Moving Files and Apps to SD Card on Android

The storage of our smartphones is not unlimited and it is easy to quickly reach the limit of our device between applications, games, photos, videos and other files. Fortunately, it is possible to expand this memory with an SD card to circumvent this limitation. Of course, for this your mobile phone must have a slot for microSD. More and more manufacturers are removing this feature, and only Samsung sticks to it in the high-end segment.

In this tutorial, we explain a few manipulations. Please note that there are multiple Android versions and multiple manufacturer locations. So the steps may vary more or less depending on your device model and the update installed. In our case, we performed the operation on a smartphone (Android Stock) running Android 10 without a skin. Screenshots are taken from such an interface.

How to choose SD card?

We will not dwell too much on these questions in this file, whose primary purpose is to help you use an SD card. But if you’re interested in the topic, we refer you to our other two articles:

• SD card (capacity and speed) for smartphone: how to choose well?
• The best micro SD, SDHC and SDXC cards buying guide for smartphones

With these resources, you will be able to choose the SD card that best suits your situation. Only one form of memory expansion is supported on smartphones today: microSD. Depending on the model, these cards offer transfer speed and storage capacity, which can vary widely. It is not always necessary to buy the most powerful microSD card, your smartphone may not support all its features. Learn about your device before investing. For example, most mobile phones only handle SD cards up to 512GB, although there are models that go up to 1TB and more rarely 2TB.

Which apps should I move to my microSD card?

In general, the smartphone accesses the content stored in its internal memory more easily than the microSD card. so one faster task execution. Therefore, it is recommended to store files there that your mobile phone can easily process, such as photos or videos. Then switch to apps you don’t use often or that aren’t resource-intensive. Try to keep your favorite apps as well as games that need the best performance to run properly in the internal memory.

Note: pre-installed apps on smartphone Mostly it cannot be moved to microSD card unless you root Android. This is especially true for those who are considered part of the system. Also, they cannot be deleted. Some phone models sometimes come pre-installed with popular apps like Facebook or Netflix. In this case, it should be possible to transfer them to external memory.

Transfer Files and Apps to SD Card

We’re getting into the hot topic. When your SD card is properly inserted in the smartphone, you will find that there are two storage spaces for the device: the basic internal memory and the memory supplied by the separately managed microSD card.

Procedure to move an app from first mentioned to second:

• Go to settings.
• Select “Apps & notifications”.
• Select “Application Info”.
• Tap the app you want to transfer.
• Enter “Storage and Cache”.
• If the app can be moved, there is a “Change” button. Press.
• Choose SD card instead of internal memory.

Of course, vice versa works just as well to revert an app from SD card to internal memory.

Another method is applied to move files (PDF, APK, photos, videos, etc.):

• In the file explorer, select the files you want to save to the SD card. Keep pressing the first one to select, then a short press on the others is all it takes.
• Tap the three vertical dots in the top right to open the menu.
• Select “Copy…” to have the files in both internal memory and SD card, or “Move…” (Cut) to delete from internal memory and save to SD card only.
• Find your SD card in explorer, create a folder or select existing one and verify.

Again this technique allows you to reverse move files from SD card to internal memory.

Combine internal memory and SD card storage

To avoid worrying about choosing what goes where in the smartphone between the internal memory and the microSD card, it is possible to combine these two elements (almost) at the software level to create one massive storage. It is practical, but manipulation is not recommended if you need to regularly remove the microSD card from the smartphone to transfer files or others, as you no longer really have control over what is saved on the card or not. If you do not intend to remove it from the mobile phone at all and consider it a real extension of internal memory, then the following lines are for you.

Note that after this manipulation system options can be saved on the SD card. If you remove it from the mobile, it may no longer work properly. The SD card cannot be used on another device, even for file transfer, as the data is encrypted (security measure) (formatting will still be possible, it is not intended to stay connected to the smartphone forever). Finally, all data saved on the SD card before the merge will be lost.

Now that you’ve thought of everything, we can detail the process for those still interested:

• Insert the microSD card into the smartphone.
• A notification will appear (if not, format the card and try again), press it to start the configuration.
• The system asks you how to use this media: additional storage for the phone or external storage. Choose the first solution.
• A warning message appears, prompting you to format the card. Verify.
• It is recommended to move the content to the SD card. How long the process will take and the estimated space to be freed are specified. It is possible to postpone this step until later.

This feature, called Adoptable Storage, is unfortunately not available on all Android smartphones, or even updated smartphones, as some manufacturers choose not to offer it in their skins.