How to transfer applications to a memory card in Xiaomi: 3 proven ways

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones sooner or later face a shortage of internal memory — especially if the device is budget (with 32 or 64 GB of storage). Even after cleaning the cache and removing unnecessary files, the system stubbornly says: “Memory is full.” The solution seems obvious: transfer applications to a microSD card. But here users are waiting for a surprise: in MIUI this feature is either hidden or works selectively.

In this article - current ways to transfer applications to SD-map 2026 year, including circumvention of restrictions MIUI 14/15. We will discuss the official method (for supported applications), manual transfer through the ADB, It's important that not all applications can be ported, some (e.g. system or copy-protected) will remain in internal memory.

Why Xiaomi restricts the portability of applications to SD-card?

Xiaomi’s MIUI-based smartphones (especially newer models) often block the ability to migrate applications to an external drive, and the reasons are the Android architecture and the manufacturer’s policies:

• 🔒 Data security: Annexes to the SD-It is easier to steal or replace the card, as external drives are not encrypted by default (unlike internal memory).
• ⚡ Performance: Class Memory Cards UHS-I class 10 slower-than-built flash memory (UFS 2.2/3.1), What can slow down applications.
• 📱 Optimization MIUI: Firmware MIUI 12+ It's using internal memory for caching and background processes, and porting applications violates that logic.
• 💾 Storage format: Modern apps use Android App Bundle (AAB), which is not always compatible with external storage.

However, the restrictions can be circumvented – partially or completely, depending on the smartphone model. For example, on the Redmi Note 10 Pro or POCO X3 Pro, the transfer works steadily, and on flagships (Xiaomi 13 Ultra) may require ADB.

⚠️ Attention: Transfer of applications to SD-The card can cause them to work unstable (departures, update errors).We recommend using this method only for rarely used programs or games with large cache (for example, Genshin Impact or Call of Duty Mobile).

Method 1: Official portability through MIUI settings (for supported applications)

The easiest method is to use the built-in MIUI function. It is suitable for applications that allow portability (usually games, messengers or utilities), System programs (such as Google Play Services or MIUI Launcher) will not be able to transfer.

Steps:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select the app you want to migrate (such as Telegram or Spotify).
3. Slip on Warehouse.
4. If the option is available, a button will appear to Move to SD-map (or modify) → SD-map).
5. Confirm the action and wait until the process is completed (may take up to 5 minutes).

If the buttons are moved to SD-No card, so the application doesn't support this function. In this case, go to Method 2 (via the app). ADB).

Method 2: Transfer over ADB (for all applications, including system)

If the official method didn’t work, use Android Debug Bridge (ADB), a debugging tool that lets you manually specify where to install an app, which works on all Xiaomi models but requires a computer connection.

What you need:

• 🖥️ Computer with Windows/macOS/Linux.
• 📱 USB-cable (preferably original).
• 🔧 Installed drivers Xiaomi and ADB Tools.
• 🔒 Included Debugging by USB on a smartphone (Settings) → The phone. → Version. MIUI → 7 times to tap to unlock for developers).

Step-by-step:

1. Connect your smartphone to your PC and select File Transfer (MTP) mode.
2. Open the command prompt (or Terminal on macOS/Linux) in the adb.exe folder.
3. Enter the command to check the connection: adb devices must appear serial number of the device.
4. Find the package name of the application (e.g. WhatsApp is com.whatsapp) via App Inspector or the command: adb shell pm list packages | find "whatsapp"
5. Run the port command (replace com.example.app with the real package name): adb shell pm set-install-location 2 2 - code for external memory (SD-map).
6. Reinstall the application – it will automatically install on the memory card.

To return the application back to internal memory, use the command:

adb shell pm set-install-location 0

where 0 is the internal storage.

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If the pm set-install-location command doesn’t work, try an alternative method:

adb shell pm move-package com.example.app

⚠️ Note: After transfer through ADB Some apps may stop updating through Google Play. To fix this, temporarily return them to internal memory, update them, and then migrate back to the internal memory. SD-map.

Method 3: Formatting SD-The card is an internal memory (adoptable storage)

If your Xiaomi supports Adoptable Storage (available on Android 6.0–9.0), you can combine the feature" SD-In this case, the system will perceive it as part of the main storage, and applications can be installed there automatically.

Pros of the method:

• ✅ Applications are installed on the map by default.
• ✅ There is no need to manually transfer each application.
• ✅ It works even for system updates (if there is enough space).

Cons:

• ❌ The memory card will be encrypted and will not be read on other devices.
• ❌ When you remove the map, the applications will stop working.
• ❌ Not supported by MIUI 12+ flagship.

How to turn on Adoptable Storage:

1. Put it in. SD-smartphone-card.
2. Go to Settings. → Warehouse.
3. Tap it on. SD-map → Three dots (menu) → Storage settings.
4. Select Internal Memory → Clean and Format.
5. Once formatted, the map will become part of the internal storage.

Alternative ways to free up memory on Xiaomi

If the applications are transferred SD-The card is not helpful or impossible, try these methods:

• 🧹 Cache Clearing: Go to Settings → Warehouse → Clear the cache. Releases up to 1-3 GB.
• 🗑️ Removal of unnecessary APK: B Settings → Find the old versions of the program (for example, com.android.chrome_old.apk) and remove them.
• ☁️ Cloud Storage: Move photos and videos to Google Photos or Mi Cloud (gives up to 5GB for free).
• 🔄 Cache dumping MIUI: B Settings → The phone. → Resetting settings → Clear all cache data. Does not delete personal files, but releases up to 500MB.
• 📦 Lite versions of apps: Install lightweight versions of instant messengers (such as Messenger Lite or Facebook Lite).

For games with large cash (for example, PUBG Mobile or Genshin Impact can be manually moved to the folder Android/obb on SD-a file manager (e.g., Mi File Manager or Solid Explorer:

1. Copy the folder with the game cache from /Android/obb on SD-map.
2. Delete the original folder.
3. Create a symbolic link (requires root rights): ln -s /storage/XXXX-XXXX/Android/obb /sdcard/Android/obb

Frequent mistakes and their solutions

When transferring applications to SD-Xiaomi users are facing typical problems. Let's analyze the most common problems:

If the application has stopped updating after the transfer, try:

1. It is temporarily restored to the internal memory.
2. Update through Google Play.
3. Move it back to SD-map.

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The most stable applications are those that are transferred to SD-class A2 (For example, SanDisk Extreme or Samsung EVO Cheap cards without class marking often cause errors.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions