How to move apps to a memory card in Xiaomi Redmi 7A

Xiaomi Redmi 7A, despite its compact size and affordable cost, often faces a critical shortage of free space in internal memory. Android operating system in conjunction with the proprietary shell MIUI takes up a significant part of the drive immediately after unpacking, leaving the user only a modest 16 or 32 gigabytes. When this space is filled with photos, videos and, most importantly, installed applications, the device begins to work slower, and notifications of memory shortage appear more often.

Fortunately, the Redmi 7A features a hybrid slot that allows you to install a microSD memory card. This solution is a salvation for those who are not willing to change the gadget to a more expensive model with more internal storage. Transferring data and programs to an external medium is not just copying files, but a complex process that requires the right approach to formatting and configuring the access rights of the system.

In this guide, we will discuss in detail all the steps to expand the functionality of your smartphone. You will learn how to turn a regular flash card into a full-fledged continuation of the system partition, what are the limitations of modern versions of Android and how to circumvent the standard prohibitions of the MIUI shell for installing games and heavy programs directly on an external drive.

Preparation of a memory card and choice of speed class

Before you start manipulating system settings, you need to make sure the quality of the drive used. Applications need high speed reading and writing to install and work correctly. Cheap Class 4 or Class 6 cards can cause interface freezes and programs to load long, as they can not cope with the data flow necessary for the operation of modern applications.

The best choice for Xiaomi Redmi 7A will be UHS-I cards with the markings Class 10, U3 or V30. These drives provide data transfer speeds sufficient to run games and messengers without delay. It is recommended to purchase products from proven brands such as Samsung, SanDisk or Kingston to avoid data loss and sudden errors of the file system.

It is important to understand that after the procedure, which will be discussed below, the memory card will be formatted into a special file system, all the data that was previously on it will be irretrievably deleted, so before you start the process, you need to copy important photos, documents and music to your computer or to the cloud storage.

⚠️ Attention: Using low-quality memory cards to install applications can damage the system database and lose the functionality of individual smartphone functions.

The preparation process also involves checking the card for errors: insert a microSD into the device slot, wait for it to be determined and go to the storage management menu. If the system offers formatting for use as a portable medium, agree, but do not choose the option of expanding internal memory for now, so first prepare the file structure.

Formatting a map as an internal memory

A key step in enabling applications to be installed on external media is Adoptable Storage, which, unlike moving files, integrates the memory card into the root structure of the Android file system, encrypting it and making it an integral part of the smartphone, and without this procedure, most programs simply won’t offer the portability option.

To activate this mode on Xiaomi Redmi 7A, you need to go to the settings. Open Settings, then select About Phone and find the Warehouse line. In some versions of the firmware, the path may look like Settings → Advanced Settings → Memory. Find your microSD card in the list and click on it.

In the menu that opens, select Format. The system will warn you that all data will be deleted. Then you will be offered two options for use: as portable storage or as internal memory. Choose Internal memory. The formatting process can take from a few minutes to ten minutes depending on the volume and speed of the card.

• 📱 Once formatted, the card will be encrypted and won’t work on other devices without re-formatting.
• ⚙️ The system will automatically redistribute space, combining the internal memory and the card into a single logical volume.
• 🔄 It is recommended not to remove the card after this procedure, as this will cause malfunctions in the applications installed on it.

Once formatted, the system may suggest moving some of the data (photos, media files) to a new volume, and accept this proposal to free up precious space in the main partition for system files and cache.

💡

If the map is displayed after formatting, but the apps are not installed, try restarting the smartphone by pressing the power button and selecting Reboot, which will help the system re-mount the partitions.

Setup of application installation by default

Once a memory card has been successfully converted to a system partition, you need to set your installation priorities. In the MIUI shell, this option is sometimes hidden or not working properly without additional intervention. In an ideal scenario, when you download a new application from Google Play, the system itself should suggest choosing a place to install.

To check and adjust the current settings, go to Settings and find the App. We are interested in the storage management menu or special features. However, depending on the version of Android (Pie or earlier), the path may differ. Often you need to activate the developer mode.

To activate Developer Mode, go to About Phone and quickly press 7-10 times on MIUI Version until you have a notification that you have become a developer. Then go back to the Advanced Settings menu and select For Developers. Find a memory-related item, such as Force allow apps on external and activate it.

Remember that even with the forced installation option enabled, some system applications and critical services from Google will ignore this rule and only install in internal memory.

Manual transfer of installed applications

If you don't automatically install it on the map, or if you want to move programs that are already installed, you can use a manual method, which allows you to selectively control the space, leaving light and frequently used applications in internal memory for speed, and heavy games and rarely used software sent to microSD.

Go to the Settings menu → Annexes → All applications. Select from the list the program you want to move, such as a heavy game or social network. In the application management menu that opens, look for Memory or Storage. If the map is formatted correctly, there should be an active button Change or Move to SD-map.

Press the button and confirm the action. The system will start migrating the application files, libraries and data. The transfer time depends on the size of the application and the speed of the memory card. At this point, it is not recommended to switch between other heavy tasks so as not to put a load on the disk I/O.

It's worth noting that after you move the app icon on the desktop will remain in place, but the physical data will be read from the external drive. If you remove the card, the application will stop running, and the system will give an error about the absence of the program.

⚠️ Note: When transferring messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram), make sure that media files are also moved or backed up, as the folder structure may change and the correspondence history may become unavailable.

In some cases, the displacement button may be inactive (gray), meaning that the application developer has banned external installations at the manifest level, which is impossible to circumvent by standard MIUI tools, requiring superuser rights (Root).

Using ADB tools for advanced management

For advanced users who want full control of the Redmi 7A file system, there is a method for using the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) debugging bridge, which allows you to send commands directly to the system, bypassing the limitations of the graphical interface of the shell.

To start, you need to enable USB debugging. Go to Settings → Advanced Settings → For developers and activate the USB debugging switch. Connect your smartphone to your computer with a cable. The computer should have Xiaomi drivers and the SDK Platform-Tools installed.

Open the command line in the ADB tool folder and enter the command to check the connection: adb devices. The smartphone screen will request debugging permission, you must tick "Always allow" and click "OK." After that, the device serial number will appear in the command line.

adb shell pm setInstallLocation 2

This command forcibly changes the global setting of application installation: 0 means automatic selection, 1 - only internal memory, and 2 - priority external memory (SD-After the command is executed, restart the device.

Using ADB gives you more flexibility, but it requires caution. Incorrectly entering commands can lead to unstable system operation. Always check the syntax of commands and make sure you understand their action before pressing the Enter key.

Possible problems and ways to solve them

Users may face a variety of challenges in expanding memory, and one of the most common problems is slowing down the speed of a smartphone. Because the speed of reading a memory card, even a high-speed memory card, is usually lower than the speed of the embedded eMMC flash memory, it can take longer to launch heavy applications.

Another common mistake is reporting damage SD-This can be due to poor quality contact in the slot or the use of high volume cards (over 128 GB) that Redmi has. 7A It can address incorrectly without kernel patches, and in such cases, it helps to re-format or replace the drive with a smaller model.

• 📉 The app crashes immediately after launch: try clearing the app cache or reinstalling it by selecting internal memory.
• 🔋 Increased battery consumption: Constant operation with an external drive may consume more power, check the statistics in the Battery section».
• 📂 Missing Files: If files are invisible, check if the “Only” mode is enabled. USB» When connecting to a PC, or are they hidden in the conductor settings.

Also worth mentioning is the widget problem: Once an app is transferred to a memory card, its widgets may stop showing up on the desktop or not work properly, a well-known limitation of Android, which is associated with the order of loading system services and external drives.

💡

The main reason for the instability of work after transfer is the slow writing speed of the memory card. For heavy games and social networks, it is better to leave internal memory, and on the Internet, it is better to write a memory. SD-Portable photo, music and rarely used utilities.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions