Engineers,

Are you looking to buy an SD card compatible with Raspberry Pi? Here’s what you need to know:

The largest SD card compatible with the raspberry pi is 32 GB.

The smallest SD card compatible with the raspberry pi is 2 GB.

The recommended SD card size for the raspberry pi is 4 GB or more.

The fastest SD card compatible with the raspberry pi is a Class 10 SD card.

… but there’s more.

Your SD card must be pre-formatted to work with Raspberry Pi.

You can buy a pre-formatted SD card for Raspberry Pi, or you can create your own using any of the above Raspberry Pi compatible SD cards.

Can I use Raspberry Pi without an SD Card?

No.

Without the SD card, you cannot turn on the Raspberry Pi.

When the Raspberry Pi is connected to a power supply it will automatically start to boot. There is no POWER or ON button, the Raspberry Pi boots once plugged-in.

When the Raspberry Pi starts booting, it will execute a special piece of code called the “bootloader” which tells the device to read the SD card to find and load the operating system.
If there is no SD card inserted, the Raspberry Pi will not start.

Also, the SD card cannot be blank. Before inserting it into the Raspberry Pi, you must load the SD card with an operating system. Here are instructions on how to load a FREE operating system onto the SD.

If you want to skip this step, you can purchase a pre-formatted/pre-installed SD card for Raspberry Pi which you will be able to use immediately.

… but part of the fun is doing as much as you can yourself! 🙂

Can I use a microSD card with Raspberry Pi?

Yes!

… but you will need to use a low-profile microSD card adapter for Raspberry Pi.

Many people have used the above adapter with Raspberry Pi, see the comments for more details & reviews. The issue people will run into is that depending on your Raspberry Pi case (they can be made from various manufacturers), the microSD card adapter may not easily slide in and out.

How Many SD Cards Do I need for Raspberry Pi?

You only need 1 SD card to use your Raspberry Pi…

… but, you can have as many SD cards as you want!

Each SD card can be loaded with a different operating system. Essentially, the Raspberry Pi is your hardware, and the SD card is your system. You can think of each individual SD card as a different computer and to change systems all you need to do is power off the Raspberry Pi, switch SD cards, then reconnect the power. Now you’re using a different computer system!