Question How to move files from 2 internal storage drives?

[david3528]

I have a Moto G and I formatted an SD Card as Internal storage to enable me to move apps to the SD, but I cannot move files from the original internal storage to the SD card. For instance, when I click on audio files and then click on 'move to', I only get to move to the original internal drive. Is there a way to choose to move to the SD card?

 

[Mooncatt]

The whole point of formatting an sd card as internal is so that the system treats it and the main internal storage as one large storage drive. From my understanding you can't select where to put specific files. If you want to do that, you need to leave the SD card formatted as portable.

Not to mention the other downsides of formatting as internal.

 

[david3528]

The whole point of formatting an sd card as internal is so that the system treats it and the main internal storage as one large storage drive. From my understanding you can't select where to put specific files. If you want to do that, you need to leave the SD card formatted as portable.

Not to mention the other downsides of formatting as internal.

Thank you. What are the other downsides of formatting as internal?

 

[Mooncatt]

The card becoming more prone to data corruption is the biggest problem. SD cards are suited for write once/read many uses, such as storing media and other independent files. They can't stand up to the kind of repetitive write cycles that Android performs for system and app uses.

It also encrypts and ties the card to that specific phone. If you remove it, the card would need to be reformatted to use in anything else, even another phone of the same make and model. That also means if the card corrupts like mentioned above, the data on it is gone. You should be keeping backups anyway, but it's especially important in this case.

Google also no longer officially supports this function, and Motorola has been known to not implement it well. If you do decide to revert the card to external storage, make sure to backup any data you want to keep to an external source before you do so. It'll reformat the card in the process, and no telling what is saved on it that you'll lose.