Owners of budget and mid-budget smartphones Xiaomi Redmi and Poco often face a lack of built-in storage. MIUI or HyperOS system takes up a significant part of the stated 64 or 128 gigabytes, and modern applications and games require more space. Standard installation of programs on an external drive in recent versions of Android is often unavailable or works incorrectly, which causes frustration among users.
Fortunately, there's a proven method to get around manufacturer limitations, and by using Force Adoptable mode through USB debugging, you can make the phone perceive the memory card as part of the system partition, allowing you to install any application, transfer cache and media files, significantly extending the life of the device.
It's important to understand that this process requires care. All data on the map will be deleted during the formatting process, so back up photos and documents in advance. We'll look at a step-by-step algorithm that will help you safely integrate an external drive into your smartphone file system.
Preparation of equipment and selection of the correct memory card
Before you start the software part, you need to make sure that there is quality equipment. The speed of your smartphone after the modification depends on the class of the memory card. Cheap drives with low write speed can cause severe interface lag and long downloads of applications.
To successfully implement your plan, you will need a UHS-I or higher card, preferably from proven brands like SanDisk, Samsung or Kingston. The minimum recommended volume is 32 GB, but for full use it is better to choose 64 GB or more. Also make sure that the slot in your Xiaomi Redmi supports cards of this volume.
In addition to the smartphone and the card, you will need a computer running Windows, macOS or Linux. USB-It's supposed to support data transfer, not just charging, and cheap charging-only cables will keep the computer from seeing the phone in debugging mode.
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Use the original cable out of the box or a certified thick-vein counterpart. Thin cables often fail to hold a stable connection when transmitting data, which can interrupt the formatting process.
Configure the developer mode and debug over USB
To interact with deep Android settings, you need to activate a hidden menu, without which the computer cannot give commands to the smartphone, a simple process that requires precise hitting menu items in MIUI.
Go to Settings and select About Phone. Find the MIUI Version (or OS Version) and quickly click on it 7-10 times in a row. You will see a pop-up notification that you have become a developer. Now go back to the main settings menu, go to Additional → For developers.
In the list that opens, find the USB Debugging Switch and activate it. The system will warn you of the risks, we agree. It's also worth checking if USB Installation is enabled, although basic debugging is enough for our task. Connect the phone to the computer with a cable.
⚠️ Attention: When you first connect with debugging enabled on the smartphone screen, a confirmation request will appear RSA-Make sure to tick "Always allow from this computer" and press "OK" or the computer won't be able to execute the commands.
Once connected, the phone may have a message on its screen that says, "USB Mode." Click on it and select File Transfer (MTP) to ensure a stable connection, and if the computer has produced a characteristic device connection sound, the first step is a success.
Installation and configuration of the ADB platform on your computer
To carry out the team that will transform SD-Map to system memory, we'll need a utility ADB (Android Debug Bridge is a standard developer tool that lets you control an Android device from a PC. SDK Not necessarily, a minimum set is sufficient.
Download the Platform Tools archive from Google's official website or a trusted source. Unpack the folder to the root of the disk, such as in C:\adb, so that the path is short. Open the folder, press the Shift key, and right-click on the empty space, selecting "Open PowerShell window here" or "Open terminal."
Enter the adb device command and press Enter. If you see your device serial number and device status, the link is set. If it says unauthorized, unlock your phone screen and confirm access. If the list is empty, check the drivers or cable.
What to do if your computer can’t see your phone?
Now the system is ready to enter special commands. Don't close the terminal window until the end of the procedure, as we'll need to do several sequential steps to change the partition structure.
Formatting a map through ADB Command Line
This is the most important stage where the transformation magic happens, and we use the sm command to manage the storage, and you need to know your memory card ID first.
adb shell sm list-disksYou'll get an ID, which usually looks like a disk:179.64 or a similar set of digits. Write it down or copy it, which you'll need in the next step. Note that the numbers may differ across Xiaomi devices.
Now run the command to format and create a partition. The syntax is as follows:
adb shell sm partition disk:XXX.XX private 100Instead of disk:XXX.XX, substitute your ID. 100 means that 100% of the card volume will be given to applications. If you want to leave some for photos (so they can be seen on a PC without retrieval), you can specify 80 or 90, but for maximum effect it is better to use the full volume.
☑️ Pre-formatting verification
Once you input the command, it takes from a few seconds to a couple of minutes, and the phone screen may go out or blink, while the system creates a new file structure and encrypts the partition. Don't turn off the cable at this point!
Setup of data and application transfer
Once the command is successfully executed, the phone will automatically restart or prompt you to set up a new storage. In the Settings → Memory menu, you will see that the amount of internal memory has increased.
However, the old apps won't be automatically migrated. You need to go to Settings. → Annexes → All applications. Select a heavy game or program, press Memory, and select Change or Move "SD-map" or "Internal Memory" (depending on version) MIUI The wording may differ, but the essence is one – move to the external section).
Also, you should move media files. Open the file manager, highlight the photos, videos and documents that were in the internal storage, and move them to folders on the new internal storage" SD-This will free up precious gigabytes for the system to work.
| Parameter | Before modification | After modification |
|---|---|---|
| Available volume | Built-in only (for example, 30 GB) | Built-in + SD (for example, 30 + 60 GB) |
| Installation of applications | Only in the inner memory. | Automatically on SD with a lack of space |
| Reading speed | High (eMMC/UFS) | Depends on the class of the card (UHS-I/II) |
| Security of data | Standard. | Encryption of the partition (data cannot be read on PC) |
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Once formatted, the card is encrypted by binding to a specific phone, inserting it into another smartphone or reading it through a card reader on a PC without resetting.
Possible problems and ways to solve them
Despite the simplicity of the instructions, there may be nuances in Xiaomi’s ecosystem, with some users experiencing a phone that stops seeing apps installed on the card after a reboot, which may be due to file system features or Media Storage service failures.
If you notice strange behavior, try clearing the Storage app cache in the developer menu or just restarting the device again. Also make sure the memory card is free of physical damage. Cheap cards can quickly fail with the intense writing characteristic of the system partition.
Rarely. MIUI It can block external storage after updating the firmware, in which case it helps to re-execute the partition command or, in extreme cases, completely reset the phone settings and then re-configure it. SD-map.
⚠️ Warning: If you decide to remove the memory card, all the applications installed on it will stop working, and their icons may disappear from the desktop.