How to transfer a game from your phone to a memory card in Xiaomi: 3 proven ways

Why the Games Don't Want to Move to SD-map?

You downloaded a new game, but the phone says "Not enough memory" even though you have inserted it. SD-map 128 This is a typical situation for owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO. The fact is that the manufacturers of smartphones on Android (including: MIUI) There are two reasons why applications can be artificially restricted from being transferred to external drives, SD-cards slower than internal memory eMMC/UFS, And that can lead to game lags. And secondly, Google with Android. 6.0 Tightened rules for external media for security reasons.

But the good news is that you can get around these limitations! In this article, we’ll break down three working methods for porting games to a memory card in Xiaomi — from standard MIUI tools to hidden features for advanced users. It’s important to understand that not all games support portability (especially online projects like PUBG Mobile or Genshin Impact), but for most offline games (such as The Room, Dead Cells), the methods will work.

Before you start, check out two things:

1. Yours. SD-The card is formatted as an internal storage (not as a portable storage device).
2. The phone has a UHS-I (U1/U3) or higher card, otherwise the game will slow down.

Method 1: Standard Transfer through MIUI Settings

The easiest method is to use the built-in Transfer function SD-map MIUI. It works for most games, but has limitations: some apps (such as those with anti-piracy protection) block this option.

Step instructions:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find the game on the list and tap it.
3. Select Warehouse.
4. If the button is moved to SD-The card is active – press it and wait for the process to be completed.

⚠️ Note: After a transfer, some games may run slower, especially if they are not SD-It's cheap or worn, and not all of the game data will move, and often only a fraction of the files (like cache) will go to the map. APK remains in the internal memory.

Is the card formatted as an internal storage?|Is there a vacant space on SD (minimum 2 GB)|Does the game support transfer (button is active)|Speed class map (U1/U3)-->

Method 2: Use the Adoptable Storage feature (for Android 6-9)

If your Xiaomi is running Android 6.0-9.0 (MIUI 8–11, you can make the system perceive SD-This is a technique called Adoptable Storage, which allows you to put games directly on the map. Note that you can't retrieve the card without losing data!

How to turn on:

1. Put it in. SD-phone-card.
2. When the notice “New” appears SD-map" select Set up → Internal memory.
3. Follow the instructions of the system (the map will be formatted!).
4. After formatting, restart the phone.

Now, when installing games from Google Play, the system will offer to save them to the game. SD-The disadvantages of the method:

• 🔋 The card will be encrypted and cannot be used on other devices.
• 🐢 The speed of the game can drop by 10-30% (depending on the class). SD).
• ⚠️ When the map is removed, the games will stop running.

Method 3: Transfer over ADB (for power users)

If the first two methods fail, you have to manually transfer it over ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which requires you to connect your phone to your computer, but it works even for games where the transfer button is locked.

Step-by-step:

1. Turn on Developer Mode on your phone: Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (shap 7 times).
2. Return to Settings → Additional → For developers and enable USB debugging.
3. Connect your phone to your PC, install ADB-tools, and open the command line in the adb.exe folder.
4. Enter the command to check the connection: Adb devices should appear the name of your device.
5. Find out the game’s batch name (for example, through App Inspector in the Play Market).
6. Run the port command (replace com.game.package with real name): adb shell pm set-install-location 2 adb shell pm move-package com.game.package

⚠️ Some games (especially with the DRM-may stop working after transferring through ADB. Not all versions either. MIUI support this command – in the new firmware Google blocked some of the functions ADB safe.

💡

If the pm move-package command is giving an error, Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_INVALID_INSTALL_LOCATION]", Try to turn off optimization first. MIUI for this game in the battery settings.

Compatibility table with Xiaomi models

Not all methods work on all devices, and the following are compatibility data for popular models (relevant to MIUI 12-14):

What to do if the game is not postponed?

If none of these methods worked, try alternative solutions:

• 📱 Cache Clearing: Sometimes games take up gigabytes of cache, which can be manually deleted via Settings → Annexes → [Game] → Warehouse → Clear the cache.
• ☁️ Cloud Storage: Move saves to Google Drive or Mi Cloud, uninstall the game, and then install it again by downloading saves.
• 🔄 Link2SD: App from the Play Market that allows you to link games to SD-map (requires root).
• 🎮 Emulators: For older games (e.g, GTA San Andreas: You can use emulators like this. PPSSPP, allow you to choose the installation path.

If the game categorically refuses to move, the last option remains - to buy a phone with more internal memory or use it. OTG-drive-storage USB-C). For example, Samsung T7 Shield 1TB solves the problem of space shortage radically, although it costs more SD-map.

💡

New Xiaomi models (Android 12)+) Google and MIUI limiting the transfer of applications to the maximum SD-If the game is critical, consider buying a 256GB phone or using cloud storage.

FAQ: Frequent questions about SD gaming portability in Xiaomi