Sooner or later, every user of Android devices is faced with a situation where the internal memory of the device is about to run out. When you try to update existing applications or install new applications, a notification pops up in the Play Market stating that there is not enough free space; to complete the operation, you need to delete media files or some applications.
Most applications are installed by default in internal memory. But it all depends on what installation location the program developer specified. It also determines whether it will be possible to transfer application data to an external memory card in the future or not.
Not all applications can be transferred to a memory card. Those that were preinstalled and are system applications cannot be moved, at least if you do not have root rights. But most downloaded applications tolerate the “move” well.
Before you start transferring, make sure there is enough free space on your memory card. If you remove the memory card, the applications that were transferred to it will not work. Also, you should not expect that applications will work in another device, even if you insert the same memory card into it.
It is worth remembering that programs are not completely transferred to the memory card; some of them remain in the internal memory. But the bulk is moved, freeing up the necessary megabytes. The size of the portable part of the application is different in each case.
Method 1: AppMgr III
The free AppMgr III (App 2 SD) application has proven itself as best tool to move and delete programs. The application itself can also be moved to the card. It's very easy to master. There are only three tabs displayed on the screen: "Relocatable", "On the SD card", "On the phone".
After downloading, do the following:
Another useful feature is automatic application cache clearing. This technique also helps free up space. 
Method 2: FolderMount
FolderMount is a program designed to completely transfer applications along with the cache. To work with it you will need ROOT rights. If you have them, you can even work with system applications, so you need to select folders very carefully.
To use the application, follow these instructions:
Method 3: Move to SDCard
The easiest way is to use the Move to SDCard program. It is very easy to use and takes up only 2.68 MB. The app icon on your phone may be called "Delete".
Using the program looks like this:
Method 4: Standard means
In addition to all of the above, try to transfer using the built-in tools of the operating system. This feature is only available for devices with Android version 2.2 and higher installed. In this case, you need to do the following:
But what to do if the Android version is lower than 2.2 or the developer did not provide the ability to move? In such cases, third-party software, which we talked about earlier, can help.
Using the instructions in this article, you can easily move apps to and from your storage card. And having ROOT rights provides even more opportunities.
The internal memory on smartphones is not endless, and photos, videos, documents and applications take up quite a lot of space. This is why most devices have an SD card slot - this allows you to significantly expand your memory reserves.
And yet, users are faced with the following problem: the phone has external storage installed, but all applications are automatically downloaded to the internal memory. Because of this, a notification constantly appears that there is not enough space. On Android, this problem can be solved in several ways.
How to download games and applications to an SD memory card
There are several ways to use an external card to download applications and games to it. So, you can set the SD card as the default memory, move applications using standard settings or memory consolidation.
Setting the default external SD drive
You can set the SD card as the default memory, and then the smartphone will determine it as a priority for storing data.
To do this:
Some applications will still be saved in the internal memory, this is determined by their settings.
Using Settings to Move Apps
Unfortunately, in the settings there is no option to select automatic installation of applications on external media. But you can manually move some of them (not all applications support such a transfer).
To do this:
There is another option: you can transfer applications not separately, but all together. To do this:
Combining internal and external memory
This method is available for smartphones with Android version 6.0 and higher installed.
Video: how to set up downloading games and applications to an SD card
Video: Moving games to an external drive using Apps2SD
Using an SD card and the methods described will help significantly relieve the internal memory of your smartphone. They are quite simple, so any user can handle them, even if he is not very well versed in technology.
Memory has one property: it is never enough. The smartphone you just bought delighted you with countless gigabytes inside: but now it’s cramped, like in a trolleybus at rush hour.
And sticking out outside, all so restless, is a Micro SD card that you just can’t manage to fill!
It's a tempting idea to move applications from internal memory to the card! True, its implementation sometimes requires a subtle approach. Let's consider this.
Transferring applications to a memory card using standard methods
Let us note right away: this feature is not present in all versions of Android. It first appeared in version 2.2 of Froyo. And in 4.4 KitKat, the developers blocked the installation of applications on the memory card altogether. Therefore, everything written in this section will be useful only to owners of smartphones with Android no lower than 2.2 and no higher than 4.3.
Can any program or game be transferred to a Micro SD card? No, it all depends on whether the developer has provided for this possibility. To transfer an application to a card, first make sure that there is enough free space on it.
Go to the “Settings” menu, open the “Applications” section. Tap on the application you would like to transfer. The settings will show which partition it is installed in. If it is installed in the main memory and, you can transfer it with one tap.
This method certainly works. But looking at each application separately is quite tedious.
Convenient means of transferring applications to a memory card
Fortunately, there are alternative means of transfer. Let's consider the most relevant one now - the FolderMount program. With its help, you can even transfer applications to the card that cannot be transferred in the normal way.
- Make sure your smartphone is rooted. Instructions.
- Install FolderMount and give it root access when it asks.
- Look in the Application Analyzer for a list of all applications that can be migrated.
- When FolderMount prompts you to create a pair (a folder on the memory card corresponding to a folder in the main memory), agree.
- Proceed with the transfer, which may take for a long time, depending on the folder size.
- When the transfer is complete, click on the needle icon next to the transferred folder. Wait until it turns green. That's it, the folder on the memory card is mounted to the main disk.
The strength of this application is that it works on Android versions up to 5.0, where standard porting is no longer provided.
However, to fully use the program you will have to use the paid version, which costs the equivalent of $1.
On the other hand, is it really expensive to fully expand the memory of your smartphone?
Some tricks to free up main memory
- The phone constantly strives to transfer applications to the internal card of a limited size, ignoring the external one, which is much larger? In most cases, internal memory can be repartitioned. Then almost all of the drive’s memory will be allocated to the system partition, the remainder internal map can be made hidden, and the system will have no choice: applications will be installed on an external Micro SD. To repartition memory, there are special utilities that must be selected based on the smartphone model and chipset. Their review is a topic for a separate article.
- Do games weigh many hundreds of megabytes, or even gigabytes? Fortunately, it is customary to store media data in a so-called cache, which can often be downloaded separately and placed in the Android folder on the card. The main application file will still have to be installed in main memory. But it doesn’t matter: the cache from the card is perfectly readable.
- Buy cards of at least grade 10. Yes, they are noticeably more expensive than budget class 4, but the data reading speed is incomparably higher. This way you won’t swear at your phone because of the unbearable slowdown.
- Don't want to deal with all of the above? Then buy a phone without a memory card at all. These are, in particular, all Nexus models, some popular flagships from Samsung and LG, Xiaomi and Meizu. However, to expand the memory, you will have to buy an OTG flash drive with a Micro USB plug. It can only be used to work with video, music and other data, but not with applications. And it will cost more than an SD card of the same capacity. But all your programs and games will fit in the main section.
The current variety of games and applications that can be found on Google Play sometimes it’s just amazing. It happens that you find a great application, start downloading it and realize that the system memory is enough for a maximum of 2-3 of them applications. In addition, most applications, when installed, do not have the ability to subsequently transfer them to an SD card.
For example, device Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 has only 190 MB of system memory, of which 110 is occupied by the Android platform itself and a number of system applications. Based on this, you have no more than 70 - 80 MB at your disposal, which forces you to constantly sacrifice one application in favor of another or, in general, does not give you the opportunity to download it.
After reading this article, you will get a solution to your memory problem, as you will learn how to transfer any applications (even system ones) to an external card.
Preliminary information
Before moving on to instructions, please read the text below carefully.
You can move some applications to a flash drive right now. To do this, go to settings, click on “Applications” and then “Manage applications” and after finding the software that you want to move to the flash drive, open it. If it is possible to transfer it to an SD card, the “To SD memory card” button will be active. As you will see in the picture below, the application that I selected does not have the ability to be transferred to a flash drive.
Using this application as an example, we will demonstrate how you can move transfer-protected software.
Next stage. To use the method that we will talk about next, you will need root rights. You can find out how to get them by clicking on the link - click.
The instructions themselves
In order for this method to be implemented, we need to download free application, which is located on PlayMarket, follow this link - click or go to playmarket from your gadget and enter in the application search: Link2SD.
- Download and install the software on your gadget
When you find the required application in the market, click download and wait until the download is completed. Then, wait a little longer while the application is installed. Due to the fact that the download occurs from the market, there will be no failures, and the application itself will not infect your phone with viruses.
It is worth noting that it works on devices with systems 2.0 and higher. Install and launch the Link2SD application.
- We find the application we want to transfer
At the beginning of the article, the MarketHelper application was demonstrated, which did not want to be transferred to a flash drive. Now I will find it on my gadget using the Link2SD application and demonstrate with its example how the transfer is carried out.
1) Find the application:
2) Click on its name
3) What do we see?
We are watching brief description file that describes its name, size and location. And two buttons - “Move to SD card” and “Actions”.
With the first button, I think that everything is clear and we will talk about it a little further. As for the “Actions” button, a list of several options opens here:
You can launch, reinstall, or do other actions shown in the picture above.
4) Transfer the application to an external memory card
In order for the transfer to occur, press the “Transfer to SD card” button, then “OK”.
This is where we need super user rights. We provide them to the application by clicking “Allow” and wait for the software to be transferred to the flash drive. If the software transfer is successful, you will receive the following message:
As you can see from the picture below, the application is now located on the flash card:
WARNING
With this application you can transfer any software to a flash card, this makes your flash drive an integral part of the device, because it will now be used as the gadget’s system memory. Therefore, the transfer of any system application is carried out at your own peril and risk, because flash drives tend to fail!
When you connect the device to a computer, your gadget will not detect flash drives (this is the norm), therefore, all system applications located on the flash card will disappear while using USB.
And lastly, not all applications are suitable for transferring to a flash drive. This rule is absolute for software that contains widgets. When you transfer an application that has widgets to a flash drive, it will work, but using widgets becomes impossible.
Many smartphone owners regularly experience low memory. Installing a memory card can partially solve this problem. Then all that remains is to transfer all the programs to it, after which the device will stop complaining that it does not have enough space to perform certain operations. But this is not as easy to do as it seems.
The Android operating system, as we have written more than once, is famous for its openness. Many people think that there are no restrictions at all. But in reality this is not the case. The mobile operating system created by Google does not really like memory cards. It easily allows you to post videos and photos on them. There are already certain problems with music. And sometimes installing applications on an SD card is not allowed at all. Sometimes such a strict restriction is imposed by the smartphone manufacturer, while in other cases the developers of a particular program do not allow this.
All these problems are caused by the fact that memory cards used to be too slow. Compared to built-in memory, they were hopelessly inferior. And the smartphone manufacturer wants the buyer to have the best experience. If applications with games take too long to open, the user will blame the manufacturer, and not the previously installed memory card. None of large companies this is not necessary. Fortunately, now the situation is changing, as the creators of smartphones are changing their attitude towards microSD.
Migrating an application using built-in tools
If you are thinking about how to transfer applications to an Android memory card, then we hasten to provide you with the answer to this question. Follow these steps:
Step 1. Go to the section " Settings».
Step 2. Select " Applications».
Step 3. Click on the program or game you want to move to the SD card. On Samsung smartphones, before this you will have to take an intermediate step in the form of going to “ Application Manager».
Step 4. If the button Move to SD card» is active, then press it. If not, then it is impossible to move this application using the built-in Android tools. In some versions of the operating system, the card may be called a USB drive.
Using the AppMgr III utility
If you operating system disappointed or are you going to move large number applications, we recommend trying to use the AppMgr III utility. In addition to everything, she can:
- Notify when application installation is complete;
- Sort programs by their current location;
- Hide pre-installed applications in the menu;
- Clear cache at the click of a button.
The utility also automatically determines whether a particular application supports transfer to a memory card. If this process is not supported by the program, then there will be a “ Phone only».
Move Android app to a memory card using AppMgr III is not difficult. No instructions are required for these purposes - the utility itself will carefully tell you everything.
Moving the Cache
If you want to move the game, then be prepared for the fact that AppMgr III will cope with this task, but it will hardly free up space in the built-in memory. This is due to the fact that games often use cache. It is the one that takes up the most space, as it contains graphics and music. But the above-mentioned application cannot move the cache. But the FolderMount utility is capable of this. Its main problem is that it requires root rights to function. If you don't have one, then you won't be able to move the cache. If you have superuser rights, then follow our instructions:
Step 1. Install and run FolderMount, then click on the “ + " in the upper right corner.
Step 2. A menu will open in which you must specify the name of the application whose cache you want to transfer.
Step 3. In the column " Source"You should specify the path to the cache folder. Most often the corresponding folder can be found in "Android/obb/».
Step 4. In the column " Purpose"You must select a folder on the memory card where the cache will then be moved.
Is it worth the transfer?
Many people try to install applications on a memory card without even thinking about the further consequences. But in fact, experts do not recommend doing this. It is possible that your card is slow, and this makes the operation and opening of the program not the fastest. Therefore, you should save applications to a memory card only if your drive belongs to the standard Class 10 or, which is much better, UHS-I.
Also, do not forget that any card is less reliable than built-in memory. And if it fails, this will entail the deletion of all information recorded on it. All applications moved to it will also be deleted. Therefore, leave the most important programs in the built-in memory. For example, it should store messengers and utilities designed to track expenses and income.
