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

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