How to Move Apps to an SD Card and Save Space on Your Android Device

The vast majority of Android devices are limited to 8, 16 or perhaps 32GB of internal storage, which has to accommodate the operating system and any pre-installed software. With so many apps on offer and once you start adding videos, pictures and music as well it can be easy to quickly fill up the remaining internal memory, especially on phones that only start out with 8 or even 16GB. Fortunately the vast majority of Android devices have micro SD card slots which can be used to easily expand the available memory. With prices for micro SD cards being lower than ever you can buy a 64GB card for as little as $30. Most Android phones and Android tablets will support 32, 64 or even 128GB cards so its easy to make more room for all your data.

When you install an app onto your device it will normally be put on the internal memory of the device but to prevent this from getting full you can use Androids application manager to copy it to the micro SD card.

Not all applications can be copied to the SD card and some apps such as Google Play services can’t be copied to a micro SD card. Additionally there are some devices that allow for a portion of an installed app to be moved over to the SD card such as the Samsung Galaxy S5, Note 3, and the HTC One (M8) to name a few.

Moving the Apps

1. First of all you need to select the settings option on your android phone; this is normally denoted by a cog icon and can be accessed from the icon or the app draw.
   
2. Tap the Application Manager to open it.
   
3. A list of applications should appear. Scroll down the list and select the App you want to move to the micro SD card.
   
4. Once selected the App info will be displayed with the amount of room it takes up. There should be a Move to SD Card button, this is usually at the bottom left of the screen and you may even need to scroll down to see it. If the option is grayed out or not available then this is for one of two reasons.   The device doesn’t support this function or the App can’t be moved to the SD card. (Many preloaded apps cannot be moved to an SD card.)

5. If the App is already on the SD card and you want to move it back to the phones internal storage then you can select the Move to device storage option.

On some versions of android you can select the preferred install location from the Applications menus and select External SD card. The device will now attempt to install all future applications onto the SD card.

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