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Trying to update maps on Garmin Nuvicam... not enough storage problem

9319531

I have a new 32gb memory card which I inserted into the black card slot, not the orange highlighted slot which I believe is for camera footage storage.. I'm trying to update through Garmin Express and when I click on utilities tab it does show the 32gb card as recognized. When I click on install, I get a message that there is not enough storage space on the computer and I need 15GB of space and indeed, I do not have enough hard drive space on my actual laptop BUT under "installation options"  I chose Device Only, not device and computer or computer only. How can I get the update to go only to the memory card on the Garmin and stop trying to download it to the computer as well?

  • 0 in reply to 9319531

    It's telling you it needs space on the computer to DO the installation to your device, not to install maps to the computer. And yes, GE leaves a lot of crap behind after it is done, so you will need to clean up after them.

  • 0 in reply to 4411990

    Ok thanks. I'll assume there a a lot of options in the list to download, but I only care about updated North American maps. Which options can I avoid downloading and still get proper usage of North Am map and features?

  • 0 in reply to 9319531

    You NEED to make space available on your computer for the installation to proceed further.

  • 0 in reply to 4411990

    already did and it got the update done

  • 0 in reply to 9319531

    On the laptop, and this is for Windows 10, you may want to locate the folder C:\ProgramData\Garmin\CoreService\Downloads\Map.
    You will find numerous folders named Map_Map.NA2021.20 or similar. Each folder is 6+ GB.  They can be deleted.

  • 0 in reply to JohnfromPA

    On my Windows 11 laptop those folders are here:

    C:\ProgramData\Garmin\Maps\RMU\NA

    Note:  C:\ProgramData is a hidden directory by default.

  • 0 in reply to Peobody

    There are two (well, actually, three :D) main map locations that Garmin Express uses on one's PC:

    1. C:\ProgramData\Garmin\CoreService\Downloads\Map - that's there 'temporary' files are being downloaded to (during this 0-50% stage) and stored when deployment/update takes place. They are not being removed by GE and as such with time can occupy quite a hefty amount of space. All files from there can be safely deleted once maps are confirmed as successfully installed on the device(s). If required at later stage, GE will simply reacquire these.

    Side note: the above also applies to everything else under C:\ProgramData\Garmin\CoreService\Downloads, although size of the contents in the other folders is miniscule in comparison with the above map folder (MBs rather than GBs).

    2. C:\ProgramData\Garmin\Maps - that's a default place where any Garmin maps that are used by PC software (so: BaseCamp, Training Center etc.) are being installed to. These maps should not be deleted manually from there, unless removed by respective installation programs.

    3. C:\Users\[yourusername]\AppData\Local\Garmin\express\maps - to my utmost surprise I discovered that GE uses that location to use as 'temporary' store for any maps being pushed to my Epix watch. Assume it's the same with similar devices (i.e. Fenix etc.), and if so, the same rules as in point 1 apply: All files from there can be safely deleted once maps are confirmed as successfully installed on the device(s). If required at later stage, GE will simply reacquire these.

  • 0 in reply to Krzemien
    Krzemien said:
    C:\Users\[yourusername]\AppData\Local\Garmin\express\maps

    Are you certain about deleting these?  Do you know what these filed contain?

    I ask out of hesitance to delete anything in AppData that is related to an installed program, and wonder if these files might contain a record of what GE last has a record of on the device.  This curiosity is due to an occasion where the map on my device (zumo XT) was updated via wi-fi and was not recognized by GE on next connection.  GE still thought the old map was on the XT, as if it was reading from a historical record rather than checking what was actually on the device.  That said, maybe if its AppData data hadn't existed it would have defaulted to reading from the device.  I wish I knew.

  • 0 in reply to Peobody

    That's what current sits there on my PC after I updated Topo maps to 2026.11:

    Directory of C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Garmin\express\maps

    27/06/2026  08:36    <DIR>          .
    04/07/2026  12:39    <DIR>          ..
    27/06/2026  08:19     1,383,989,248 0afdfda943fa58b3bccd899eda36c816
    27/06/2026  08:16     1,367,998,464 3d9b846f0b819b9eeb79943d7b3290c0
    27/06/2026  08:36     3,426,615,296 44e9ee76de05581d11935a9a856d5ccf
    27/06/2026  08:27     3,402,039,296 5a92d30c0106844af0007fb8682e472f
    27/06/2026  08:05     1,009,057,792 604e7a51df82d1e29f6a8c0dc2e563a9
    27/06/2026  08:09     1,290,174,464 8efe593282418a218899a24d7126c11b
    27/06/2026  08:45     3,457,482,752 d3ed53c40a671518b3ddb89f7bb01092
                   7 File(s) 15,337,357,312 bytes
                   2 Dir(s)  1,472,053,084,160 bytes free

    All these are IMG files (i.e. maps) - you can tell it by their bulky size.

    It's relatively easy to find out to be 100% sure by using GMapTool (https://www.gmaptool.eu/en/content/gmaptool) and checking all these files with it.

    The other good news is: although these files remain on PC post successful installation on the device, they will be removed by subsequent maps' update: I did see that previous versions got deleted and only recent files (as evidenced by their dates) only remain in there.