Should a new microSD card appear to have folders in Android?

Question

We have a new Moto G8 Power and a new Samsung microSD card. I put the card in and turned the new phone on. When I looked in the file browser app it shows Samsung SD Card and that there’s 13 MB used, and then it lists “FILES ON SAMSUNG SD CARD” including folders of .android_secure, Android, Download, Music, Pictures, Ringtones, Alarms, DCIM, Movies, Notifications, and Podcasts.


The folders appear to be empty. Is this normal? I don’t have much experience with Android phones (I’ve been in the Apple ecosystem pretty much exclusively); Is this expected behavior, or should I reformat the microSD card?


— A L | Sources

Answer

The list you have provided is that of standard directories (see official documentation and source code). Android OS creates these directories in external storage filesystems (including SD cards) when they are first mounted (see source). As of Android 10 it includes 9 directories: Alarms, DCIM, Download, Movies, Music, Notifications, Pictures, Podcasts and Ringtones.


Android's MediaScanner service puts the files in these directories in special categories as the names suggest. See some more details in the related question suggested by @Izzy in comment: List of special Android SD card folders?


Android and .android_secure are exceptions though. Android directory contains apps' private directories in external shared storage (see details in this answer). .android_secure is used by Android to move apps from internal to external storage (see details in this answer).


So all of these folders are created by Android OS on first usage.


— Irfan Latif | Sources

Q & A

Running sh script non rooted
How can I download a torrent to the SD card using BitTorrent?
Open attachment that contains forwarded email (MIME type message/rfc822)
How to unlock my device after locking with “Find my device”?
How to keep Google Maps sounds in Phone, while calls in Car Sound system, while driving?
How to use Android sdk to flash android system images
Xiaomi source code
How does Battery Management System work (at the hardware-interface level) ? And how is idle self-discharging of batteries handled?
Does LineageOS allow us to install apps via Google Play?
Grant permissions to a service launched with ADB?
Can I install Android using Android studio on any supporting devices?
I want to customise my phone to forward SMS messages automatically
Android 10 and 11: Get new random MAC for same SSID without factory reset
In Twrp recovery mode touch screen is not working on redmi y2
Error when migrating data from internal microSD to internal storage despite apparent available space
How to allow a call recorder app access to call logs?
What is the meaning of the SAT/SIG/TTF GPS status info?
YouTube Premium: Downloaded videos - Original channel deleted?
How to remove file from "Recent Files" on android 10?
How to block YouTube in general on my daughter's phone while allowing her to follow her favourite YouTubers?

Topics

2D Engines   3D Engines   9-Patch   Action Bars   Activities   ADB   Advertisements   Analytics   Animations   ANR   AOP   API   APK   APT   Architecture   Audio   Autocomplete   Background Processing   Backward Compatibility   Badges   Bar Codes   Benchmarking   Bitmaps   Bluetooth   Blur Effects   Bread Crumbs   BRMS   Browser Extensions   Build Systems   Bundles   Buttons   Caching   Camera   Canvas   Cards   Carousels   Changelog   Checkboxes   Cloud Storages   Color Analysis   Color Pickers   Colors   Comet/Push   Compass Sensors   Conferences   Content Providers   Continuous Integration   Crash Reports   Credit Cards   Credits   CSV   Curl/Flip   Data Binding   Data Generators   Data Structures   Database   Database Browsers   Date &   Debugging   Decompilers   Deep Links   Dependency Injections   Design   Design Patterns   Dex   Dialogs   Distributed Computing   Distribution Platforms   Download Managers   Drawables   Emoji   Emulators   EPUB   Equalizers &   Event Buses   Exception Handling   Face Recognition   Feedback &   File System   File/Directory   Fingerprint   Floating Action   Fonts   Forms   Fragments   FRP   FSM   Functional Programming   Gamepads   Games   Geocaching   Gestures   GIF   Glow Pad   Gradle Plugins   Graphics   Grid Views   Highlighting   HTML   HTTP Mocking   Icons   IDE   IDE Plugins   Image Croppers   Image Loaders   Image Pickers   Image Processing   Image Views   Instrumentation   Intents   Job Schedulers   JSON   Keyboard   Kotlin   Layouts   Library Demos   List View   List Views   Localization   Location   Lock Patterns   Logcat   Logging   Mails   Maps   Markdown   Mathematics   Maven Plugins   MBaaS   Media   Menus   Messaging   MIME   Mobile Web   Native Image   Navigation   NDK   Networking   NFC   NoSQL   Number Pickers   OAuth   Object Mocking   OCR Engines   OpenGL   ORM   Other Pickers   Parallax List   Parcelables   Particle Systems   Password Inputs   PDF   Permissions   Physics Engines   Platforms   Plugin Frameworks   Preferences   Progress Indicators   ProGuard   Properties   Protocol Buffer   Pull To   Purchases   Push/Pull   QR Codes   Quick Return   Radio Buttons   Range Bars   Ratings   Recycler Views   Resources   REST   Ripple Effects   RSS   Screenshots   Scripting   Scroll Views   SDK   Search Inputs   Security   Sensors   Services   Showcase Views   Signatures   Sliding Panels   Snackbars   SOAP   Social Networks   Spannable   Spinners   Splash Screens   SSH   Static Analysis   Status Bars   Styling   SVG   System   Tags   Task Managers   TDD &   Template Engines   Testing   Testing Tools   Text Formatting   Text Views   Text Watchers   Text-to   Toasts   Toolkits For   Tools   Tooltips   Trainings   TV   Twitter   Updaters   USB   User Stories   Utils   Validation   Video   View Adapters   View Pagers   Views   Watch Face   Wearable Data   Wearables   Weather   Web Tools   Web Views   WebRTC   WebSockets   Wheel Widgets   Wi-Fi   Widgets   Windows   Wizards   XML   XMPP   YAML   ZIP Codes