How do I move Google Play storage to SD card?

This article will provide a step-by-step guide on how to move apps to an SD card on Android devices. We will cover why you may want to move apps to external storage, the requirements for doing so, how to enable SD card support, moving apps individually or automatically, moving app data, cautions to be aware of, and tips for improving SD card performance.

Why Move Apps to SD Card?

One of the main reasons to move apps to the SD card is to free up internal storage space on your Android device. The amount of internal storage on smartphones can vary, but many budget Android phones come with only 16GB or 32GB of storage. This can fill up quickly, especially if you install a lot of apps, download music and videos, or capture high-resolution photos.

According to sources, most new Android devices now start with at least 64GB of internal storage. However, even that may not be enough for power users who have large media libraries and lots of apps installed.

Moving apps to the SD card allows you to free up that valuable internal storage for the apps and data you access most frequently and keep on your device. Photos, videos, and music files that tend to take up the bulk of space are also usually best stored on the SD card.

Requirements

In order to move apps to an SD card, your Android phone must meet certain requirements. First, the phone must have Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or later installed. Android 4.0 was the first version to introduce the ability to move apps to external storage (https://www.androidcentral.com/android-40-ice-cream-sandwich-review).

Secondly, your phone must have an SD card slot and support external SD cards. Many modern phones, especially flagship devices, are dropping SD card support (https://www.androidcentral.com/best-android-phones-expandable-storage). When shopping for a phone, look for a model that specifically mentions SD card support in its specs.

Lastly, you’ll need an SD card inserted in your phone. The card must be properly formatted and set up to work with your device. Most new SD cards will be pre-formatted out of the box.

Enabling SD Card Support

In order to move apps to your SD card, you first need to enable a developer setting called “Allow apps on external” storage. This gives apps permission to be installed on and use storage space on your SD card. To enable this:

Open your phone’s Settings app and scroll down to find Developer options.

If Developer options isn’t visible, go to About phone and tap Build number 7 times to unlock it.
In Developer options, find the setting called “Allow apps on external” and toggle it on.

According to this Lifehacker article, enabling “Allow apps on external” is necessary for moving apps to SD card. Some Android skins like Samsung One UI also have an “Install apps to external storage” option that needs to be enabled.

With this developer setting enabled, you can now move apps over to your SD card storage.

Moving Apps Individually

You can move apps one by one to the SD card manually. To move an app individually:

Go to your app drawer and long press on the app you want to move.

Tap “App info” in the menu that pops up.
In the App info screen, tap “Storage”.
Under “Storage used”, tap the “Change” button.

In the next screen, select your external SD card under “Storage used” and tap “Change”.

The app along with its data will now be moved to your SD card. Keep in mind that some apps do not allow you to change the storage location. Additionally, pre-installed system apps cannot be moved to the SD card in all Android versions.

As per this Android Authority article, moving apps manually allows you to choose specific apps to move instead of having everything transferred. This gives you more control over managing your device storage.

Moving All Apps Automatically

The easiest way to move multiple apps to the SD card at once is by using an app dedicated to app management and storage transfer. A popular option is AppMgr III (App 2 SD).

AppMgr and similar apps like Link2SD include a batch move function that transfers all eligible apps to the SD card in just a few taps. This automates the process of moving apps one-by-one. Simply open the app, grant root permissions if prompted, select the ‘batch move’ option, and tap the button to migrate all supported apps.

The batch transfer function intelligently determines which installed apps can be moved based on criteria like app size, SD card speed, and developer restrictions. It will skip incompatible apps and only move the apps that are eligible. This ensures a smooth and automated migration process.

Using an app manager for batch moving apps to SD card is quick, easy, and avoids the hassle of manually moving each app one-by-one. The batch transfer does all the work for you in just a few seconds. Just tap and all eligible apps are migrated.

Moving App Data

In addition to moving the app itself, you may also want to move the app’s data from internal storage to the SD card. This can help free up even more space on your device’s internal storage.

One option is to use ADB (Android Debug Bridge) commands to move app data. First, you’ll need to enable USB debugging in your device’s Developer options. Then connect your device to a computer and use ADB commands like:

adb shell pm set-install-location 2

This will set the default install location to external storage. Then you can move data for specific apps with:

adb shell pm move-package-data com.example.app

Replacing “com.example.app” with the actual app package name. This will move that app’s data to the SD card [1].

There are also apps like AppMgr III and DataSync that can help automate the process of moving app data to external storage [2]. Using these apps is usually easier than ADB commands for most users.

Just be aware that moving some app data to the SD card can cause issues with performance or compatibility in some cases. Always move data for one app at a time and test it thoroughly before moving data for additional apps.

Cautions

Not all apps can be moved to the SD card. Some apps like pre-installed system apps, live wallpapers, and widgets are restricted from moving to external storage (Source). Trying to move these types of apps to the SD card will display an error message. It’s a limitation set by the app developers.

Moving apps to the SD card can also cause issues with widgets not working properly. The widgets may fail to update or display information since the main app is now stored externally. There are workarounds like using the AppMgr app to bind widgets to the versions on the SD card, but it doesn’t always work reliably.

Improving SD Card Performance

One way to potentially improve your SD card’s performance is to enable caching. Apps like SDFix can enable caching on your SD card, which can increase read speeds by 100-200%. This works by allowing your device to cache small chunks of frequently accessed data for quicker reads. Just be aware that enabling caching can slightly increase app loading times as the cache builds up.

Another option is to try a different file system format for your SD card. By default, SD cards use the FAT32 file system, which has some limitations. Converting to a system like exFAT removes the 4GB file size limit and can improve performance. You can format the SD card to exFAT using your computer or phone’s settings. Just be sure to backup your data first, as formatting will erase the card.

Finally, upgrading to a faster, high-speed SD card can dramatically improve performance. Look for Class 10, UHS-I or UHS-II cards marked with speed classes like U3 or V30, indicating read/write speeds of 30MB/s or faster. Faster SD cards take better advantage of your device’s capabilities. An old, slower card will bottleneck performance. Replacing it with a new high-speed card may address speed issues.

Conclusion

In summary, moving apps to an SD card can help free up storage space on your Android device. The key steps are:

Make sure your device supports SD card app storage
Enable the SD card feature in your device settings
Move apps individually or all at once using the automatic transfer feature

Be aware that some apps don’t allow moving to SD
Move app data to SD where possible for more space savings
Check for any SD card optimization tips to improve performance

Following these steps allows you to effectively move many apps to an SD card, leaving more internal storage free on your Android device. Just be careful about overloading the SD card.