How to move apps to SD card on Android

In this guide, you’ll learn how to move apps to SD card, so that you can free up storage and get the very most from your Android device.

These days, owning a phone with paltry 8GB or 16GB of internal storage is a serious limitation. It’s only a matter of time before you’ll find yourself rooting around for apps to delete so that you can make space for your photographs; especially as photos and videos continue to grow drastically in size. It’s not uncommon these days to find apps and games that take up 3GB or more!

The good news is that if your device comes with expandable storage, you’ll be able to move apps to SD card and effectively give yourself a gigantic boost for only the cost of a micro-SD card.

How to move apps to an SD card on Android

The good news is that it’s actually very simple to move apps to SD card on Android.

First, look for the list of all installed apps in your settings menu. On a Samsung device or Android Marshmallow, go to Settings > Apps and then tap the app that you want to move to external storage. On stock Android, Android Nougat, or Android Pie, go to Settings > Apps and Notifications > App Info.

This will open up a separate page for that app, and here you’ll see “Storage Used” near the top. This might read “device memory.” Now click the button underneath that says “Change.” Select the destination and then hit “Move.” Wait a moment, and your app will move, it’s that simple!

This process is reversible, so if you should decide you want the app back on your internal storage, you can move it again at any time.

If you find that you’re unable to move apps to SD card, the option simply won’t be available. Unfortunately, there is no quick list to see which apps can be moved to SD cards, so you’ll need to check each one manually. Typically, bloatware and pre-installed apps cannot be moved to an SD card.

While the process varies slightly from one OEM skin to another, the general steps when moving apps from internal storage are generally pretty similar. Unfortunately, Huawei and Honor devices are an exception, and don’t provide the option to move apps on a case-by-case basis. You’ll be able to change the default storage location for apps however.

To do this, go to Settings > Memory and Storage > Default Location and choose “SD card.” The phone will reboot and from there, apps will be kept on external storage.


Use SD card as internal storage

Another option that is now baked into Android (since Android Marshmallow) is to tell Android to treat your SD card as internal storage. This is called “Adoptable Storage.”

To do this, select Storage from your settings and then choose the SD card. Now select Storage Settings and select Format as Internal. As the name suggests, this will erase all data on your card so make sure it’s backed up! In Android Pie, you’ll be given the choice to move your content – including apps and media – to your newly formatted card.

Keep in mind however that once again, not all OEMs support adoptable storage.

So, that’s how you go about moving your apps to SD card on Android. It’s a simple process, though there are one or two annoying limitations baked in depending on the phone you own.


Source: Android Authority