ResMed AirSense 10: Get More from Your Data

The ResMed AirSense 10 records detailed therapy data on its SD card every night: a breath-by-breath airflow and pressure waveform, leak rate, respiratory rate, tidal volume, flow limitation, and every apnea or hypopnea event with exact timestamps. The myAir app shows a simplified daily score. The SD card holds the full picture, and reading it is what lets you see exactly when events happened, what they were, and how your night actually unfolded behind that score.

What Your AirSense 10 Records

The AirSense 10 AutoSet is one of the most data-rich CPAP machines in wide use. Every night, the card stores:

• Breath-by-breath airflow sampled at 25 times per second
• Mask pressure: the pressure actually delivered to your airway
• Therapy pressure: what the machine is targeting
• Leak rate: how well your mask is sealing (median, 95th percentile, and max)
• Respiratory rate: breaths per minute
• Tidal volume: air volume per breath
• Minute ventilation: total air moved per minute
• Flow limitation: subtle airway narrowing that does not always count as a scored event
• Every respiratory event: obstructive apneas, central apneas, hypopneas, and RERAs with exact timestamps and durations
• Cheyne-Stokes respiration: logged in a separate annotation file on the AutoSet, AutoSet For Her, and Elite

All of it is stored in EDF (European Data Format), the same data your sleep clinician sees in ResMed AirView.

myAir Shows You a Fraction of This

ResMed's myAir app deliberately reduces your night to a single score out of 100, built from:

• Usage hours (did you wear it?)
• Mask seal (was your leak acceptable?)
• Events per hour (your AHI)
• Mask on/off (how many times you took it off?)
• A proprietary weighting

That score hides the detail. You can reach a "perfect" 100 with an AHI of 4.9, which is under the line but well above what most well-treated patients see. The score will not tell you when events happened, what type they were, how your pressure moved, or how leak affected the readings. The SD card answers all of those.

Which AirSense 10 Do You Have?

This matters, because not every AirSense 10 writes the same detail. The family splits into three groups:

AutoSet, AutoSet For Her, and Elite. These record the full detailed picture: the high-resolution waveform, flow limitation, central-apnea and Cheyne-Stokes detection, and the complete event timeline. This guide is written for these models.

AirSense 10 CPAP (the fixed-pressure model). This runs at one set pressure and does not include the event-detection layer, so its card carries summary usage and settings but not the per-night session detail. If CPAP Clarity reads a card that only holds summary data, it tells you plainly, so you are never left guessing why the detail is missing.

Card-to-Cloud. This variant has no cellular link and no myAir, so the SD card is the only way to see your data on a computer. The good news: a Card-to-Cloud machine records exactly the same data as a regular AirSense 10 of the same model, so it reads in CPAP Clarity like any other card.

How to Access Your SD Card Data

Step 1: Locate the SD Card

On the AirSense 10, the card sits behind a small cover on the left side of the machine, the end opposite the humidifier water tub, when you face the screen. Power the machine off, lift the cover, and take the card out. It is a standard full-size SD card.

Step 2: Read the Card

Insert it into your computer using a built-in SD slot or a USB SD card reader (opens in new tab) (a few dollars). Your computer mounts it like any drive.

Step 3: Understand the File Structure

Your AirSense 10 card looks like this:

SD Card Root/
├── STR.edf          ← Daily summary database (about a year of nights)
├── Identification.tgt
├── DATALOG/
│   ├── 20260327/    ← One folder per date
│   │   ├── ..._BRP.edf  ← Breath data (high-res flow)
│   │   ├── ..._PLD.edf  ← Periodic data (pressure, leak, rate, volume)
│   │   ├── ..._EVE.edf  ← Respiratory events
│   │   └── ..._CSL.edf  ← Cheyne-Stokes annotations
│   └── 20260328/
│       └── ...
└── SETTINGS/

If you removed the mask during the night (a bathroom break, for example), that date folder will hold more than one session. An oximetry file also appears here when a compatible ResMed oximeter is attached. One naming note specific to the AirSense 10: its periodic channels are labeled "Mask Pres" and "Leak", where the AirSense 11 labels the same channels "MaskPress.2s" and "Leak.2s". The underlying readings are the same.

Step 4: Analyze the Data

The EDF files are binary, so a text editor will not open them. CPAP Clarity reads them directly in your browser: drag and drop the SD card folder and get instant results, with nothing uploaded to a server. Try it free.

The "Essentials Menu" Myth

A claim circulates in CPAP forums that the AirSense 10 only logs detailed data if you switch the clinical menu from "Essentials" to "Advanced." That is not true. Every AirSense 10 AutoSet writes the full detailed data to the card automatically, every night, with nothing to switch on. The Essentials setting controls how much of the patient menu you can see on the screen, not what the machine records. To see the detail, you just read the card.

Key AirSense 10 Data Points to Watch

Pressure Behavior

In AutoSet mode, the AirSense 10 adjusts pressure through the night. The pressure curve tells you:

• Flat, low pressure: your airway held steady on the prescribed minimum.
• Gradually rising pressure: the machine responded to more events, common as you reach deeper sleep.
• Frequent large swings: the machine may be chasing events driven by leak or position changes.
• Pressure sitting near the maximum: worth raising with your provider, who can decide whether the prescribed ceiling fits.

EPR (Expiratory Pressure Relief)

The AirSense 10 supports EPR levels 1 to 3, which ease the pressure when you breathe out. Your data shows the actual EPR pressure delivered breath by breath, so you can confirm the prescribed setting is what reaches you. If you see persistent flow limitation, that is a detail to bring to your provider rather than a setting to change on your own.

Flow Limitation

The AirSense 10 AutoSet records a flow-limitation index alongside the waveform. These are partial airway narrowings that often do not meet the bar for a scored apnea or hypopnea, so they never reach the myAir score, yet they can still fragment sleep. Our flow limitation guide covers how to read the index.

The STR.edf Summary File

This is the quiet workhorse. It holds a daily summary going back about a year: AHI, leak percentiles, pressure percentiles, respiratory rate, tidal volume, and the machine settings in force each day. It is where trend analysis gets useful, because one rough night is rarely the story.

A note on retention: the detailed per-night files (the breath-by-breath waveform) sit in a rolling window, so the oldest detailed nights eventually roll off the card to make room, while STR.edf keeps about a year of daily summaries. Import regularly so you do not lose the detailed nights you care about.

What Your AirSense 10 Data Reveals

The numbers are most useful as a conversation starter with your provider, not a self-diagnosis. A few anchors help you read them:

AHI. An AHI consistently under 5 is the range the American Academy of Sleep Medicine associates with well-controlled CPAP. To see where a specific number falls and what the bands mean, see what is AHI. If your treated AHI sits above 5 across several nights, that is worth a look at leak, pressure, and position with your provider.

Leak. ResMed flags a 95th-percentile leak above 24 L/min as a large leak, the point where the machine's other readings get less reliable. (Watch the 95th percentile, not the median, which usually sits near zero.) Our leak fix guide walks through mask-seal and headgear causes.

Pressure. What your prescribed range is doing night to night is the story the pressure settings guide helps you read.

Common Patterns Your AirSense 10 Data Will Show

REM-clustered events. Throat muscles relax more in REM sleep, so events tend to bunch into roughly 90-minute cycles. AutoSet handles this automatically; a fixed pressure was not titrated against it.

Position-dependent events. Apneas often cluster when you roll onto your back. Overlay an Apple Watch or Oura position read and you can see whether side-sleeping alone might lower your AHI.

Leak signatures. A mouth leak at higher pressure looks like a steady high-leak baseline lasting hours; a mask-shift leak looks like brief spikes when you move. The first is a mask-type or chin strap (opens in new tab) question, the second a fit-and-headgear one.

Central apneas after a pressure change. A sudden rise in central apneas (CA) after a prescription change is the signature of treatment-emergent central sleep apnea, worth mentioning to your provider.

AirSense 10 Supply Replacement: Let the Data Tell You When

The Medicare and ResMed replacement schedules are calendar ceilings, not personalized signals. Your data points to when a consumable is actually starting to fade.

Filters affect motor noise and airflow. A clogging filter shows up as gradually rising machine noise and, on AutoSet, as wider pressure variability (the machine working harder to hold the prescribed pressure). Monthly is the safe ceiling; replace sooner if you live somewhere dusty or have pets.

Water chamber affects humidity and biofilm risk. Mineral buildup that will not dissolve with a vinegar soak is the signal. ResMed recommends every 6 months on the AirSense 10 HumidAir chamber; tap-water users often need to replace sooner.

AirSense 10 supplies for data-driven replacement

Monthly Filter

AirSense 10 Disposable Filter (30-pack)

30-pack of disposable filters cut for the AirSense 10 (the AirSense 11 pack is a different geometry, so check the model). Monthly replacement gives almost three years per pack.

Compare on Amazon→

Humidifier Replacement

AirSense 10 HumidAir Water Chamber

Replacement HumidAir water chamber for the AirSense 10. Replace every 6 months, or sooner if mineral buildup will not dissolve with a vinegar soak.

Compare on Amazon→

For the full cross-machine timeline, see our CPAP supply replacement schedule.

AirSense 10 vs. AirSense 11

The two machines carry the same AutoSet therapy modes and record the same detailed data to the card, so your dashboard looks the same on either one. The differences are mostly on the outside:

Feature	AirSense 10	AirSense 11
Screen	LCD with a control dial	Touchscreen
Phone pairing	No (cellular myAir sync)	Yes (Bluetooth)
Periodic channel labels	"Mask Pres", "Leak"	"MaskPress.2s", "Leak.2s"
Detailed data	Full	Full
Data resolution	25 Hz waveform	25 Hz waveform

For a side-by-side decision guide, see AirSense 11 vs AirSense 10. If you are on the AirSense 11, its own walkthrough is here.

Making the Most of Your Data

1. Check weekly, not nightly. Night-to-night variation is normal; the weekly trend is the signal.
2. Look at leak first. Most rough nights trace back to mask seal.
3. Compare before and after changes. New mask, pillow, or setting? Import on both sides of the change.
4. Bring the data to appointments. A detailed report beats "I think I am sleeping better."
5. Do not obsess. An AHI of 3 versus 2 is not a meaningful difference.

For a metric-by-metric walkthrough, see how to read your CPAP data, or jump straight in with the CPAP Clarity quick start.

See what CPAP Clarity shows for AirSense 10 users.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the AirSense 10 record more data than myAir shows? Yes, by a wide margin. The myAir app shows a daily score, your usage hours, your AHI, leak status, and mask on/off events. The SD card carries the underlying breath-by-breath airflow, pressure, leak, flow limitation, every event with timestamps, and a full year of daily summaries in the STR.edf file. Reading the card is the only way to see when events happened, what they were, and how your night moved.

Where is the SD card slot on the AirSense 10? Behind a small cover on the left side of the machine, the end opposite the humidifier water tub, when you face the screen. Power the machine off, lift the cover, and take the card out. It is a standard full-size SD card.

Do I have to change a setting to get detailed logging? No. Every AirSense 10 AutoSet writes the full detailed data to the card automatically, every night. The widely repeated claim that you must change the "Essentials" clinical setting to unlock logging is not correct: that setting only controls how much of the patient menu shows on the screen, not what the machine records.

What about the fixed-pressure AirSense 10 CPAP model? The detailed view, with central-apnea, Cheyne-Stokes, and flow-limitation data, comes from the AutoSet, AutoSet For Her, and Elite. The basic fixed-pressure model labeled AirSense 10 CPAP runs at one set pressure and does not include that event-detection layer, so its card holds summary data only. CPAP Clarity tells you clearly when a card is summary-only, so the missing detail is never a mystery.

I have an AirSense 10 Card-to-Cloud. Where is my data? On the SD card. The Card-to-Cloud version has no cellular link and no myAir, so the card is the only way to see your data on a computer. It records the same data as a regular AirSense 10 of the same model, so it reads in CPAP Clarity like any other card.

What file format does the AirSense 10 use? EDF (European Data Format), a standard medical-data format. The files are binary, not readable in a text editor. CPAP Clarity parses them directly in your browser; the free desktop app OSCAR reads them too.

How often should I import my AirSense 10 data? Weekly is enough for trend awareness; nightly is overkill for most people. Import after any change (new mask, new pillow, new pressure setting) so you can compare before and after, and import before a sleep doctor appointment.

Primary Sources

• Patil SP, Ayappa IA, Caples SM, Kimoff RJ, Patel SR, Harrod CG. Treatment of Adult Obstructive Sleep Apnea with Positive Airway Pressure: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Clinical Practice Guideline. J Clin Sleep Med. 2019 Feb 15;15(2):335-343. The current AASM guideline on when CPAP, APAP, and BiPAP are appropriate for adults with OSA. PubMed 30736887 (opens in new tab)
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. CPAP (NHLBI patient education page). Plain-language overview of how CPAP works and the side effects to expect. nhlbi.nih.gov CPAP (opens in new tab)

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