How to transfer applications to a memory card on Xiaomi: the complete guide

Owners of budget and mid-budget smartphones Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO often face a critical shortage of built-in storage. Modern applications take up gigabytes of space, and the MIUI or HyperOS operating system itself requires a significant amount of volume to work steadily. When internal memory is filled, the device begins to work slower, and installing new programs becomes impossible.

Fortunately, most models support microSD card installation. However, the standard Android mechanism on Xiaomi devices often does not allow you to simply move an application from internal memory to an external drive. This is done for the safety and stability of the system, but for the user becomes a serious obstacle. In this article, we will discuss all the available solutions to the problem, including hidden settings and specialized software.

Before you start manipulating the file system, you need to understand the risks. Incorrect movement of system components can lead to unstable operation of the operating system. We will consider safe methods that will help free up precious space without losing the warranty and functionality of your gadget.

⚠️ Warning: Before any partitioning activity, make sure to back up your important data. Formatting a memory card will destroy all files on it.

Preparation of a memory card and smartphone

The first step is to get the external drive ready, not every microSD card is good for installing applications on it, the speed of reading and writing directly affects the speed of programs, and if you use a slow card of class 4 or 6, applications will run for a long time and can freeze.

Insert the card into the slot of the smartphone. The MIUI system usually immediately suggests choosing the mode of use: as a portable storage or as internal memory. For our purposes, it is better to choose the portable media mode for the moment to access files from the computer, but in the future we will consider the option of adapting to internal storage.

• 📱 Make sure your smartphone is at least 50% charged before you start work.
• 💾 Use standard memory cards UHS-I or higher for speed.
• 🔒 Copy important photos and documents to your computer or cloud before formatting.

After the physical installation, check if the phone sees the drive. Go to the storage settings and make sure the card volume is displayed correctly. If the system suggests formatting the card, agree, but remember that this will delete all data.

Standard method of transfer through settings

Some versions of Xiaomi's firmware still have the ability to migrate data in a routine manner, which is the most secure, but it doesn't work for all applications; software developers determine whether they can move it, and system applications and important Google services are not portable.

To check for availability, open your smartphone settings. Find the app section and select a specific program. If portability is possible, you'll see an active "Move" or "Change" button.

The algorithm of actions is as follows:

If the transfer button is inactive or not, it means that the application developer has banned such an operation, in which case the standard system means will not circumvent the restriction, but there are more advanced methods that require activation of the developer mode.

Activation of Developer Mode for Extended Functions

To access hidden memory management features, you need to activate the developer menu, which is a standard Android procedure that requires no root rights and is secure for the device, and allows the system to force you to offer portability of applications that are normally blocked.

To activate, look for the "About Phone" option in the settings. Click seven times in a row on the "MIUI Version" or "OS Version" line. The system will tell you that you have become a developer. Then a new "Additional" or "Extended Settings" section will appear in the main settings menu, where you will select "Developers".

In the list that opens, you need to find the item “Force allow apps on external drive” (Force allow apps on external drive). Activate this switch. Once this option is turned on, it is recommended to restart the smartphone for application of changes.

⚠️ Note: Once activated, some applications may not work stable if they are not optimized to run with the SD-Keep an eye on the system.

Now, when you try to change the storage space in your application settings, the list of options available should expand, you can choose a memory card even for programs that did not previously support this feature, but the success of the operation still depends on the architecture of the application itself.

Using ADB commands for forced transfer

The most effective method, even on newer versions of Android, is to use the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) debugging bridge, which requires connecting a smartphone to a computer, and allows you to change the global configuration of storage, making the system consider the memory card part of the internal partition.

To get started, turn on USB debugging in the Developer Menu we activated earlier. Connect your phone to your PC with a cable. You need to install the Android SDK Platform Tools drivers and platform on your computer.

Open the command line in the ADB tool folder and enter the command to check the connection:

adb devices

You'll see a request for debugging permission on your smartphone screen, confirm it, and then you'll type in a command that changes the default type of application installation:

adb shell pm set-install-location 2

Here, 2 is the priority of the external memory card, 0 is the default setting (automatic choice), and 1 is the priority of the internal memory, and after the command is executed, all new applications will try to install on the card.

It's worth noting that this method doesn't automatically transfer applications that are already installed, it just sets the rule for future installations, and you still have to use the settings inside each application or special utilities to migrate existing programs.

Formatting the map as an internal storage

There's a native Android feature called "Adoptable Storage," which allows you to format your memory card so that it becomes an integral part of the system, and after that, the card is encrypted and can't be read on other devices without re-formatting.

On Xiaomi devices, this feature is often hidden by the manufacturer, but you can try to activate it through your storage settings. Select your memory card, click on the menu (three dots) and find the option "Storage settings." If there is an option "Internal Storage", select it.

The system will warn you that all data will be deleted and recommend using a quick card. The formatting process can take several minutes. Once complete, the system will start to transfer data and applications automatically.

• 🚀 The card becomes encrypted and tied to a specific smartphone.
• 📉 Interface speed may decrease if the card is slower than internal memory.
• 🔄 When resetting phone settings, the data on the map will also be lost.

This is considered the most radical method. It really solves the problem of space scarcity, but it makes the memory card useless for use as a normal flash drive. It will not be possible to extract files through the card reader on the computer.

💡

Use memory cards with a write speed of at least 90MB/s (V90 or U3) if you plan to format them for internal memory.

Alternative solutions and work with cache

If the body of the application itself is not possible or feasible, you should pay attention to cache. Many heavy programs, such as Telegram, WhatsApp or graphics editors, store gigabytes of temporary files. SD-map.

In Telegram, for example, the way you save files changes in the data and memory settings → save path. On WhatsApp, this is done through chat settings. By moving media files, you free up a significant amount of space without affecting the application system files.

There are also file managers, such as Total Commander or Files by Google, that allow you to analyze your space, and they help you find forgotten downloads and duplicates of photos, which often take up more space than the programs themselves.

⚠️ Note: Do not delete files from folders Android/data and Android/obb manually, if you are not sure of their purpose, this can lead to resetting of game progress or application launch errors.

Regularly cleaning the cache through the standard storage settings menu also helps keep the system on top. MIUI has a built-in Security app that has a garbage cleaner feature. Use it weekly.

💡

The combination of media transfer, cache clearing, and cloud storage is often more effective than forced transfer of system applications.

Possible problems and solutions

Users may face a number of challenges in optimizing memory, often because apps stop updating through Google Play or crash when they are launched, because the memory card’s response rate is lower than the embedded chip and the app’s timeout system considers it to be getting stuck.

If the program stopped working after transferring, try to return it to internal memory. In some cases, reinstalling the application with the already selected memory card as the main storage helps, and it is also worth checking the card for errors using the SD Maid utility or analogues.

Another common problem is that widgets from ported apps disappear from the desktop, a well-known feature of Xiaomi launchers: To return the widget, remove it and add it again through the widget menu.

If your smartphone stops seeing the memory card after formatting it for internal storage, try re-inserting it and resetting it. In rare cases, you need to reset your phone completely to make the encrypted partition work properly.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)