Summary

For several years, Android has been able to easily install files and applications on a microSD card.It is particularly practical on devices with little storage, or for gourmet games.Do you want to know how to copy or move a file or an application to an SD card on your smartphone?Here is a full tutorial to understand everything.

On Android, it is possible to transfer a file or an application to an SD card - provided that your smartphone has a location dedicated to the microSD.This is one of the easiest ways to release internet storage space on smartphone.In this article, we will see together the procedure to follow.

Even if fundamentally the principle remains the same, we will detail here first the procedure to follow for the transfer of files (photos, videos, music, etc.), before tackling that of applications that require some additional precautions.

Copy or move a file to the SD card

The easiest way to move a photo or video (for example) from the internal memory of your smartphone to the microSD is still to go through a file manager.To do this, you can use the one natively offered on your device or choose one from our selection of the best file managers on Android.

How to transfer a file to the microSD?

Step 1: Open your explorer and go to the internal storage space to find the folder containing the file of your choice.Some managers offer shortcuts by theme to quickly access either photos, or only to music, or only to PDF documents, etc..

Step 2: Stay pressing the file you want to move until the context menu is triggered: the chosen item will then be checked by a small "V" (you can select several files during this process).Then press the three -point icon located generally at the top right of the screen (but this may vary depending on the application used).

Step 3: In the menu that opens in front of you, select the Move or Copy tab (depending on what you want to do) before pressing SD card and select the folder in which you want to store it.Tap OK or finish to finalize the operation.

Move an application on the SD card

Now let's go to the second part of this tutorial.The management of microSD cards has evolved a lot over the years on Android.From Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Google has integrated a function called "Adoptable Storage" which in a way allows you to virtually merge the internal storage of a device with the additional space offered by a microSD.The goal ?Easily increase the storage space of an Android device, while guaranteeing transparent operation for applications that cannot make the difference between internal and external storage.

The advantage of this establishment is that you can choose the destination when moving files.Thus, important applications such as those related to your bank account, for example, can remain on internal memory, while other applications such as Waze can be tilted on external memory.

Prerequisite

To follow this guide, you need a smartphone under Android 6.0 marshmallow minimum, and a good microSD card.Note that some manufacturers, such as Samsung, deactivate adoptable storage.

Precautions

Before going further, you should know that Android will completely erase the contents on the card, so make sure to make a backup.Also note that adoptable storage virtually merges the internal space of the smartphone and the storage available on the microSD.This means that the memory card will lose its removable storage status: if you remove it from the phone, certain system functions and applications will stop working, and the card will not be readable anyway on another device.

It is always possible to format the card again so that it becomes a simple external storage space, but this will again erase the data saved on it.

Initialize the microSD card to store applications

If you have just bought a micro SD card, then just be a guide by the Android initialization process by pressing the micro SD card in the notification bar.

During the process, choose the phone storage, to install applications or transfer files as if it were the internal storage of the phone.You must then choose to format the card, which should not be problematic here since it is a new card, before you can move content there.

How to transfer an application to the microSD?

Step 1: Insert the memory card into the slot provided for this purpose while keeping in mind that the data of the card will be lost during formatting.So remember to make a possible backup of the content before inserting it into the device.

Étape 2 : rendez-vous ensuite dans Paramètres > Stockage, où votre carte devrait maintenant apparaître.Click on its wording to enter the integrated file manager, then click on the three small points (representing the context menu) located at the top right, and finally on storage settings.

Step 3: Among the proposed options, the one that interests us is called "Format as internal memory".All you have to do is press the only red button: erase and format.

Step 4: The process can be more or less long depending on the category of your microSD card, and an error message can be displayed if the card is not fast enough.

Once the process is finished, a page offers you to move all your data to the microSD card.Note that this will only transfer media data: photos and videos.Applications downloaded before merger will not be placed on the microSD card.Only those installed after will be.You can make the choice to move the data later, which will leave you the freedom to move exactly what you want, manually.

Step 5 (optional): From now on, all downloaded applications will go on the default memory card.You can nevertheless replace them on the internal memory if you want. Pour ce faire, rendez-vous dans Paramètres > Applications et notifications > Infos sur les applis et choisissez celle que vous voulez rétablir sur la mémoire interne.Locate the storage submenu.

Choose to modify the storage space used to open a pop-up that will allow you to move the application to the internal memory of the phone.

Go back

If you want to do the reverse manipulation, nothing could be simpler.On the other hand, be aware that the card will be reformized and that all your data will be lost.

The procedure is as follows:

Rendez-vous de nouveau dans Paramètres > Stockage et cliquez sur le nom de la carte microSD.Go get the parameters that are accessible by clicking on the three small points at the top right and select Format as external memory.You don't have-once the necessary backups have been made-only to press the red button that will reformat your card so that it appears as an external memory.

What you must remember

Before leaving, let's make a final reminder of the important steps to follow to transfer a file or an application to the SD card.

How to move or copy a file on the microSD?

How to move an application on the microSD?

To follow us, we invite you to download our Android and iOS application.You can read our articles, files, and watch our latest YouTube videos.