How to Format Storage on DJI Drone
Peter Leslie
22 May 2026
If your DJI drone is throwing storage-full warnings, hitting write errors mid-flight, or simply needs a clean slate before a new shoot, the control to wipe it sits inside DJI Fly. Format Storage erases every photo and every video the drone is holding in one pass — there is no second confirmation, no recycle bin, and no rollback once you tap through.
Drones this applies to
This Format Storage walkthrough applies to the DJI Neo 2, DJI Mini 5 Pro, DJI Avata 2, DJI Air 3 Pro, and DJI Mavic 4 Pro. The menu path inside DJI Fly is identical on every model — only the storage capacity printed next to the Format Storage row changes. See the per-drone capacity table below for the exact numbers.
Quick guide
To format storage on DJI Drone, go to DJI Fly → Camera View → Settings → About → Format Storage → Confirm. The action wipes every photo and video on the selected storage location and cannot be undone — export anything you want to keep first.
Step-by-step: How to Format Storage on DJI Drone
Follow these top to bottom the first time, and you will know the path off by heart the second time.
Export any footage you want to keep off the drone first
Plug the drone into a computer with the USB-C cable and copy the photos and videos off the storage, or pull individual clips down through the DJI Fly album. Once the format runs, the files are gone — this single step is the difference between a routine wipe and a lost shoot.
Open DJI Fly and drop into the drone camera view
With the drone powered on and the remote controller connected, launch DJI Fly and tap Go Fly to enter the camera view. The live feed from the drone fills the screen with the shooting controls stacked in a column down the right-hand edge.
Tap the three-dot icon at the top right to open the Settings panel
Find the three-dot icon sitting at the top right of the camera view. Tap it once and the DJI Fly Settings panel slides in over the live feed, with the category list arranged down the left-hand side.
Tap the About category at the bottom of the Settings left-hand list
Read down the category list on the left of the Settings panel until the About category is in view at the foot of the list. Tap About and the right-hand side of the panel switches across to the About screen.
Scroll the About screen down to the Format Storage row
Inside the About screen, scroll past the device name, firmware version, and serial-number rows until the Format Storage row comes into view. The current storage usage prints to the right of the row label, so you can sanity check what is about to be wiped.
Pick the target storage location if the drone has a microSD slot
On the DJI Mini 5 Pro, DJI Air 3 Pro, and DJI Mavic 4 Pro, the About screen exposes a toggle that switches the format target between internal storage and the microSD card. Pick the location you want to wipe before tapping Format Storage. On the DJI Neo 2 and DJI Avata 2 the toggle is not there — both drones ship without a microSD slot, so the format always runs against internal storage.
Tap Format Storage and read the warning dialogue carefully
Tap the Format Storage row to fire the action. A confirmation dialogue covers the panel warning that every photo and video on the selected storage location will be erased and that the action cannot be undone. Read it through — the dialogue is the last point at which you can back out.
Tap Confirm and check the storage readout when the format finishes
Tap Confirm on the dialogue to begin. A progress indicator appears on the panel as the drone clears the storage, and the whole pass takes a handful of seconds. When the indicator clears, the usage figure next to the Format Storage row reads the full capacity free again — that readout is your confirmation the format completed before the next flight.
Peter's tip
I treat the format as a pre-flight checklist item, not an end-of-shoot one. Files come off the drone the moment I am back at the desk, but the actual Format Storage tap waits until the next time I open DJI Fly with the drone connected and ready to fly. That way I am sat in front of the drone, with my battery in, and any half-finished export from the previous job has had every chance to finish before I wipe the source.
Per-drone storage capacity
The Format Storage row prints the live usage figure on the About screen, but here are the rough capacities you should expect to see on each current DJI airframe. The DJI Neo 2 and DJI Avata 2 ship with internal storage only and no microSD slot, so the format target is the built-in chip. The DJI Mini 5 Pro, DJI Air 3 Pro, and DJI Mavic 4 Pro all combine a smaller internal chip with a microSD card slot, and the About screen lets you pick which location to wipe.
| Drone | Storage configuration |
|---|---|
| DJI Neo 2 | 49 GB internal, no microSD |
| DJI Mini 5 Pro | 64 GB internal + microSD up to 512 GB |
| DJI Avata 2 | 46 GB internal, no microSD |
| DJI Air 3 Pro | Internal + microSD |
| DJI Mavic 4 Pro | Internal + microSD |
Frequently asked questions
Does formatting a DJI drone delete all my photos and videos?
Yes. Format Storage wipes every photo and video held on the drone's internal storage in one pass. The action cannot be undone from inside DJI Fly — once the confirmation dialogue is accepted, the files are gone. Always pull the footage off the drone to a phone or a computer before you run the format.
How long does a DJI drone format take?
A few seconds for internal storage on smaller drones like the DJI Neo 2 or DJI Avata 2. A microSD card on the DJI Mini 5 Pro, DJI Air 3 Pro, or DJI Mavic 4 Pro can take a little longer when the card is close to full. If the progress indicator hangs for more than thirty seconds, restart DJI Fly and try the format again — a stalled format usually points at a connection drop rather than a storage fault.
Can I recover photos from a DJI drone after a format?
Not from inside DJI Fly. A handful of desktop recovery tools can sometimes pull deleted files back from a recently formatted internal storage chip or microSD card, but the success rate is low and any new footage captured after the format overwrites the recoverable blocks. Treat the format as final and back the footage up before you run it.
How do I export footage from a DJI drone before formatting?
Two routes. The fastest is to plug the drone into a computer with the USB-C cable and copy the files off directly — the drone does not need to be airborne to expose the internal storage as a drive. The other route is the DJI Fly album, where individual clips and photos can be downloaded to the phone over the connection between the drone and the remote controller.
Does Format Storage clear the microSD card or only the internal storage?
It depends which storage location is selected on the About screen. On drones with both internal storage and a microSD card slot — the DJI Mini 5 Pro, DJI Air 3 Pro, and DJI Mavic 4 Pro — the About screen lets you pick the target. Drones with internal storage only, like the DJI Neo 2 and DJI Avata 2, run the format against the built-in chip with no choice to make.
Should I format a DJI drone regularly?
Yes, periodically. A clean format every few weeks keeps the storage tidy, clears any orphaned files left behind by interrupted recordings, and reduces the chance of a write error mid-flight. The discipline is to export the footage as soon as a session is over, then format before the next flight so the drone goes out with a known empty drive.
Will formatting a DJI drone reset my flight settings?
No. Format Storage only affects the storage location holding photos and videos. Flight settings, RTH altitude, max distance, gimbal calibration, and the rest of the DJI Fly configuration are stored separately and survive the format untouched. The only thing the format wipes is media.
What if the Format Storage option is greyed out in DJI Fly?
The drone is either not connected to DJI Fly or the camera is mid-write. Check the top of the camera view for the connection bar — if the link to the drone has dropped, the About screen still loads but storage actions are locked. Stop any active recording, wait for the camera indicator to go idle, and the Format Storage row becomes tappable again.
A clean Format Storage pass is one of the cheapest reliability moves there is on any DJI drone. It costs a few taps and a few seconds, and it removes a whole category of write errors and capacity warnings from the next flight before they have a chance to show up on the live feed.
If you are not sure whether to format before or after a particular shoot, drop the details to peter@hiredronepilot.uk and I will come back to you directly. The video version of this walkthrough is on YouTube and the comments are open.
References
Primary source material for this article is the official DJI documentation and DJI Fly. External links open in a new tab.
- DJI — Downloads centre (per-drone user manuals, quick start guides, firmware notes) · Internal storage behaviour, exporting photos and videos, and where the device information sits inside DJI Fly.
- DJI — Consumer drones (UK) · Per-model spec sheets carrying internal storage capacity and microSD card support.
- DJI Fly — App download and release notes · The app where the Settings panel, About screen, and Format Storage row all live. Release notes record any layout changes between app versions.
Peter Leslie
Founder & GVC Drone Pilot
Peter is the founder of HireDronePilot. With thousands of logged commercial flight hours, he writes about drone technology, commercial surveying tactics, and UK aviation compliance.
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