Budget smartphone owners often face a shortage of space, and the Xiaomi Redmi 6A is no exception: the built-in 16 or 32 GB drive fills up very quickly due to the accumulation of messenger cache, system updates and installing new programs, which leads to a slowdown of the device, interface freezes and the inability to install critical security updates.
Fortunately, the device design includes a microSD card slot, which allows you to significantly expand the storage capabilities.Transferring user files such as photos, music and videos is usually easy, but the migration of the applications themselves requires a deeper understanding of the Android file system and the MIUI shell. In this article, we will discuss all available methods for space optimization.
It should be noted immediately that standard means of the system to transfer absolutely any application to an external drive is not always possible. Google's security policy and restrictions imposed by the manufacturer of chipsets MediaTek often block the direct installation of programs on the external drive. SD-However, there are proven ways to circumvent these limitations or partially relieve internal memory by moving heavy files and cache.
Preparation of memory card and smartphone for work
Before you start any manipulation of the file system, you need to make sure that your memory card is in good condition and has a sufficient write speed.To work with modern applications, it is recommended to use Class 10, UHS-I or higher cards. Slow cards can lead to programs running longer than usual or working with errors.
Insert the card into the smartphone switched off or use the hot replacement function if the device is turned on. Once the media is detected, the MIUI system will offer several use cases. For our purposes, formatting as Portable Storage is the most suitable, since it allows you to easily transfer files to your computer without re-formatting.
⚠️ Note: The formatting process will completely destroy all data on the memory card. Be sure to copy important photos and documents to your computer or cloud storage before starting the procedure.
Once formatted, the system will assign the card an alphabetic designation or mount it in the root directory. Make sure that the Settings → Memory settings display the correct amount of free space. If the card is determined to be corrupt, try formatting it on your computer in the FAT32 or exFAT file system.
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Use a memory card adapter and a computer for pre-formatting in exFAT if the card has a capacity of more than 32 GB, as standard Android tools may not see a large volume correctly.
Standard method of transfer through Android settings
The safest and easiest way to do this, which does not require superuser rights, is to use the operating system’s built-in functionality. However, it is worth noting that in Android 8.1 Oreo, which is the Redmi 6A firmware, this feature is often hidden by developers for specific applications.
To check for portability, go to Settings → Applications → All Apps. Select the program you want from the list and click on Memory. If the Change button is active, you're lucky that the system allows you to move the application in whole or in part.
- 📱 Click the "Change" button and select a memory card. SD.
- ⏳ Wait for the process to be completed (migration) without turning off the smartphone screen.
- ✅ After completion, a note will appear in the application menu that it is placed on an external drive.
Unfortunately, for many system applications and popular social networks, this button may be inactive (blackened), which means that the application developer has banned installation on external media, or the MIUI shell itself blocks this operation to ensure stability of operation.
Use of Adoptable Storage
There is a more radical method to combine internal memory and SD card into a single space, a feature known as Adoptable Storage that was introduced in Android 6.0, but many vendors, including Xiaomi, hide it in the standard interface, and this method requires the use of the command line ADB (Android Debug Bridge).
To start, activate the developer mode. Go to Settings → About Phone and quickly click on the MIUI build number seven times. Once the "You're a developer" notification appears, a new menu will open in the settings.
adb shell sm list-disksExecuting this command through a smartphone connected to the computer will allow you to know the ID of your memory card (for example, disk:179,128). Next, you need to format the disk as internal storage. Be careful: after this operation, the card will become unreadable on other devices without special reset.
| Parameter | Internal memory. | External map (Adoptable) | Portable storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access to PC | Only through USB-debugging | Impossible (encrypted) | Direct access |
| Speed of operation | Tall. | Depends on the card. | Medium |
| Security | Tall. | High (encryption) | Low. |
| Migration of applications | Automatic. | Full support | Limited. |
⚠️ Attention: Using Adoptable Storage on budget memory cards can cause them to fail quickly due to intensive log and cache recording.Use only high-quality high-end reliability cards.
Application of specialized utility App2SD
If standard methods don't work, third-party application managers come to the rescue, and one of the most popular tools is the App2SD utility, which allows you to analyze installed programs and determine which ones can be moved and which ones are system-based and can't be touched.
The app works in two modes: normal and root-rights. In normal mode, it acts as a convenient analyzer that shows how much space is taken up by cache and data. In superuser mode, the functionality is expanded to force the movement of.apk files and libraries.
☑️ Pre-use checks App2SD
The program interface is divided into tabs: "On the phone", "On the phone". SD-Map" and "In the cloud. "The move is done by simply dragging and dropping or selecting the appropriate button in the menu of a particular application"App2Cloud", Uploading rarely used programs to the cloud, freeing up space locally.
Transfer of multimedia and application cache
Even if you can’t transfer the application’s executable file (.apk), you can always move its data, which is especially true for messengers like Telegram, WhatsApp and like-yandex.Maps or Google Maps, which store gigabytes of images and maps on the device.
To do this, use the built-in File Manager Explorer. Find the folder with the application name at the root of internal memory or along the Android/data path. Copy the contents of the Media, Files or Cache folders to the memory card.
- 📂 For Telegram: Move the folder Telegram/Telegram Images and Telegram/Telegram Video.
- 🗺️ For navigators: transfer the downloaded maps to the appropriate directory to the SD-map.
- 📸 For the camera: change the save settings in the Camera app itself by selecting SD-map as the main storage.
Some apps let you choose how to save data in your own settings, like Spotify or YouTube Premium, you can specify a memory card to store music and video for offline viewing, which instantly frees up a few gigabytes of internal space.
How to clean the cache without deleting data?
Features of working with the MIUI file system
Shell MIUI It has its own memory management features that can interfere with standard procedures. It aggressively caches applications to run quickly, which takes up space. SD-card, unless appropriate permission is given.
It is important to check the permissions for the Security and Explorer application. From the Settings menu → Apps → Permissions → Memory, make sure that file managers are allowed access to all files. Without this, the transferred files may not appear in the gallery or player.
Also worth mentioning is the memory cleanup function: An embedded optimizer can mistakenly delete files from a memory card as "junk" if they are in non-standard folders, and it is recommended to add important directories to the cleaner exceptions.
⚠️ Note: Do not delete or rename system folders on the memory card created by applications (for example,.android_secure). This will result in the inability of the programs.
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Regularly clean the Download folder and transfer heavy media files to the SD-The map is more efficient for Redmi 6A, than trying to transfer the system applications themselves.