On phones with small internal memory capacity, there is a lack of free space. It is expanded with a memory card onto which photos, videos, music and other data are transferred. But what to do if there is not enough memory for programs, but there is nothing left to delete? The most rational option is to install applications on an Android SD card.

This can be done using standard tools or using third-party software. We will look at simple methods that give almost 100% results.

What applications can be transferred to a memory card?

Unfortunately, not all programs can be transferred to MicroSD. Some developers do not optimize the software to work outside of system memory, so there is no way to make it work on a memory card. However, the vast majority of software works well on it. Therefore, even heavy applications can be transferred, freeing up space on the internal storage.

Note! The system allows you to transfer only downloaded programs. It will not be possible to change the directory of the built-in ones - they will not start.

Also remember that the speed of writing and reading from a memory card is much lower than from the built-in drive. For this reason, it is not recommended to transport games and other software for which performance is important.

Transferring apps using stock tools

It has become possible to install applications onto a memory card using built-in services, starting with Android version 2.2; for earlier builds you will have to tinker and transfer using a PC.

Please note that the instructions are not completely universal. In some firmware, the names and locations of the items may differ, but the essence set out in the instructions remains unchanged. We will demonstrate transposition using the example of the AOSP system (naked Android) and the Samsung shell. We will also look at the nuances for versions up to 6.0 Marshallow and later builds.

For AOSP (up to 6.0)

Following these instructions, transferring one program will take about a minute:

The shell will notify you when the application has been moved to the memory card.

For Samsung (up to 6.0)

Now we want to show the differences in the procedure using the example of Samsung firmware, but at the same time substantiate the thesis that the principle remains the same. So:

Here, installing applications on the card is a little longer, but the main thing is to go to the programs menu, select the one you need and interact with the storage options. The same principle will apply to other firmwares, it’s just that the first time you may have to spend a couple of minutes to figure it out.

For all firmware based on Android 6.0 and higher

In this version, Google has revised the principle of interaction between smartphones and a flash drive. Previously, it acted as a portable data storage, now, in addition to this, a new feature has been added - Adoptable Storage. It integrates a memory card with internal storage, which is beneficial because by default all data will be installed on it. However, it will no longer be possible to insert it into your computer and easily transfer files.

To activate the mode, you need:

Try to make a backup of the data installed on the MicroSD, as everything will be deleted. Android will reformat it to suit its needs, add information encryption to improve security, and change the file system type. Consider carefully what will be more convenient for you, but remember that in the future you will be able to change the method of working with the flash drive, and the documents on it will be lost again.

Moving all data to MicroSD

Porting individual programs is useful. But what to do if your smartphone has little RAM and internal memory of 4, 8 or 16 GB and you urgently need to free it up? Android stock services will help with this too, because they provide tools for dumping all videos, pictures, music, software and even games onto a removable drive. To do this, take several steps, namely:

The method is simpler than the previous ones and is suitable if you want to radically free up space on your phone from programs that have been installed for a long time and take up a lot of space.

Transferring applications using third-party software

It happens that it is not possible to transport software using standard means, but there are many alternative options. We propose to disassemble the two simplest ones: one using a PC, and the second through special programs, but you will need root rights.

Note! Read about how to get root on Android in the topics about your device to avoid problems.

Using a computer

The solution is not the fastest, but it is simple and accessible to everyone, even if there is no root rights. So:

It's easier to do this through a device synchronization program, for example, My Phone Explorer. First, it is installed on the phone from the Play Market, and then on the PC. The distribution should be downloaded from the developer's official website.

Now proceed to transpose the application to the Android memory card, for this you need:

This completes the procedure and the application is ready for use.

Using the app

A lot of transfer applications have been developed; we suggest using the multifunctional Titanium Backup utility. To do this you need to do the following:

If you want to put all the software on a flash drive, then after starting Titanium follow these steps:

Now wait for the process to complete.

These were the most basic ways to install an application on an Android SD card, which will always work. If one of the methods does not help, we recommend using an alternative.

Users of mobile devices with Android systems are often faced with the need to move some information from the internal memory to an SD card. After all, even the resources of modern models, the volume of ROM (internal memory) of which reaches 4–6 GB, will eventually cease to be enough even for useful applications - not to mention gaming ones. The way out of the situation is to move programs to an external drive using one of the suitable methods for this, or install applications and games on a memory card (flash drive) on Android.

Option for older Android OS

Android operating systems released before version 2.2 did not allow moving applications and games to the memory card either manually or using special utilities. This could be done using unofficial firmware. Or by gaining root access to the system.

For a mobile device with version 2.2 and higher, you can use the settings to move applications from memory to card and vice versa. Although the installation location of the programs is still determined by the developer. And you can see whether you can free up additional space on your internal storage or not by following these steps:

1. Opening system settings;
2. By going to the application menu and opening the properties of one of them;
3. Clicking on the “Move to SD card” button. Its absence means that the manufacturer has prohibited the transfer of information.

The reason for prohibiting transfer to the card is the large capacity of the internal information storage. An application located in memory will run faster and more reliably compared to running it from an external drive. And without getting root rights, you won’t be able to move it.

Using special applications

A program called AppMgr (or App 2 SD), like several other utilities that do not require “superuser” rights, does not allow you to move system information. You cannot use it to install onto the SD card those applications for which this action is prohibited by the developer. But for programs that could be transferred manually (for versions 2.2 and higher), the process of changing the location is simplified.

All applications are divided into three groups in the AppMgr manager:

only for internal storage (most often, this is system information);

With the ability to transfer to external media;

Already located on the SD card.

The simple interface of the file manager and the ability to transfer several applications at once from one storage to another speed up the process of freeing the ROM from unnecessary data. And they allow you to see the big picture, rather than opening the settings of each program one by one. The result is increased device performance.

Method for new systems

Starting with Android 6.0 OS, users were able to use an SD card as internal memory. This allows, first of all, to expand the size of the device’s ROM, and, secondly, to immediately transfer applications to an external drive, without manual or software transfer. To configure the card you need:

After the system reboots, part of the ROM will be stored on the external card. The dimensions of the internal drive will become larger, and on the external, on the contrary, there will be less space left. And when you download the program, it will automatically be installed on the SD card.

Transferring applications with root rights

If the user needs more space, and all programs available for moving to the card have already been transferred, you can use root access. “Superuser” rights will be provided by special utilities such as KingsRoot. After this, you can install an application like Link2SD and work even with system files and programs that are prohibited from moving.

The vast majority of Android mobile device users constantly download more and more new applications, which gradually fill up the main memory of the device.

And when there is no longer enough space, you have to install it on removable flash cards, a slot for which is provided in almost every modern communicator.

Besides the lack of space, the user can simply create a flash card that will contain a set of necessary programs. Such a portable “unit” can be installed in any device, the main thing is that the programs stored on flash memory are compatible with the devices on which the user intends to run them.

Therefore, lack of space on a mobile device is far from the main reason to install Android applications on a flash drive. Moreover, the amount of on-board memory in modern devices often exceeds 4 and 8 GB; for most users this is more than enough.

At the same time, an active Internet user will have to learn how to install programs not on the main memory of the communicator, but on the built-in flash memory.

The developers of the Android mobile platform have foreseen that their users will need to install various programs on an SD card.

On most Android devices, transferring existing applications or installing new ones to removable media is quite simple. However, not all installers provide the ability to select an installation destination, and additional steps may be required to work around such restrictions.

Devices running on the Android mobile platform version before 2.2 did not support direct installation and transfer of applications to removable memory, and since there are a great many versions of Android today, not all developers provide this function.

How to install (or move) to a flash drive on Android if this function is provided by the developer:

• Install as usual;
• Having opened the menu in the device, you need to click “Settings”;
• In the window that opens, open “Applications”;
• Next, you need to open the “SD card” item, after which all programs that can be transferred to an external flash drive will be displayed;
• On older versions of the mobile platform, you need to go to “Manage Applications” and “Third Party”;
• When selecting a program, the user will receive information about its size and will be able to transfer it to a memory card if available.

To install a game on an Android flash drive, you can also use specialized programs that can expand the level of access to movement and other operations with installed applications. Other programs allow you to install directly to flash memory.

Installation on flash memory is still relevant on devices running Android platforms version 2.1 and lower.

As mentioned above, the developers of these versions did not provide for the possibility of transferring directly to flash memory, which is also the case with the manufacturers of some modern versions of mobile operating systems.

Transferring applications using programs

This problem can be solved by installing specialized software. Before this, it is necessary to prepare the device for future manipulations.

First of all, the best solution would be to create a backup copy of all data so that erroneous actions do not lead to irreparable consequences. Applications that allow you to transfer applications to a flash drive can be found on Google Play. You can use AppMgr Pro III or Link2SD. And FolderMount can transfer application cache.

In order for them to work normally, you need to provide so-called “superuser rights” or another name for root rights. There are various options for obtaining root rights. A proven method via a personal computer and a USB cable.

The MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition program is suitable for work, which must be installed on your PC. By connecting the device and using the program (or any other analogue) according to the instructions, you can install any Android games on a memory card, bypassing standard restrictions.

A few years ago, we used regular cell phones that had a small amount of memory to store a phone book and a few ringtones. And that was enough! But after a very short period of time, many acquired modern smartphones that already have gigabytes of information storage.
It’s a paradox, but these gigabytes usually begin to be sorely lacking by the end of the first month of using the device. So what should I do? Change your phone to a more powerful one? Not necessary! You can additionally use a Micro SD memory card. Convenient and inexpensive. But just sticking it in is half the battle. You also need to configure Android so that you can download and install applications directly to the memory card.

This is done quite simply. The only significant difficulty is that despite the fact that everyone has the same Android operating system, some manufacturers have a different procedure for getting the phone to save music and application files directly to the Micro SD memory card due to the fact that that each of them make their own changes to the graphical shell.

First you need to open the settings of your phone or tablet.
Open the section Memory.

Now you need to find the “Default Memory” or “Main Memory” subsection:

Here you need to check the “Micro SD memory card” checkbox.

That's it, now in Android applications, music and photos will be downloaded to the memory card.

As I said above, this is done on most mobile devices, but there are exceptions. So, on popular ASUS Zenfone phones, in order to install programs directly onto the memory card, you need to find the “ASUS Individual Settings” item in the Android settings and there the “Application Installation Options” subsection.

This is where you will select the default location for saving applications. To install applications directly onto the memory card, check the “Select external storage” checkbox!

Details under the cut.

Attention! I personally tested this method on Android 2.3. You can find out about the possibility of this method working on Google.

First you need to install Android SDK Tools (link for Windows). After installation, you need to download the packages. You will see how to do this in the screenshot below:

Now go to your phone settings and go here:
Applications>Development>USB Debugging (check the box).

Now connect the device to your computer via USB. Go to the folder where you installed SDK Tools. After selecting the platform-tools folder with the right mouse, click “Run command line here.”

In the command line window that opens, type (all without quotes):

After the "$" icon appears, print the following (case is important):

“pm getInstallLocation” and press Enter. You should see the following on your screen:

This means that the system itself will determine which applications to install where. This doesn’t suit us, so we write:

"pm setInstallLocation 2"

This is how we communicate that we want applications to be installed on the memory card. Let's check the result:

"pm getInstallLocation"

The answer should be:

Now close the command prompt window and disconnect your phone from the computer. Reboot it. Now all applications will be installed on the memory card.

It is worth noting that when downloading from the Play Store, temporary information will still be recorded in the phone’s internal memory. There is no way to cure this without root, but if you install programs not from the Play Store (from a pre-downloaded APK), you can install the program without recording temporary information. You can do this as follows.

We install the APK Leecher program on the computer (in principle, you don’t even need to install it, just unpack it; it’s included in the topic), download the Device ID program from Google Play to your phone (only 13 kB) and find out the unique ID of your phone.
Then, by launching the APK Leecher program on the computer, we enter our account information, ID and make some settings (download folder, language) and now we can search for applications and download them directly on the computer from Google Play. There is no need to worry about your data - it does not leak anywhere, but is only used for authorization. Program settings:

Now you can download programs to your computer and, by transferring the downloaded APK files to a memory card, install them on your phone.
Example of the program:

Best regards, timblaer.

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