Extend Your Phone s Storage A Guide to Using MicroSD Cards and Cloud Storage
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With the growing demand for high-quality photos, videos, and apps, space on Android phones often fills up faster than anticipated. While you can't expand the internal storage on an Android phone, there are several ways you can add some more space to save your files, media files, or evenin some casesapps.
Let's take a look at how to get more storage on your phone.
Insert a Memory Card
If you find yourself running out of space on your Android phone, one easy and convenient solution is to use a microSD card, if your phone supports them. A microSD card is a small flash memory card that can be inserted into your phone, giving you additional space (up to 1TB) to store your photos, videos, music, and documents. You can even move your apps to an SD card.
You can change how you use the memory card to suit your needs. You can set it as the default location for your media files, such as photos and videos, ensuring they are automatically saved to the card rather than the internal storage. Additionally, you can move existing files to the card, freeing up valuable space and improving the overall performance of your device.
Sadly, despite it being a very useful and much-requested feature, most Android phones no longer have a microSD card slot. If that's the case with your device, check out the alternative methods on how to get more storage on your Android phone below.
Use Cloud Storage
Cloud storage services are an excellent solution for freeing up space on your Android phone, especially if your device does not have an SD card slot. Popular cloud services like Google Drive, Google Photos, and Microsoft OneDrive offer various storage options and seamless integration with Android devices.
Instead of saving photos, videos, music, audio, and documents on your device's internal storage, you can upload them to the cloud. This frees up space on your phone while still allowing you to access and share your files whenever you need them from any device with an internet connection. You can stream those media files from most services, too.
Remember to manage your cloud storage periodically, deleting unnecessary or outdated files to optimize space and avoid exceeding limits.
Use a USB-C Memory Stick
If your phone doesn't have a microSD slot, another physical option for expanding the storage on your Android phone is to connect an external storage device to your phone and transfer all the important data, such as photos, videos, and documents, to it.
The easiest option to do this is to get a USB-C memory stick and plug it into your phone. As long as your phone supports USB OTGwhich most modern phones doit will recognize the external device, and you can access its contents through the file manager.
From there, you can easily copy or move files between your phone's internal storage and the connected USB-C flash drive, or you can play media directly from it.
If you own an older device lacking a USB-C port, we recommend getting a USB OTG (On-The-Go) cable or adapter. USB OTG cables enable you to connect older USB flash drives and external hard drives directly to your OTG-supported Android phone.
Before using an external device, use the USB OTG Checker app to make sure your phone supports it.
Upgrade to a Larger Phone
If your Android phone has limited internal storage and you frequently run out of space, consider upgrading to a device with a larger capacity. Many smartphone manufacturers offer larger models of their flagship phones that provide the same features and capabilities but with increased storage options.
For example, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in four variants: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. Check out our guide on how much storage you need in a smartphone to find out what's right for you.
By upgrading to a smartphone with a larger internal capacity, you can enjoy the convenience of having ample space for all your files, applications, and media without the hassle of managing external storage devices or worrying about running out of space.
Freeing Up Space
In addition to the above options, you can free up space on your Android phone by removing unnecessary files, uninstalling unused apps, and clearing cached data.
Most Android phones have a built-in feature in their settings that helps you free up internal storage automatically. Using this will improve your device's performance and allow you to store more content without hitting storage limitations.
More Storage Space for Android
While expanding internal storage may not be possible, there are several practical solutions available. microSD cards and USB OTG devices provide viable external storage solutions, although these may be costly depending on how much space you're getting.
The most economical and accessible solution to getting more storage space on Android is to use the cloud. Whichever method you opt for, remember to manage storage and remove unnecessary files periodically to get the best out of your device.
Everything you need to know about using a microSD card on Android
While streaming and cloud storage has helped, its an unwritten rule that youve never got enough storage space on your smartphone. Storage sizes have soared in the last few years, with some phone brands briefly offering a staggering 1TB of space. But with our ever-increasing hunger for 8K video and high-resolution images, its safe to say phones will have to continue upgrading their storage sizes into the future.
With this being the case, it can be a struggle for an older or cheaper phone to keep up. Thankfully, a microSD card slot can help. While something of a dying breed, microSD card slot-equipped phones do still exist, and they continue to be an excellent way of boosting your available storage space. Heres everything you need to know about using a microSD card on Android.
Do I have a microSD card slot?
Its sad, but the microSD card has become something of a relic of the past which means your phone isnt guaranteed to have one, even if its the latest or greatest phone from Samsung or Google. Googles Pixel range has never supported microSD cards (preferring to lean on Googles own Google Drive for additional storage), while even Samsung has been drifting away from microSD card slots on its newest flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.
However, some phones do still come with microSD card slots. Your best way of knowing for sure is to check any documentation you may have received with your phone, or your devices manufacturers website. Websites like GSMArena may also be able to help.
Portable or internal storage?
It used to be that you could choose between setting your microSD card as internal storage (which means your phone treats it like its native storage), or portable storage (which means its more like a USB stick in a computer). Unfortunately, support for setting a microSD card as internal storage has waned strongly, and its fairly rare to find it on a smartphone these days.
This means youre probably going to be forced to use your microSD card as portable storage which isnt much of an issue, if were being honest. You can still put documents, music, and other files on there, and it makes it a lot easier to transfer to, since all you need to do is take out the microSD card (after properly unmounting it from your phone, like a responsible person) and insert it into your laptop or desktop computer.
So whats the advantage of using it as internal storage, if you have the option? Well, it means your phone has more storage to play with, and it can use it to save apps, data, and even things like background processes. But on the flip side, this means there will be trouble if you take the card out. When you use a microSD card as internal storage, the phone formats the card in a way that only it can understand in other words, you cant simply take the card out and put a new one in, because your phone wont work quite right if you do.
So which one should you choose, if you have the option? Well, if youre fine with moving your files around yourself and want the option of taking the card out down the line, you should go for portable storage. If, however, you want extra storage on your phone but dont want to have to deal with file management, then internal storage will give your device a bit of a storage bump that the phone will manage itself.
Installing a microSD card
Different phones have had different methods for installing microSD cards through the years, but most manufacturers have settled on installing them through the SIM card tray.
To install the microSD card, youll need a small pin or SIM tray opener your phone usually comes with one, so check your box if you still have it. Simply push the pin into the small hole in the tray, and the tray should pop open. Place the microSD card on the tray in the appropriate spot, then slide the tray back into the phone, making sure its the right way up. Its really that simple!
Using a microSD card as portable storage
Installing a microSD card as portable storage is easy. For most phones, itll be as simple as inserting the microSD card. Your phone will detect it and automatically set it up as portable storage.
However, if you have a phone that allows your card to be used as portable or internal storage, youll have to set your card up as portable storage. Follow these steps to do so:
Step 1: Insert the microSD card into your phone. A notification will pop up indicating that a USB drive was detected. Youll then want to tap on the Set Up button on that notification. Youll be presented with two options to use the card as portable storage or as internal storage. Select Use as Portable Storage.
Step 2: A new notification will pop up, and if you want to check out what files you have on the SD card, hit the Explorebutton. Alternatively, head to Settings > Storage & USB, and then tap the name of the SD card. Youll then be taken to Androids file manager, which will allow you to view and move files between your phone and the SD card.
Step 3: If you have an older Android device that doesnt have a file manager, you can still use third-party apps to juggle your files. A great app for doing this is Files by Google, which you can download from the Google Play Store.
Transferring files from a computer to a microSD card
Once your SD card has been formatted as portable storage, you can move files between the SD card and your Android phones built-in storage. You can, however, also move files directly to the SD card from your computer. Heres how to do that.
Mac
As you might expect, Apples MacOS and Googles Android dont play well natively. Thankfully, theres a simple way to fix that.
Step 1: First, download Android File Transfer.
Step 2: Once the app is installed on your computer, plug your Android phone into your computer with a USB cable.
Step 3: If you get a Cant Access Device Storage warning, then you need to change some settings quickly. Some newer phones will immediately supply a pop-up asking whether you want to allow access to phone data. If you get that, tapAllow.
Otherwise, pull down your notification tray on your phone and check what the connection notification says. If it reads Charging through USB, tap on the notification and select Transferring Files.
Step 4: Android File Transfer should then automatically open up on your computer, and you can drag and drop files to the phones internal storage or the microSD card by tapping on the storage option at the top of the
PC
Its slightly easier to transfer files to your Android phone and the SD card on that phone with a PC, simply because you dont need to download the
Step 1: Plug your device into your computer with the USB cable.
Step 2: Like the Mac instructions above, make sure your phone is ready to transfer files by checking the notification.
Step 3: Once enabled, youll be able to access both the phones internal storage and the microSD card storage through This PCon your computer.
Using a microSD card as internal storage
Using the microSD card as internal storage is easy, but limited, as we discussed above.
Before following the below steps, youll want to ensure that you have a high-speed microSD card, as not all SD cards are the same. It can be worth a few extra dollars to buy a high-speed SD card, as it means your storage will be faster to access when youre using it. If youre not sure, dont worry Android will warn you if your card is too slow and may result in performance issues. If it does issue that warning, we recommend buying a newer, speedier SD card. Not only that, but even faster SD cards will likely not be as fast as the phones built-in internal storage, so youll probably be better off buying a phone with more storage in the first place if data transfer speed is something youre concerned about.
Its also important to note that during this process, the contents of your SD card will be erased. If you have anything you want to keep, youll want to move it first.
Heres how to install the microSD card as internal storage.
Step 1: Insert the SD card, and when the notification pops up, hit the Set Upbutton.
Step 2: Youll then be given the choice between using the SD card as portable storage or internal storage. Select Use as Internal Storage.
Step 3: You can then choose to move photos, files, and some apps over to the SD card if you want to. If you dont, the data can be migrated over later by heading to Settings > Storage & USB, then tapping the SD card, pressing the menu button, and selecting Migrate Data.
Made the wrong decision?
Dont worry, if you want to switch your card from portable storage to internal storage or vice versa, you can still do so. Head to Settings > Storage & USB, and youll see the microSD cards you have installed.
If your microSD card is set up as portable storage and you want to switch over to internal storage, select the drive, then tap the menu button in the top right of the screen. Then, select Settings, and tap Format as Internal. Keep in mind that this will erase the contents of the SD card, so make sure all of your important files have been copied to another location before you do this.
If you want to change from internal storage to portable storage, follow the same steps, but hit Format as Portablerather than Format as Internal. This will also delete all the contents from the SD card meaning some apps may not work properly, and you may have to reinstall them for them to work. You may also lose some photos and files in this process so we recommend backing up all your files to a cloud storage service like Google Drive before reformatting.
Best practices
There are a few other things you should keep in mind when using a microSD card with your Android phone. Here are a few of those:
Dont move frequentlyused apps to microSD card
If youre moving apps over to your microSD card, its best to move apps that you dont use every day. Thats because your microSD card is slightly slower than your Androids built-in storage, so apps might notopen as quickly as they otherwise would even though, after theyre open, theyll be stored in RAM.
Never take the card out without ejecting it
If you formatted your microSD card to run as internal storage, then youll never want to take it out without first running through the proper processes, like formatting it to run as portable storage. Otherwise, apps may not work and you may lose files on your device.
Keep your files backed up
microSD cards generally have higher failure rates than other forms of storage. We recommend backing up the important files on your card to cloud storage like Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive.
