Owners of the popular budget smartphone Xiaomi Redmi 9 often face a lack of built-in storage, especially in the basic versions of 32 or 64 gigabytes. Modern applications take up more space, and the quality of images requires significant resources for storage, which leads to constant notifications of space shortage. The only effective solution in this situation is the competent use of an external microSD storage format, which allows you to significantly expand the capabilities of the device.
The process of transferring information does not require deep technical knowledge, but there are a number of nuances that must be considered to preserve the integrity of files. In this article, we will discuss in detail how to safely move data from internal memory to a memory card to free up precious gigabytes and speed up the MIUI operating system.
Preparation for data transfer and map verification
Before you start moving files, make sure your external drive is properly formatted and in good working order. Put the memory card into the smartphone slot, wait for it to be determined by the system and go to the status settings. If the card has been used before in other devices, it is recommended to back up important data to the computer, as the formatting will completely clear the media.
Android offers two options for using an external drive: as a portable storage device or as part of internal memory. For Xiaomi Redmi 9, the most versatile option is to use it as a portable storage device, making it easy to transfer files between devices without losing access to them.
- 📱 Make sure the memory card is inserted before clicking and is identified in the File Manager.
- 💾 Check the amount of free space - it should be more than the amount of data transferred.
- 🔒 Make a backup of important documents before starting any file system operations.
⚠️ Note: Do not remove the memory card during the process of writing or moving files, this can lead to irreversible data corruption and file system corruption.
Transfer of photos and videos through the Gallery and the Explorer
The easiest and safest way to free up space is to move media content, which normally takes up to 80 percent of the space, and you can do it in two ways: directly through the Gallery app or using the Explorer system file manager, the second option being preferred for mass-transfer of large amounts of information, since it gives you complete control over the folder structure.
To transfer through Explorer, open the app, select Images or Video category, select the files you want with a long press, and click Move. In the navigation window that opens, select your memory card (usually designated as SD Card or Card) and specify a target folder, such as DCIM/Camera, or create a new Archive folder.
☑️ Checklist of media transfer
It is important to understand the difference between Copy and Move. When copying, the source files remain in internal memory, taking up space twice, whereas moving physically changes the file's storage address, freeing up the internal drive. Always choose the Move option to save space.
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Tip: Create a logical folder structure on your memory card (for example, by year or event) so that you can easily find the desired pictures on other devices.
Set up the camera to shoot immediately on SD-map
To avoid wasting time on the regular transfer of photos in the future, it is advisable to change the camera settings so that new pictures and videos are saved immediately to the external drive, this will automatically relieve the internal memory of the device and allow you to shoot without constant checks of free space.
Open the Camera app, click on the menu icon (three bars or gears) in the upper right corner of the screen. In the settings list, find the item "Save on" SD-Map" or "Save Priority" and activate the switch, and then all new media files will be recorded along the way. /storage/sdcard1/DCIM/Camera.
It's worth noting that some shooting modes, such as slow-motion or high-resolution 4K video, can ignore this setting and store data into internal memory due to write speed requirements.The speed of a Class 10 or UHS-I memory card is critical for a camera's stable performance.
⚠️ Note: If you use a low-speed memory card, the video recording may be interrupted or files may be corrupted due to the inability to buffer the data stream.
Why is 4K video not written to a map?
Moving applications and working with cache
The situation is more complicated with the transfer of the applications themselves to Xiaomi Redmi 9 than with photos. Starting with Android 6.0, the ability to move applications to the Xiaomi Redmi 9. SD-The card depends on the decision of the software developer, and many system and important applications (messengers, bank clients) do not support this function for security and stability reasons.
However, some programs allow you to change the way you store data inside your settings, for example, in the Telegram or WhatsApp messenger, you can manually specify a folder to download media files on an external drive, to do this, go to the application settings, select Data and memory, and change the save path.
| Type of data | We can move it. | Recommended method |
|---|---|---|
| Photos and videos | Yes. | Conductor/Camera settings |
| Music and Documents | Yes. | Conductor (Move) |
| Annexes (APK) | Partially. | Application settings / Manager |
| Cash system. | No. | Cleaning through Settings |
To manage installed programs, go to Settings → Applications → All applications. Select the desired application, click Memory and check if the Change button is active. If the button is grey or missing, the developer has forbidden the transfer of this application to an external medium.
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Not all apps can be moved to a memory card: this is an Android security limitation, not a defect in a Xiaomi smartphone.
Using a memory card as internal memory
There's a memory extension feature that allows you to format the card so that the system perceives it as an extension of the internal drive, and the card is encrypted and linked to a particular device, so you can't read the data on another phone without formatting.
To activate this mode, insert a card, wait for the notification of the new drive and select "Use as internal storage." The system will suggest moving the data, but this method has its own risks: if the card fails or loses, access to the applications will be lost, and the speed of the smartphone may decrease if the card is slower than the internal memory.
This method is suitable for users who do not plan to change memory cards often and are willing to sacrifice the versatility of the media to increase the space for installing heavy games and programs. Remember that once formatted, the map will only be available on this Redmi 9.
- 🔒 Memory card encrypted and becomes unreadable on other devices.
- 📉 Phone speed may drop if card reading speed is low.
- 🔄 When resetting phone settings, the data on the map can also be deleted.
⚠️ Before using the card as internal memory, make sure that its write speed (Random Write Speed) is high, otherwise the phone interface will become “thoughtful” and sluggish.
How to return the card to normal mode?
Frequent errors and methods of their elimination
During operation, users may encounter a message «SD-The card is corrupted" or "Formatting required. Often this happens when the card is incorrectly extracted or the file system fails. Before formatting, try connecting the card to your computer through a card reader and checking for errors using the Windows operating system.
Another common problem is that files have moved but are not displayed in the gallery, in which case you need to start scanning media files or restart the device, and check for the.nomedia file in the photo folder, which prevents the system from indexing the contents of the folder.
If the system writes “File is too big” even though there is space, check the card file system. FAT32 format does not support files larger than 4 GB. To work with large files, you need to reformat the card to the exFAT file system, which can be done through smartphone settings or on a PC.