How to save photos and videos to memory card Xiaomi Redmi 8

Owners of the Xiaomi Redmi 8 smartphone often face a lack of built-in storage, especially given that the basic version of the device comes with only 32 or 64 gigabytes of memory. 4K-A high-resolution video or series of images can be a significant amount of time, and the expansion issue becomes critical. The standard 32GB is quickly filled with system files, messengers and applications, leaving minimal space for media content.

Fortunately, the company's engineers have designed a microSD card that allows for a vast increase in available space, ideal for those who like to shoot a lot of videos or store huge music libraries directly on their device, and in this article we will discuss the process of setting up and transferring data in detail.

Properly configured storage not only ensures the safety of your archives, but also the stable operation of the MIUI operating system. Incorrect settings can lead to the camera still writing files into internal memory, ignoring the installed flash drive. Let's look at all the nuances to avoid common errors and effectively manage the space.

Preparation and installation of microSD memory card

Before you configure the software, you need to physically install the drive into the device.The slot in Redmi 8 is combined, which means you can use two. SIM-card SIM-You'll need a special paper clip that comes with the card, or a thin needle to remove the tray.

Carefully inspect the tray before installation: on one side are the contacts for SIM-The card is the notch, the microSD is the notch, and it's important not to confuse the orientation, because the chips have to look one way, according to the circuit that's been struck on the tray itself.

⚠️ Note: Installation or removal of the memory card should only be done after the smartphone is completely turned off.

After you install the tray, turn on the device. Android will automatically detect the new media. Usually a pop-up notification pops up on the screen asking you to configure the map. If there is no notification, go to Settings, then select About Phone and click on Storage. Here you will see a list of available drives.

The operating system will offer two uses: portable storage or internal memory. For our purposes of storing photos and videos, portable storage is the best option, which will allow you to easily transfer files to your computer without losing data and will not limit the installation of applications.

Setup the camera to record to an external drive

Once the card is installed successfully, you need to switch the standard storage for the camera. By default, the Camera app in MIUI stores all the materials in internal memory. To change this behavior, open the camera app and find the menu icon as three horizontal bars in the upper right corner of the screen.

In the menu that opens, select Settings. Scroll down to the Saving or Storage section and the Save toggle will be available. SD-Activate it by moving the slider to the right, and from now on, all new images and videos will be automatically saved to the external media.

• 📸 Open the Camera app and log in to the settings menu.
• 💾 Find the switch "Save to" SD-map and activate it.
• 🎥 Check the status of the recording by taking a test photo or short video.
• 📂 Make sure the file appears in the folder DCIM externally.

It’s worth noting that some shooting modes, such as Short Video or specific filters, may ignore this setting and save data to internal memory due to write speed limits or Xiaomi’s software features.

If you plan to shoot high-resolution video, make sure your memory card has a speed class of at least Class 10 or a UHS-I marking. Slow cards can cause delays when shooting or recording stops.

Transferring existing photos and videos through Explorer

Setup the camera solves the problem of future images, but what to do with the gallery, which is already crowded? To transfer the accumulated files will require a built-in File Manager application. This is a standard MIUI tool that allows you to manage the file system of the device.

Open Explorer and go to Internal Shared Drive, find the DCIM folder and the Camera folder inside it, and that's where all your photos and videos are stored. Select the files or entire folders you need with a long press, then click on the "More" button (three dots) and select "Move" or "Copy".

Once you select the Move action, the system will prompt you to select a destination. SD-map (usually indicated as sdcard1 or by brand name, and create a folder with a similar structure, for example, DCIM. Insert files into a new folder.

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When moving large amounts of data (more) 1000 It is better to do it in small portions of 100-200 This will reduce the load on the smartphone processor and minimize the risk of file system error if the process is interrupted.

It's important to distinguish between copy and move. When you copy, the originals stay in internal memory, taking up space twice until you manually delete them. Operation Move immediately frees up space, but takes longer to execute.

Working with messengers and social networks

A significant portion of the memory on Redmi 8 is not only the camera files, but also media files from messengers such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber. These applications also store the received images and videos in internal memory by default. Unfortunately, with standard Android 10 and above (which runs MIUI), you can not change the save path for each application separately.

But there is an effective way to solve this problem: You can set up automatic cleaning or transfer files through the settings of the messenger itself, if such a feature is available, or use the file manager's capabilities to periodically clean up. WhatsApp can prevent automatic saving of media to the gallery, which will simplify manual control.

• 📱 Go to the settings of a specific messenger (Chats, Data and Storage).
• 🚫 Turn off the option “Media visibility” or “Save to the Gallery».
• 🗑️ Clean the cache folder regularly through the app settings.
• 📂 Manually move important files to folders on SD-map through the conductor.

For Telegram, the situation is simpler: in the application settings there is a paragraph “Use” SD-map" (in some versions or through third-party clients), but more often than not, files are simply downloaded to a shared download folder.Use the "Clear Cache" feature in Telegram settings to delete temporary files, leaving media in chat rooms available for re-download as needed.

⚠️ Note: Application data folders located along the way /Android/data/, Directly moving these folders to a memory card can cause applications to malfunction or lose access to the correspondence history.

The best strategy is to regularly manually transfer valuable files from messenger folders to structured folders on an external medium, which will save important documents and photos without cluttering the system partition.

Memory cleanup and storage maintenance

Even with the memory card installed, the Xiaomi Redmi 8 internal storage requires periodic cleaning.The MIUI system is equipped with a built-in Cleanup tool that helps find duplicates, large files and remnants of deleted applications. Regular use of this tool will prevent slowing down the smartphone.

Note the Download folder. Browsers and many applications save installation files. APK, PDF-And that's where you see the documents and the images, and often people forget about these files, which can take up a few gigabytes. Go through this directory and delete everything that's not needed or move it to an external medium.

Another important aspect is the Gallery basket, where the deleted photos don't disappear immediately, but instead move to the Deleted album, which is stored for 30 days, and to really make room, you have to go to the Deleted album and select the "Clean Up All" option.

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Regular cleaning of the Downloads folder and the Gallery Recycle Bin can free up to 2-3 GB of internal memory, which is critical for the performance of the Android system.

Use the storage analysis function in your phone settings (Settings → Memory). The graph will show which file types take up the most space. If you see "Other" taking up an abnormally large amount, it could be a sign of a bloated cache that can also be safely cleared.

Possible problems and ways to solve them

Users may encounter a number of difficulties in operating. One of the most common is a message «SD-This can happen when you get the card incorrectly extracted or the file system crashes, and in most cases, formatting the card directly through the smartphone menu helps.

Another common problem is low recording speed: If you see a video saying “Too slow” or a recording breaks, the memory card does not meet the speed requirements. Redmi 8, which supports recording video in 1080p and 4K (depending on the modification and firmware), requires a card marked A1 or A2.

It is also possible that after the system update, the camera settings will reset and the photos will be stored again in internal memory, so after each major firmware update, MIUI is recommended to check the camera settings again.

Compliance with these recommendations will allow you to make the most of the capabilities of your smartphone. Proper memory management will prolong the life of the device and eliminate unpleasant surprises in the form of a message “Not enough space” at the most inopportune time.