How to transfer applications from internal memory to SD card in Android. Android: An easy way to link an external SD card and internal memory to free up space

The built-in memory of an Android device often runs out quickly, so users have to store large amounts of information on microSD. But what to do if Android does not save downloaded content to the memory card - applications, photos, music, and other files?

This article is suitable for all brands that produce phones on Android 9/8/7/6: Samsung, HTC, Lenovo, LG, Sony, ZTE, Huawei, Meizu, Fly, Alcatel, Xiaomi, Nokia and others. We are not responsible for your actions.

Problems with the memory card

First of all, you need to make sure that the memory card is working and ready to accept files. What to do:

The memory card may be incompatible with the smartphone - for example, it may exceed the capacity allowed for a particular phone model. If the flash drive is larger than a certain size of gigabytes (32, 64, 128, etc.), then it simply does not recognize it, because not programmed for such volume. In this case, the only way out is to use another microSD storage device with a smaller capacity.

If no card is detected, it makes sense to contact the service center. There may be hardware problems with the phone that prevent it from working with external drives.

Wrong folder in browser

If problems with saving occur while downloading files in the browser, you should check the destination folder. It may be specified incorrectly, which is why the browser does not understand how to save photos, music, videos and other content. Let's look at the example of UC Browser:

  1. Open the "Downloads" section in the main menu.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. In the "Download Path" field, specify the folder on the memory card.
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After such a short setup, files in the browser will be downloaded only to the specified directory on the card, without filling up the internal memory.

Files cannot be transferred to a memory card

This most often applies to built-in Android applications. In the phone they can only be stored on the internal storage, otherwise the smartphone will not work. At the same time, any application from a third-party developer can be moved to the microSD.

  1. Open Android settings, go to the “Applications” section.
  2. Find the program you want to transfer to the memory card along with all the files.
  3. Click "Move to SD".
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If the button is inactive, then the application cannot be moved. If it says “Move to phone” instead of “Move to SD,” this means that the program files are already stored on the memory card.

The settings for transferring files to the memory card have gone wrong

In Android settings, you can manually specify which memory is used by default - internal or external. Depending on the selected value, files will be downloaded to your phone or microSD card. After updating the system, the settings may be lost, so it’s worth checking them.

Not every model or manufacturer has such a setting. Check it out for yourself.

  1. Open Android settings.
  2. Go to the "Memory" section.
  3. In the "Installation location" or "Default memory" field, select "SD".
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When there is no setting

If it is not possible to set the default location for saving files, then the applications themselves will come to the rescue. In the same Samsung Internet browser, it is possible to set the storage location:


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Look in your application where you are going to save files from, whether it is possible to select a save location in the settings. If this is not the case, you will have to manually move files from the internal memory to the microSD card.

Starting with version Android 6.0, it became possible to use a flash card as internal storage device data. Now the device, after certain actions, can use the memory available on the SD as freely as the internal one. The article will tell you how to connect an SD card in this quality and what restrictions are imposed on it.

How to connect a flash drive as internal memory

Before connecting the drive, you must transfer from it all important information. During the setup process, it will be completely cleared and the data will not be returned.

First of all, you need to go to Settings, and then go to the section " Storage and drive", where you should click on the SD card.

Next you need to select “ Tune" and click " Inner memory" Immediately after this, the device will warn the user that all information will be deleted and it will become impossible to read it on other devices without full formatting.

Here you need to select the item “ Clear and Format" and wait for the memory clearing process to complete. You may then receive a message indicating that the media is running slowly. As a rule, this means that the flash drive used is not of very good quality and its use as device storage may also affect the performance of the smartphone itself. For good and fast work recommended to use UHS Speed ​​Class 3 (U3) drives.

After formatting is completed, the smartphone will ask you to transfer information, you should agree with this and wait until the work is completed. After the transfer, the work of turning the flash drive into internal memory will be almost complete, all that remains is to reboot the device.

Features and limitations of using an SD card

There are a few things to be aware of before you start using a flash drive in this way.

  1. After conversion, all data, except for some applications and system updates, will be placed on the SD drive.
  2. When connected to a computer, only this part of the memory will be available for interaction.

In fact, all actions are performed only with a flash drive, the real internal storage of the phone not available for interaction and is practically not used at all. Firstly, this means that when you remove the drive, almost all your data, photos and applications will be lost. Secondly, if the volume of the flash drive is less than the actual storage capacity of the smartphone, then the amount of available memory will decrease, not increase.

Format the card using ADB for use as internal storage

The function is not available on some devices, but it is possible to connect a flash drive as storage in another way. However, it is worth noting that this method is very labor-intensive and can cause damage to the device Therefore, if you are not confident in your abilities, then it is better not to do this on your own.

To use this method, you will need to perform many steps. You need to download from the site and install Android SDK, then download and install from the official website device drivers, and also, you need to enable “ debug modeUSB» on the device.

  • adb shell
  • sm list-disks (after execution, an id will be issued in the form disk:ХХХ,ХХ should be written down and entered in the next line)
  • sm partition disk:ХХХ,ХХ private

Then you will need turn off the phone, go to settings and click on sd, select menu and click “ Transfer data" That's it, the actions are finished.

How to set a memory card to standard mode

To return the flash drive to standard mode, you just need to go to its settings, as in the first option, and select “ Portable media" Before doing this, all important information should be transferred to another location, because the drive will be formatted in the process.

If your device has a small amount of internal memory and you are constantly faced with the need to delete applications, photos and videos to free up more space for installing large applications, then you need to read this article.

In this article, we will explain in detail how to install or move Android apps to an SD card on a smartphone or tablet and how to get apps installed on an Android memory card.

How to transfer apps to SD card?

Currently, there are two ways to solve this problem:

  • Storing photos, videos and music in cloud storage
  • Using a microSD memory card

If your Android phone or tablet allows you to install an SD card, then be sure to install an SD card. In this case, the external memory will be intended for storing photos, videos and music, and the internal memory will be for applications.

However, there are situations when the owner needs applications to be saved to the SD memory card. So the question arises, how to install or transfer any suitable application to a microSD card?

So, below we will describe in detail how to make applications installed on the Android memory card by default. As a result of such manipulations, the internal memory will be significantly freed up, which will have a positive effect on the operation of the Android system.

Instructions for devices up to Android 6.0

The instructions below may vary slightly from phone to phone. On some phones there may just be a button "Move to SD". So you need to pay attention to every word associated with "Move", "SD" etc.

If your device needs to free up internal storage, move any number of apps, photos, or videos to the SD card. Also, open the app "Camera" and go to settings and set save to SD card. Instructions on how to move apps to Android memory card:

  • First, open the notification shade and click on the gear-shaped settings button. You can also login "Settings" through the application panel.
  • Open the tab "Device", go to the tab "Applications", and then "Application Manager". On some devices "Application Manager" has a name "All applications".
  • Then go to your apps list, find the app you want to move. We will be moving the APL app to the SD card.
  • Once you find the application, click on it, then click on the button "Change" as shown below. Select “Memory card” (Click on the picture to enlarge).

It is worth noting that any game or application in which speed is important is best left on the internal memory, since the data transfer speed is much faster on the internal memory of the smartphone than on an SD memory card.

Instructions for devices version Android Marshmallow 6.0 and higher

In older versions of Android, the SD memory card worked as portable and removable storage. On devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow and higher, a feature called Adoptable Storage has been added. So, when you insert an SD card into the device, the system will automatically sum up the internal memory and SD memory card capacity and display the total memory.

The advantage is that all applications are automatically installed on the SD card. As a result, there will be no need to move applications manually.

  • Insert the SD card, open the notification shade and tap "Tune". You can use the SD card as portable storage or as internal storage. If you select the function, the system will format the SD card and then integrate with the device.
  • After this, all data on the smartphone will be installed on the memory card by default.

However, using such a feature will completely integrate the SD card with the internal memory and will now not work with other devices. This means you can't just pull it out and plug it into your computer to download music, photos, or videos from your computer.

Be sure to back up any data or information on your computer before selecting a feature "Use as internal storage", since Android will completely format the SD memory card.

It's worth noting that at any time, you can go to settings according to our instructions above and move apps from the SD card back to the internal storage.

Android 5.0 Lollipop and higher

If you are using a smartphone or tablet running Android 5.0 Lollipop or higher. Your device will use the SD memory card as portable and removable storage. This means you can remove the SD memory card and download photos or music from your computer, and then install the SD memory card back into your Android device.

In the event that you need to move applications to an SD memory card, use the instructions below:

  • Open the menu, select "Settings", and then "Applications" and move any app to SD card. To do this, simply click on the application and click on the button "Move to SD card".

However, remember that applications that come with pre-installed software cannot be transferred to the SD memory card. Typically, applications installed from the Play Market can be transferred.

Other methods (apps to transfer to SD memory card)

There are many third-party applications in the Play Market that allow you to transfer applications to an SD memory card. Most of the applications, of course, require root access. But, there are several applications that allow you to transfer applications without root access.

AppMgr III (App 2 SD)

The most popular application that allows you to transfer almost any application to an SD memory card. It is worth noting that the application does not require root access, which is especially important for inexperienced users.

Moreover, AppMgr III is feature-rich and provides many other useful features.

  • Download the AppMgr III application, wait for the automatic installation (takes 2 to 5 minutes).
  • Now open the AppMgr III application and wait for the list of installed applications on your phone to load. After that, click on the application that you want to move, select "Move", and then in standard Android functionality, move the application to the SD card.

Turning on a SD memory card is not difficult on any Android tablet or phone, more precisely on a Lenovo, Nokia, LG and so on smartphone, but here I will focus on Samsung j1, j2, a5, j3, duos, and if there are pictures, they will be used with samsung galaxy a3.

When turning on, check whether it is inserted correctly. Make sure your phone supports the type (eg MicroSD - etc.)

Make sure that the smartphone supports, for example, 8 GB, 16 GB or 32 GB, otherwise it will not be able to “catch” it.

If you have Android 6.0, then compared to previous versions it has undergone significant changes in the use of maps.

Unfortunately, Google hasn't explained these changes to users, and they aren't as simple or straightforward as they seem.

When Android 6.0 detects the card format, it suggests using it as memory, which changes practically nothing from previous versions.

Here we lose the ability to move apps to the memory card (this option was only reserved for marshmallow cards formatted as internal memory).

Of course, after you get root rights, a lot can be changed, but doing this in Android 6.0 is not easy.

If the SD is used as internal memory, this leads to loss of access to the built-in memory and the ability to store only programs and their data on it (again, if you have root rights, you can bypass this) and the SD becomes invisible in other devices (because it is encrypted) .

I hope this short description will help you decide what to do with your memory card in Android 6.0.

Saving files in Samsung directly to a memory card

Judging by the questions in Samsung, there really is a problem with saving files directly to a memory card via Bluetooth and downloading applications.


In this case, we try to do the following. Go to Settings, go to Memory and select Default Memory. Then we indicate where to save. Ready!

If your Android smartphone does not have such options, then without root rights it will be difficult to transfer files, and it is impossible to get them in stock firmware (on Android 6).

Also, it may be impossible to transfer already installed applications to the SD card if the developer did not foresee such a situation.


You can solve this problem with Root rights and installing the Link2SD application. Only if you want, get the license yourself.

I don’t want to describe how, because it doesn’t always end successfully. Yes, I didn’t fully answer the question “how to enable a memory card on a Samsung phone,” but this is only because there is no built-in method, especially in new versions of Android. Good luck.

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