How to transfer applications to a memory card on Xiaomi Redmi 9A

Owners of budget smartphones like the Xiaomi Redmi 9A often face a critical shortage of built-in storage. Android operating system and pre-installed MIUI software take up a significant portion of the available 32 or 64 gigabytes, leaving the user with a minimum of free space. When the memory is full, the device starts to run slower, and installing new games or instant messengers becomes impossible.

The only effective solution is to use an external microSD drive. However, the standard Android mechanism does not always allow you to simply drag and drop a program to an external medium with one click. In this article, we will discuss all available methods for expanding memory, from standard settings to using debugging over USB.

Preparation of the smartphone and the choice of memory card

Before you start manipulating the file system, you need to make sure that the hardware is compatible. Redmi 9A supports memory cards up to 512 GB, however, for stable application operation, it is recommended to choose drives with a write speed of at least Class 10 or UHS-I. Slow cards can cause programs that you plan to transfer to freeze.

Install the card in the appropriate slot of the combined tray. It is important to note that in this model the slot is hybrid: you can use either two. SIM-card SIM-A card and one flash card, and after the physical installation, the system automatically recognizes the media.

Immediately after the device is discovered, MIUI will suggest you choose the type of use. To port applications, it is critical to choose the “Use as internal storage” mode (if available in your firmware version) or simply format it as portable storage so that the system receives the rights to write.

The standard method of transfer through the MIUI settings

The safest way to do this is to use embedded shell tools, and not all installed programs can be moved, because developers often block this feature for system components, but many games and utilities allow you to change the storage location.

To start, go to the settings menu. You need to find the memory management section. The path may vary slightly depending on the Android version, but it usually looks like: Settings → About Phone → Storage or Settings → Memory.

In the list of installed applications, select the one that takes up the most space. Click on it to open. If transfer is possible, you will see an active Move or Change button next to the type of storage.

• 📱 Go to Settings. → Annexes → All applications.
• 💾 Select a heavy app from the list (e.g. a game).
• 🔄 Click on the “Memory” or “Storage” button inside the app menu.
• 📲 Select the “Change” option and specify yours. SD-map.

Keep in mind that using this method, only additional data (cache, resources) are moved to the map, and the main executable.apk can remain in internal memory. This frees up space, but does not solve the problem completely.

Using a Developer Mode for Forced Transfer

If the standard menu doesn't allow you to move the program you want, you can activate the hidden Android feature, which causes the system to consider the external card as part of the internal storage by default. Be careful: once this function is activated, removing the card without first "unmounting" will lead to errors in the application.

To activate hidden settings, you need to turn on the developer mode. Find the "MIUI version" item in the About Phone section and quickly click on it 7-10 times in a row until a notification of successful activation appears.

Next, go to the advanced settings: Settings → Additional settings → For developers, in a long list of options, find “Force allow apps on external.” Change the value to “External drive” or «SD-map».

⚠️ Warning: After enabling this feature, do not remove the memory card while the phone is on.This can damage the application database and lose progress in games.

After changing the setting, it is recommended to restart the device. Now, when installing new applications, the system will automatically prompt you to install them on the memory card, if the volume allows.

Transfer of multimedia and data messengers

The bulk of memory on smartphones is not the apps themselves, but their data: photos from WhatsApp, Telegram cache, uploaded videos from TikTok. Transferring this data frees up much more space than moving executable program files.

For the Telegram messenger, you can configure automatic saving of media files directly to the map. Open the application settings, go to the Data and Memory section» → «The way of preservation. Please indicate your SD-map.

In the case of WhatsApp, the procedure requires manually moving the folder. Use the built-in MIUI file manager or a third-party explorer. Find the Android/media/com.whatsapp folder or just WhatsApp at the root of the memory and move it to an external medium.

Remember that manually transferring folders requires care, and if you move the system folder in the wrong place, the application may stop seeing its files.

💡

Use the Cleanup feature in Xiaomi’s Security app before transferring it, which will delete temporary files, which will speed up the process of copying data to the map.

Advanced method: Use ADB-team

For users who are not afraid to work with a computer, there is a most effective method, which allows you to forcibly transfer any application, even if the developer has banned it by standard means, USB-cable and minimum set of tools ADB (Android Debug Bridge).

First, enable USB debugging in the Developer Menu on your Redmi 9A. Connect your phone to your computer and make sure that the debugging permission appears on the smartphone screen – it must be confirmed.

On your computer, open the command line in the ADB folder. Enter a command to get a list of all packages to find the exact name of the application you want to move:

adb shell pm list packages

Once you have found the name of the package (e.g., com.example.game), use the following command to transfer:

adb shell pm move-package com.example.game external

This command forcibly changes the storage flag for the app, but it’s worth noting that once the device is rebooted, Android can automatically return the app to internal memory if it finds the external storage unstable.

⚠️ Attention: Use ADB-Introducing the wrong packet name can cause errors in the system or other applications. Always check the syntax of the command.

Problems and solutions

It can be difficult to run, and users often notice that after a system upgrade, all applications are reset back to internal memory, which is normal behavior for Android, which is trying to optimize speed, because internal memory is faster than external memory.

Another common problem is the “Not enough space” error, even when there are free gigabytes on the card, which may be due to the file system. Make sure the card is formatted in exFAT or FAT32 format, which is best supported by mobile devices.

If the phone stops seeing the map or the apps don’t start, try the following:

• 🔄 Turn off the phone, remove and re-insert the memory card.
• 🧹 Check the card for errors through the computer (chkdsk command).
• 📉 Remove newly installed apps that may have caused conflict.

In some cases, re-formatting the card through the smartphone menu helps, remember that formatting will completely delete all data, so save important files in advance.

💡

Using a high-quality UHS-I memory card is critical to the speed of app launches. Cheap cards without speed labeling will slow down the smartphone.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)