How to move apps to SD card on Android devices

Move apps to SD card easily on any Android version to free up valuable storage space. Here's how to move apps to SD card on Android .

If your phone has a memory card slot, you can easily fix the problem of not having enough space to install apps or save new games, photos, videos, etc. Using a microSD card is a simple way to expand your phone's storage space. You can move apps to SD card, instead of deleting them from your Android device.

How to do this depends on the Android version you are using. Here's how to move Android apps to SD card .

How to use SD card as internal memory

Android 6 (Marshmallow) introduced changes in the way Android phones handle memory cards. They continue to apply to Android 12 and above.

You can now set up your microSD card as an internal storage drive. Instead of having two separate internal and external storage spaces, Android sees this card as an extension of the available space.

Data and applications can write to either memory as needed, and it all happens seamlessly. As a result, you don't need to worry about where the application is stored.

You must set it up first. The card will be erased during this process, so make sure you back up any necessary data.

1. Insert the card into the phone. When the New SD Card notification appears, tap Set Up .
2. Next, you need to choose how your phone will use this card.
   1. Select Phone Storage on Android 9 to Android 12, or use Use as Internal Storage on older versions.
   2. Alternatively, go to Settings > Storage , select the card, tap the menu button and select Storage Settings . Tap Format as internal .
3. On the next screen, tap Format SD Card or Erase & Format . This action will remove the tag.
4. On Android 9 and above, you have the opportunity to move content - including apps to the memory card. It also shows you the amount of space saved. Click Move content to complete the process.

This feature is called Adoptable Storage, it requires you to keep the memory card permanently in the phone. You cannot swap cards. It is also encrypted so it cannot be inserted into another device to copy data.

The biggest disadvantage of Adoptable Storage is that it is different on all Android phones, so some manufacturers do not offer this service on their devices. If you don't have one, check to see if your phone allows you to move apps to the SD card.

How to move apps to SD card on Android 9 and above

You can still move this app to your SD card on Android 9 or later, even if your phone doesn't support adoptable storage. This also requires the manufacturer to implement this feature. Just remember that you can't do it for every app and not all for pre-installed apps.

1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > App info .
2. Find the app you want to move in this list and tap it.
3. Select Storage . If the app supports moving to a tab, you will see a button here named Change. Touch it.
4. Select SD Card in Change storage . This action opens a confirmation screen. Tap Move to get started.

To move the application back to the internal storage drive, repeat the above steps but select Internal shared storage in the last step. You can always do this when you want to change or delete the memory card.

Above is how to move apps to SD card on the latest Android. Hope the article is useful to you.