New storage from SD Card not being fully recognized in my Moto G6?

[js10]

The storage on my Moto G6 is just about completely full, and in what I thought was a good break, I was actually given a 32 GB SD from someone else. It seemed to fit in the slot perfectly well, and, sure enough, now when I go to the storage settings page, it says only 68% used, and then 63.77 GB used of 64.00 GB Internal Shared Storage and then for SD Card, .96 GB used of 31.04. This would indicate that the process worked.

HOWEVER, whenever I try to add new pictures, or update an app, I get the message that my storage is full. So it's like my phone knows that this extra storage is there, but won't let me utilize it! Does anyone here know what might be causing this and how to resolve it? Thank you.

 

[VidJunky]

You didn't specifically mention it so I have to ask, did you format the card in/with this device?

How are you trying to move these items? Through what app or by what connection is what I mean.

If you change your camera storage from internal to SD, do the pics get saved to the SD or are they still being stored on the internal memory?

Depending on how you were trying to move existing images to the SD, I would probably start by re-formatting the SD to give it a fresh start, even if you did this when you installed it.

 

[mustang7757]

The storage on my Moto G6 is just about completely full, and in what I thought was a good break, I was actually given a 32 GB SD from someone else. It seemed to fit in the slot perfectly well, and, sure enough, now when I go to the storage settings page, it says only 68% used, and then 63.77 GB used of 64.00 GB Internal Shared Storage and then for SD Card, .96 GB used of 31.04. This would indicate that the process worked.

HOWEVER, whenever I try to add new pictures, or update an app, I get the message that my storage is full. So it's like my phone knows that this extra storage is there, but won't let me utilize it! Does anyone here know what might be causing this and how to resolve it? Thank you.

You shouldn't let your internalstorage get that high , look to offload them to cloud storage, but also make sure camera is set to load to sd card instead of internal , check camera settings for that .

 

[js10]

You didn't specifically mention it so I have to ask, did you format the card in/with this device?

Okay, I did complete a process in which I went to Settings, then Storage, then tapped the card's name, went to Storage Settings, and then chose Format as internal. That is when it started to recognize it on some level as described above (as in giving me the only 68% full message).

Anything beyond that and you do lose me a bit. It just seems to me like this shouldn't be that hard, especially once I do whatever formatting I need. I mean, now that there is extra storage, when I take a new picture, why can't my phone just use it to store the new picture just like it always did with its original storage before the card was installed. Is there really no way to essentially make it go on automatic?

 

[B. Diddy]

Moto is notoriously bad at implementing Adoptable Storage. I've seen a lot of posts here about Moto phones still reporting low storage even after formatting an SD card as Internal Storage -- it seems like their firmware still tries to compartmentalize where things get saved, rather than truly integrating the SD card as part of Internal Storage.

What brand is the SD card? Do you know where your friend got it? Counterfeit cards are pretty common, especially if the card was purchased from some random online seller (as opposed to a well-known electronics retailer). A counterfeit card has much less true storage than what it reports, and when the phone tries to save more data to the card than it can really handle, the data can become corrupt. See here to learn how to detect a counterfeit card, but since you already formatted the card as Internal Storage, you'll probably have to reformat it in the PC first before running the tests: How to Spot a Fake MicroSD Card and Avoid Being Scammed. Before taking the card out of the phone, go to the Settings>Storage menu and make sure to migrate any important data back to Internal Storage, then change the card back to Portable Storage.

 

[mustang7757]

Okay, I did complete a process in which I went to Settings, then Storage, then tapped the card's name, went to Storage Settings, and then chose Format as internal. That is when it started to recognize it on some level as described above (as in giving me the only 68% full message).

Anything beyond that and you do lose me a bit. It just seems to me like this shouldn't be that hard, especially once I do whatever formatting I need. I mean, now that there is extra storage, when I take a new picture, why can't my phone just use it to store the new picture just like it always did with its original storage before the card was installed. Is there really no way to essentially make it go on automatic?

Undo format to make sd card as internal storage

 

[js10]

What brand is the SD card? Do you know where your friend got it? Counterfeit cards are pretty common, especially if the card was purchased from some random online seller (as opposed to a well-known electronics retailer).

I obviously can't say for sure 100%, but I really don't think that's the case. I do know the local store from which it was purchased. Now, on a negative note, it's a store that sells phones and accessories but doesn't actually specialize in them, but on a more positive note, I do believe the business is reputable. Now, of course, it's possible that THEY received a counterfeit card and sold it thinking it was legit. I don't know.

 

[js10]

Undo format to make sd card as internal storage

Wait, I'm confused. I DID format the card as internal storage. To undo the format, I would have to make it portable storage. Is that what you're suggesting I do?

 

[mustang7757]

Wait, I'm confused. I DID format the card as internal storage. To undo the format, I would have to make it portable storage. Is that what you're suggesting I do?

Yeah , the sd card doesn't have the write speeds as internal storage , it will cause performance issues, crashes , would leave it as portable only .

 

[js10]

Okay, I did so, and now it is back to saying that it is using 100% of storage, although the SD is listed below. So, assuming that's the way it should be, the question, then, is how do I get it to actually USE that storage? That is, let's say I want to take new pictures or update an app. How do I make sure they get placed on it? Thanks again.

 

[mustang7757]

Okay, I did so, and now it is back to saying that it is using 100% of storage, although the SD is listed below. So, assuming that's the way it should be, the question, then, is how do I get it to actually USE that storage? That is, let's say I want to take new pictures or update an app. How do I make sure they get placed on it? Thanks again.

In camera settings do you see storage locations ? My screen shot

 

[Mooncatt]

That is, let's say I want to take new pictures or update an app. How do I make sure they get placed on it? Thanks again.

SD cards are best for stand alone files, so changing the camera settings to save there is fine. Apps always default to internal storage, and they should be left there. Even if you could move it, not all of the app moves, any updates will kick it all back to internal storage, and having apps moved to the card can quickly corrupt it. SD cards are not built to handle the constant rewriting of data that happens with Android Apps, which is why it's never recommended to move them there or use the internal format option for the card.

Leave apps on the phone, stand alone files on the card.

 

[js10]

Okay, getting closer. Or maybe not. I did change that setting. Obviously something took effect, because I took a new picture and got a message about granting Google Photos access to an SD card, and of course I said yes. However, there's still no indication that anything has changed. For example, when I try to delete an image from the gallery, it says "Delete item permanently? Your device is low on space..."

Which is fine as long as there's a way put and retrieve images on the new card so that there's no reason to delete images from the "old" storage. And when I swipe down on the screen, I still get the android system "Storage space running out. Some system functions may not work" message.

Again, I just can't believe that there is so much involved here! I guess it's as B. Diddy said about Motorola being bad at this.

PS. Oh, and by the way, it still won't let me update apps.

 

[mustang7757]

Okay, getting closer. Or maybe not. I did change that setting. Obviously something took effect, because I took a new picture and got a message about granting Google Photos access to an SD card, and of course I said yes. However, there's still no indication that anything has changed. For example, when I try to delete an image from the gallery, it says "Delete item permanently? Your device is low on space..."

Which is fine as long as there's a way put and retrieve images on the new card so that there's no reason to delete images from the "old" storage. And when I swipe down on the screen, I still get the android system "Storage space running out. Some system functions may not work" message.

Again, I just can't believe that there is so much involved here! I guess it's as B. Diddy said about Motorola being bad at this.

PS. Oh, and by the way, it still won't let me update apps.

It won't let you update because your storage is full , I'm surprised it doesn't more issues then this. Have you looked in your camera app settings?

 

[js10]

It won't let you update because your storage is full , I'm surprised it doesn't more issues then this. Have you looked in your camera app settings?

Okay, again I'm confused. Yes, my storage is full, in a way. But I thought that the entire point of adding new storage is to essentially make it "unfull." And what camera app setting are you referring to here? Thanks.

 

[mustang7757]

Okay, again I'm confused. Yes, my storage is full, in a way. But I thought that the entire point of adding new storage is to essentially make it "unfull." And what camera app setting are you referring to here? Thanks.

Yeah we trying put you on the right track by not allowing the sd card as internal storage, so we got that cleared up , now in post i believe #11 i used a screenshot from my Samsung Note 20U camera app settings when i open it , you see storage location in my screenshot ? Does your camera when you open to settings have that?

 

[js10]

Okay, maybe a little miscommunication here. That's what I was referring to when I said above "I did change that setting." Now under "Storage" it does say "SD card." So, that's why it's a bit frustrating that the phone is still acting as if my storage space is running out when I feel like I took action to take care of it!

 

[mustang7757]

Ok so we don't get any more confused here lol
In post #8 you did mention you made SD card into internal storage , that's where we all saying revert it back the SD card to portable.

The camera app settings also have option to place pictures in internal storage or SD card .


Hopefully that clears it up, 2 different things .





So yes to the camera settings being set to SD card when pictures taken ?


Yes you changed the SD card back to portable?

 

[Mooncatt]

Now that your card is formatted properly, have you done anything to manually transfer files over to it? Android will not automatically migrates files to the card, so you'll have to do it yourself to free up internal storage.

The proper way to do this is to use the copy command, not the move command. If something glitches and the paste part of the function fails, the copy method retains the original files to try again. The move method deletes the original and holds it in memory until written to the new storage location, meaning data loss if it fails.

The gallery app should be able to do this for all of your photos and videos, typically by long pressing the photo(s) or album/folders to select them, then a menu option to start the copy command. For other things like PDF files or other stand alone files, those would need either their own apps to transfer files or a file browser app that works similar to what you get on a PC.

Once you have verified everything you want is successfully transferred, then go back to those files on internal storage and delete them. You may want to remove the SD card during this process to prevent deleting the new copies on the card.

If you do a lot of text messaging, check for any sort of auto delete option in the texting app and make sure it is on. I ran out of space once in large part due to not auto deleting texts. You should also go through your app manager to see if any apps are running away on storage use. Some social media apps are bad about caching anything and everything, eating up storage space. If you see any with abnormally large cache, clearing said cache can potentially free up lots of space (though may just rebuild it again over time if you keep using them).

It's also worth noting that 64 GB internal is getting to be on the small end of storage these days. I personally recommend 128 GB bare minimum on a phone, and that's only if it has an SD card slot. Since many phones no longer offer that slot, I would recommend 256 GB+ depending on someone's usage. Depending on how much you have going on, this may become a case where it's simply time to consider upgrading to a phone with more storage. Apps only get bigger over time, taking up more of your limited storage, which means this could become a reoccurring problem for you.

 

[js10]

Ok so we don't get any more confused here lol
In post #8 you did mention you made SD card into internal storage , that's where we all saying revert it back the SD card to portable.

The camera app settings also have option to place pictures in internal storage or SD card .


Hopefully that clears it up, 2 different things .





So yes to the camera settings being set to SD card when pictures taken ?


Yes you changed the SD card back to portable?

Well, I'll put it this way. In the Device Storage page, it says Portable Storage about SD card. In the camera settings page right under Save Settings (as it appears on my menu), it says SD Card under Storage. So I believe that's yes and yes.