the memory card you can use for your GoPro depends on which model you have.
New GoPro cameras can use memory cards up to 512GB.
Older GoPro cameras such as the GoPro Hero7 could use 256GB memory cards but there was a potential that they would cause problems when mounted to the Karma gimbal and you would have to drop down to a 64GB memory card.
This list shows the memory card reviews for each GoPro model as well as the max SD card capacity for GoPro cameras.
*Note: GoPro is officially now saying all their models since the Hero 7 accept 512GB cards on their website. This is likely an error on their part. Expect some compatibility issues with 512GB cards in some GoPros.
| Camera Model | Max Size |
| GoPro Hero 10 | 512GB |
| GoPro Hero 9 | 256GB |
| GoPro Hero 8 | 256GB |
| GoPro Hero 2018 | 128GB |
| GoPro Hero 7 | 128GB |
| GoPro Hero 6 | 256GB |
| GoPro Hero 5 | 128GB |
What Size Memory Card Is Best for GoPro?
You will be limited by the max size of the memory card based on the model of GoPro. Also, starting with the Hero 9 GoPro cameras now offer higher bitrates of 100Mbps with an average bitrate of around 96Mb/s.
Here are the bitrate settings of Hero 9.
GoPro Hero 9 Bitrates
These are the bitrates you can expect to find in the different record modes.
| Hero 9 Recording Options | Standard HEVC | High HEVC |
| 5k | ||
| 30p, 24p | 58Mb/s | 96Mb/s |
| 4k | ||
| 60p | 58Mb/s | 96Mb/s |
| 24p, 30p | 58Mb/s | 95Mb/s |
| 2.7k | ||
| 240p | 57Mb/s | 75Mb/s |
| 1080p | ||
| 120p | 58Mb/s | 95Mb/s |
Use the Bitrate Calculator to see how much time each bitrate will record.
It will take you about two batteries to use a 64GB card with a GoPro Hero8. This means, if you only have two batteries, you might not ever be able to use more than a 64GB card in a single session.
With the latest Hero 9, I can fill a full 64GB card before using the entire battery.
It might still be a good idea to go bigger just in case you ever forget to backup your data before going out to shoot again.
GoPro Hero Record Times | Chart
Here is a handy chart on record times in minutes based on the different record formats.
On most GoPro cameras today, you have an option to record at a higher bitrate or a lower bitrate. The camera defaults to a lower bitrate on many of the preset so make sure you turn that up when programming your own recording preset.
Times are in minutes.
| Format | Frame Rate | Bitrate | 32GB | 64GB | 128GB |
| 4k, 5k Hero 9 | 30, 24 | 96 Mbps | 44 min | 89 min | 178 min |
| 4k | 60 | 78 Mbps | 55 min | 109 min | 219 min |
| 4k | 30 / 24 | 67 Mbps | 64 min | 127 min | 255 min |
| 2.7k | 120 | 78 Mbps | 55 min | 109 min | 219 min |
| 2.7k | 60 | 67 Mbps | 64 min | 127 min | 255 min |
| 2.7k | 30 / 24 | 45 Mbps | 95 min | 190 min | 379 min |
| 1080 | 240 | 78 Mbps | 55 min | 109 min | 219 min |
| 1080 | 120 | 67 Mbps | 64 min | 127 min | 255 min |
| 1080 | 60 / 30 / 24 | 45 Mbps | 95 min | 190 min | 379 min |
Best SD Cards For GoPro Cameras For Each Model
Each camera has its own personality when it comes to dealing with memory cards. Use these guides to find the best cards for any particular model, or to see if there are any potential firmware issues that cause strange behavior.
**This website contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you click them to make a purchase.
- GoPro Hero (2018)
- GoPro Hero5
- GoPro Hero6
- GoPro Hero7
- GoPro Hero8
- GoPro Hero9
- Memory Card Speed Tests