Xiaomi Redmi 9 smartphone owners often face a lack of space after a few months of active use of the device. Built-in 32 or 64 gigabytes quickly fill up with heavy games, messengers like Telegram and WhatsApp, as well as accumulated social media cache. MIUI system, although optimized, does not always effectively manage file allocation, leaving the user only about 40-50 GB of real available memory out of the box.
Fortunately, the Redmi 9 features a hybrid slot that allows microSD cards up to 512GB or more, a solution that offers ample opportunities for storing photos, videos and music, but the situation is more complicated with software installation. The Android operating system in recent versions limits the direct transfer of executable files to an external drive for security and stability.
However, there are proven methods to circumvent these limitations and effectively use external memory as an extension of internal memory, and in this article we will discuss in detail how to turn a regular flash drive into a full-fledged analogue of internal storage, what risks this process entails, and how to properly prepare the device for modifying the file system without losing data.
Preparation of memory card and diagnostics of storage
Before you start any manipulation of the file system, you need to make sure that the drive used is serviceable and compatible. SD-The card can withstand the intense writing and reading required for applications to work. Cheap models of nameless brands can quickly fail or significantly slow down the smartphone, causing the “freeze” of the interface.
It is recommended to use UHS-I or UHS-II cards from trusted manufacturers such as SanDisk, Samsung or Kingston. Read speed should be at least 80 MB/s and write speeds from 20 MB/s. If the card has been previously used in other devices, it should be formatted to avoid file system conflicts.
⚠️ Attention: The formatting process will completely destroy all data on the map. Be sure to copy important photos and documents to your computer or cloud storage before starting the procedure.
To test the actual speed and health of the drive, you can use specialized utilities such as AIDA64 or SD Insight, which will show not only the declared volume, but also the real speed of linear reading, which is critical for the stable operation of heavy applications.
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Use memory cards of a class of speed 10 (U1) or higher. Slower cards (Class 4 or 6) will lead to long downloads of games and lags in the interface.
Standard method of transfer through Android settings
In some cases, the Android operating system allows you to transfer some of the application data with regular means, without the need for root rights or complex configuration. This method does not work for all programs, since developers decide whether to place their files on an external medium.
Once you install the drive, go to the device settings menu. Find the Apps or Apps and Notifications section, then select All Apps. In the list that opens, find the program you want to move, such as a heavy game or a navigation device.
- 📱 Click on the name of the application to open the page of information about it.
- 💾 Find the “Storage” or “Memory” section inside the app menu.
- 🔄 If transfer is possible, the “Change” or “Move to” button will be active. SD-map».
If the transfer button is missing or inactive (gray), then the developer has forbidden the installation of this application on an external medium, in such a situation, standard MIUI methods will not solve the problem, and you will need to use more advanced tools, which will be discussed below.
Use the function "Adoptable Storage"
The most effective way to make a system see a memory card as part of internal storage is through Adoptable Storage. In Xiaomi smartphones with MIUI shells, this option is often hidden by default, but it can be activated through a developer menu or special commands, the essence of the method is to encrypt the memory card and combine it with the internal partition.
To activate this feature on Redmi 9, you often need to use a computer and the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) platform, which allows you to send hidden commands to the system that are not available through the standard settings interface. Before you start, make sure that the phone has USB debugging enabled in the Developer Menu.
☑️ Check before memory expansion
After connecting your smartphone to your PC, execute a command to force the card to be transferred to internal storage mode. Please note that after this procedure, the card will no longer be read on other devices without prior formatting.
adb shell sm partition sdcard:XXX private 100Where XXX is your card ID, which you can learn through the adb shell sm list-disks command, this process will completely re-mark the drive file system, making it an integral part of the system.
⚠️ Note: Once the card is in internal storage mode, it will not be possible to remove it without losing data and settings of applications.
Application of third-party utilities and ADB-team
If manually typing commands through ADB seems too complicated, you can use specialized assistant apps that automate this process. One popular solution is Activity Launcher, which allows you to access hidden menus of the system, or specialized scripts for ADB AppControl.
With Activity Launcher, you can find a hidden storage management menu. When you search for an app, type in the word "storage" or "storage" and find the item that's responsible for physical storage. There may be an option for formatting as an internal drive, which is hidden in the standard MIUI menu.
An alternative method is to use the pm set-install-location command, which does not encrypt the card, but changes the priority of installing new applications by default, a less radical method that does not require formatting the map, but also does not allow you to transfer the entire installed programs.
adb shell pm set-install-location 2A value of 2 indicates that the system prefers an external drive, but many modern applications ignore this flag if their manifest is rigidly written to install only internal memory, so this method is effective mainly for older versions of programs or games that do not require deep integration with the system.
What happens if the ADB command is not executed?
Application limitations and compatibility
Even after a successful memory expansion, users may find that some applications refuse to work correctly, due to the Android architecture, where mission-critical components must load at a high speed that even a fast one can not always provide. SD-map.
The most common problems are with banking applications, desktop widgets and Google system services, which require minimal delays when accessing files, and when placed on an external medium can cause instability of the entire smartphone or simply fly out at launch.
| Type of application | Recommended seat | The risks of transfer |
|---|---|---|
| Games (cache + data) | SD-map (after extension) | Long loading of levels |
| Messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram) | Internal memory. | Loss of history, failures of notifications |
| Social media | SD-map | Slow scrolling of tape |
| Banking applications | Only the inside | High risk of blockage or failure |
| Navigators (OsmAnd, Maps) | SD-card) | Delay in map redrawing |
It is important to understand that the transfer of the “body” of the application itself (APK-The file and the cache transfer are different things, and often the main weight is the cache (maps, media files, temporary data), which can be transferred manually through the file manager, leaving the application itself in the system.
Optimization of work after data transfer
Once you have moved some applications to a memory card, the system may take time to index files, in the first hours of operation of the smartphone, you can increase the load on the processor and heat the device, this is a normal MIUI reaction to changing the structure of the storage.
To ensure stability, it is recommended to restart the device at least once after all the manipulations, this will allow the system to correctly mount new partitions and update the paths to executable files. If you notice that the phone has started to work slower, check the speed of the memory card again.
It is also worth defragmenting regularly (although this happens automatically in the F2FS or EXT4 file system) and clearing the cache of transferred applications. The accumulation of junk files on external media can occur faster due to the peculiarities of the writing algorithms.
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The stability of the smartphone after transferring applications depends on the quality of the memory card. Do not save on the drive, if you value the speed of the Redmi 9.