Can i format SD as internal AND have access to it?

[Flonne]

Device: HTC Desire 12.
OS: Android 7.1.1 (Nougat)

The more i try android Nougat, the more it seems like it's a downgrade from marshmallow.

I formatted my external SD as internal storage.
I can now move apps to external SD (great!).

However:

• The external SD doesn't appear on the PC when connect phone, just the original internal storage.
• The external SD doesn't appear in the file explorer of the phone.

In the storage option in the settings i can see the external SD...but that's the only place where it will appear.

As can see, the external storage is completely inaccessible no matter from where i try to enter.

I can, however, send app data there.

How can i make the external SD card show after i formatted it as internal storage?

In android marshmallow (5.0) i could use external SD as internal storage AND have access to it as if it was a normal storage.

 

[Rukbat]

The card is either external storage or an extension of internal storage. If you set it as internal storage, you can't access it as an SD card any more. And if the card goes bad, you may end up having to do a factory reset - which is one reason using an SD card as internal storage is bad). It's meant as a temporary measure, if the phone has what's now become limited storage, and you want to keep using it for another few months until you can buy a new phone, it's not meant as a way of expanding the storage capacity of a phone indefinitely.

 

[Flonne]

The card is either external storage or an extension of internal storage. If you set it as internal storage, you can't access it as an SD card any more. And if the card goes bad, you may end up having to do a factory reset - which is one reason using an SD card as internal storage is bad). It's meant as a temporary measure, if the phone has what's now become limited storage, and you want to keep using it for another few months until you can buy a new phone, it's not meant as a way of expanding the storage capacity of a phone indefinitely.

You may be misunderstanding what i want to do.

I don't want to use external SD exclusively as internal storage, i want the ability to move some heavy apps there but it will still be an external storage so i can access it.

I have been doing that with android 5.1 for years with zero issues, so i am pretty sure it's possible. I could keep light apps on the limited internal while keeping heavy app data on the external storage.


What i need to know is how to do it on android 7.1 (which seems VASTLY inferior to 5.1 but can't go back to 5.1) because there doesn't seem to be a direct way.

 

[ManiacJoe]

Android is slowly killing off the ability to put apps on the SD cards with each new release, on purpose.
Leave the apps on the internal storage.
Put your media files (music, videos, pictures, documents) on the SD card.

For the apps that use lots of data space (camera, games, GPS, maps, etc.) check the settings in the individual apps. Many of the apps will let you move their data to the SD card while leaving the app on the internal storage.

 

[LSMFTT]

I have the same issues as the OP "Flonne" with a Nokia 3.1, Android 8.1 branded "Android One", with a Samsung SD card. Your screenshots are virtually identical to what I see in all of the circumstances you depict. I'm new to smartphones and it seems to me that the phone hardware and Android OS software advertising aimed at non-techies obfuscates or even misleads prospective purchasers into thinking that SD cards formatted internal or adoptable are functionally identical to the factory installed internal memory. And then we new users get a big dose of reality when we learn we've wasted money on minimally useful phones and SD cards. That information is buried in 3rd party sites like this one, not out in the open from the manufacturers. Business ethics is an oxymoron.

 

[Rukbat]

it seems to me that the phone hardware and Android OS software advertising aimed at non-techies obfuscates or even misleads prospective purchasers into thinking that SD cards formatted internal or adoptable are functionally identical to the factory installed internal memory.

That's probably the case, since internal was meant only as a temporary measure for phones with small storage capacity (on the order of 8GB total) until you could afford to buy a larger phone. It wasn't meant to take a phone with 16GB and add a 128GB card, so you could continue to use it indefinitely.

And then we new users get a big dose of reality when we learn we've wasted money on minimally useful phones and SD cards. That information is buried in 3rd party sites like this one, not out in the open from the manufacturers. Business ethics is an oxymoron.

Businesses want you to buy new phones. Except for Samsung, companies that make phones don't make money when you buy SD cards. (And even Samsung makes a lot more when you buy a new phone.)

Bottom line:
If you want to use an SD card as an SD card, to transfer files from one device to another, or to store specific files, format it as an external or portable card. If you want to extend the life of the phone for a short time, until you buy a phone with more storage, format the card as internal storage. And don't be disappointed if the SD card fails in a few months. the lifetime eMMC storage, the kind used inside the phone, is much longer than SD storage. And, since the lifetime is measured in write cycles, and formatting the card as internal means that any app that ends up on the card (and Android apps have to constantly keep track of their current state) is writing to it constantly, in effect "using it up".

But of course the manufacturers won't tell you that - they want you to buy phones with more storage.

 

[Mhizy Me]

Device: HTC Desire 12.
OS: Android 7.1.1 (Nougat)

The more i try android Nougat, the more it seems like it's a downgrade from marshmallow.

I formatted my external SD as internal storage.
I can now move apps to external SD (great!).

However:

• The external SD doesn't appear on the PC when connect phone, just the original internal storage.
• The external SD doesn't appear in the file explorer of the phone.

In the storage option in the settings i can see the external SD...but that's the only place where it will appear.

As can see, the external storage is completely inaccessible no matter from where i try to enter.

I can, however, send app data there.

How can i make the external SD card show after i formatted it as internal storage?

In android marshmallow (5.0) i could use external SD as internal storage AND have access to it as if it was a normal storage.

May I know how you format your SD card as internal storage? I am using Oppo A71 Android 7.1.1 and I am experiencing the same situation. The only difference is my SD card does not show up even on settings in storage. I cannot move app data also.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! In order to format a card as Internal Storage, the phone has to support the Adoptable Storage feature -- and not all phone manufacturers support it. When you insert a new SD card, does it give you the option to format it as either Portable or Internal Storage? If not, then the phone doesn't support the feature.

 

[mustang7757]

Device: HTC Desire 12.
OS: Android 7.1.1 (Nougat)

The more i try android Nougat, the more it seems like it's a downgrade from marshmallow.

I formatted my external SD as internal storage.
I can now move apps to external SD (great!).

However:

• The external SD doesn't appear on the PC when connect phone, just the original internal storage.
• The external SD doesn't appear in the file explorer of the phone.

In the storage option in the settings i can see the external SD...but that's the only place where it will appear.

As can see, the external storage is completely inaccessible no matter from where i try to enter.

I can, however, send app data there.

How can i make the external SD card show after i formatted it as internal storage?

In android marshmallow (5.0) i could use external SD as internal storage AND have access to it as if it was a normal storage.

Sd card not showing because its being treated as internal storage , that's wht you see shared internal storage. When you go back to using as external it will show sd card .