How to Move Android Apps to an SD Card

  • Replies:15
Alfred Gilbert 5
Alfred Gilbert
  • Forum posts: 4

Jun 22, 2016, 3:50:20 AM via Website

Most Android phones don’t come with a big internal memory. Having so many files stored in the device, there is no space for other applications anymore. Luckily, some Android phones have a micro SD card slot, which is even up to 200GB. With a SD card inserted into the handset, you can expand your Android storage so that you can download new setups or move earlier applications to the external memory.

Before we start, please note that you must ensure that your Android phone is coupled with a SD card. And if your SD card is damaged, the phone will fail to detect it. Additionally, keep careful when transferring your apps. If not, mistaken operations will lead to data loss and you will need FonePaw and recover deleted files from Android SD card as soon as possible.

Move Android Apps to an SD Card
*Step 1. Turn on “Settings” App*
Go to your Android phone. Swipe and find out the application “Settings”. Turn it on. Then scroll down and select “Application manager” (Apps/Applications maybe).

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Step 2. Transfer Apps to SD card
In the next page, apps in your Android phone are sorted in different categories, for example, downloaded, running and disabled. Tap on the app you would like to move to SD card. You will read details of the app, such as size of the app, data and cache. Besides, you should see a button that says “Move to SD card”. Touch this key. The app selected will migrate to the SD card.

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You have move apps selected to the SD card and save space. Before leaving, you can click and watch the video guide here for more details.

SorinBarbara WindsorWalt Dolson

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prekyap 11
prekyap
  • Forum posts: 32

Jun 28, 2016, 2:18:30 PM via Website

Nice post but we can also use tool like app2sd to move apps from phone to sd card

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3
Sanil More
  • Forum posts: 10

Jul 2, 2016, 7:49:14 AM via Website

Thank you for sharing this information,its very useful.

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4
Reyn
  • Forum posts: 11

Jul 4, 2016, 5:19:49 AM via Website

Good.

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4
Olivia Black
  • Forum posts: 15

Jul 4, 2016, 10:19:58 AM via Website

Nice sharing. I would like to conclude them in a few words:

  1. Navigate to "Settings".
  2. Tap "Application Manager".
  3. Select the app you want.
  4. Tap the "Move to SD Card" button.

By doing so, you can move the Android apps to a SD card. If you don't see a "Move to SD Card" button, your device may not support this feature at all. And, most preloaded apps cannot be moved to an SD card.

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Tina 5
Tina
  • Forum posts: 11

Jul 4, 2016, 11:04:48 AM via Website

Thanks for sharing, it works, but I think it is a little bit inconvenient when I move a number of apps to SD card. I still prefer to use a third party app, like Apowersoft Phone Manager. It could help me transfer all the apps I need with one click, really convenient.

Sorin

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1
Jimbo
  • Forum posts: 1

Jul 27, 2016, 1:28:19 PM via Website

My tablet (Hipstreet Phantom 2) runs Android 6. I have added an SD Card which it reformatted to extend my storage to over 30 Gb. I have successfully moved many apps but Excel,Word and PowerPoint will not move each failing on not enough storage (?). I have cleared cache so at least 256 Mbps is available as the apparent sizes are all around 200mb. My tablet came preloaded with these products which take up around 600mb. Anybody got any ideas on why they won't move even though they say they can be moved. . Is it safe to uninstall as they did not come from Playstore so another app told me.

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2
Jenifer Florida
  • Forum posts: 4

Aug 10, 2017, 9:02:19 AM via Website

Thanks for best sharing. I wanted to add some matter.
Go to the Option "Settings", Than go "Application Manger", Chose the application that you want to use, then select "Move SD Card" After operate this you can get SD Card

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Francis Golden 3
Francis Golden
  • Forum posts: 12

Aug 10, 2017, 10:03:15 AM via Website

Thank you for the walk through, I've been trying to figure out how this is done, and I haven't been capable to figure it out. But now it has worked!

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1
John Parry
  • Forum posts: 2

Feb 3, 2018, 2:01:10 PM via Website

Thanks Jimbo, you describe my problem exactly. I wasted hours trying to get round this but no success so far. Since small apps can be moved but large ones fail on the "insufficient memory" message I presume that the difficulty is insufficient workspace in the internal memory. We need a way to uninstall unused preloaded apps like Calculator, Googel+ and Sound Recorder. I suspect this requires admin rights.

It would be nice if after setting the default install location to the SD card new installations actually went to the SD card but it seems that android is ignoring the setting. This looks like an android bug.

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1
John Parry
  • Forum posts: 2

Feb 3, 2018, 2:03:09 PM via Website

You are right Jenifer but it only works for small apps, not for large ones. Try Firefox or Word.

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Barbara Windsor 9
Barbara Windsor
  • Forum posts: 68

Sep 26, 2018, 4:01:57 AM via Website

I'm using apowermanager right now, personally I find it quite handy since it has an independent app file and sd card file management, I can uninstall or install app simply by this program and transfer the apk files to sd card. Plus I'm using it as a tool to backup android to PC~ saved me from downloading way too many software.

Sorin

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2
bimaloy30
  • Forum posts: 2

Sep 28, 2018, 5:11:15 PM via Website

Move Apps to SD Card Using Application Manager
Tap Apps.
Select an app you want to move to the microSD card.
Tap Storage.
Tap Change if it's there. If you don't see the Change option, the app cannot be moved.
Tap Move.
Navigate to settings on your phone.
Tap Storage.
Select your SD card

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Nisha Joshi 7
Nisha Joshi
  • Forum posts: 38

Dec 31, 2019, 11:14:51 AM via Website

Very informative

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Duncan 2
Duncan
  • Forum posts: 4

Jan 10, 2020, 9:18:09 AM via Website

And, most preloaded apps cannot be moved to an SD card.

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marco sarli 39
marco sarli
  • Admin
  • Forum posts: 1,011

Jan 10, 2020, 10:03:55 AM via Website

Apps2sd does the job perfectly

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