How to Find the Serial Number of a GoPro HERO9

From time to time, you might need to find the serial number of your GoPro HERO9 Black.

It’s not something that tends to come up often, but you might need it if you’re manually updating your camera’s firmware or reaching out to GoPro support.

You’ll also need it to add a device to your GoPro Subscription account.

There are at least four methods you can choose from to find the serial number of a HERO9 Black. Here’s a quick guide.

On the HERO9’s Menu System

If your HERO9 can power on, this is probably the quickest and easiest method.

The camera’s serial number is included in the menu system on the back screen. You can find it under:

Preferences > About > Camera Info > Serial Number

Hard-Printed On the Camera Body

If your camera won’t power on, the HERO9 serial number is also printed on the camera body itself. But it’s not in an obvious place or even easy to read. The text is tiny and sometimes hard to tell the difference between numerals such as 6 and 8.

Open the HERO9’s side door and remove the battery.

Inside the battery compartment, there are two printed labels–one on each of the two largest compartment walls. The one you want is on the back wall (i.e., opposite side from the SD card).

You’ll need to get some light in there. You might need a flashlight or the light from your phone.

The serial number is just above the QR code. It starts with a C and is followed by 13 digits.

It looks like this:

On the SD Card

This method is useful if you want to copy and paste the serial number or if the number printed on the camera is too hard to read clearly.

The camera’s serial number is also saved in a file on the SD card.

When the HERO9 formats the SD card to make it ready for use, it creates a couple of folders and a few files. One of those files records the camera’s key information, including the serial number.

In the top-level MISC folder, look for a file called version.txt. (There’s another MISC folder under the DCIM folder–not that one.)

It’s a plain text file and will open in a wide variety of apps. Double-clicking on it should automatically open it in an appropriate app.

The last field is camera serial number.

In Image EXIF Information

The camera’s serial number is also embedded in the EXIF metadata of photos taken with the HERO9. Look for an EXIF field called BodySerialNumber or CameraSerialNumber–I’ve seen it rendered as both with the same HERO9 image.

To access that, you’ll need software that can read image EXIF metadata. Some examples are:

• Lightroom Classic ¹
• Preview (Mac / built into macOS)
• EXIF Data View (free / Windows)
• XNViewMP (free / Windows, Mac, Linux) ²
• Jimpl (free / online service)
  

There are plenty of other options for viewing EXIF metadata, including many imaging apps (some free, like XNViewMP, XNView, or GIMP), browser plugins, and free online services that can read and display the EXIF metadata of an image you upload. Not all of them will display the camera serial number field, but if one doesn’t work, there are plenty of other alternatives.

Tip: If you’re shooting with the HERO9’s RAW image option enabled, it’s best to use the JPG version of the image with these EXIF readers. The RAW (.gpr) files are much less widely compatible.

1. Select the photo in Lightroom’s Library panel. Then make sure that the EXIF fields are chose in the drop-down at the top of the Metadata panel on the right side of the screen. The serial number won’t show up in just the regular Default display of metadata fields.[↩]
2. in XNViewMP, use the ExifTools tab of image properties. The serial number field doesn’t show up in the regular EXIF tab.[↩]