What exactly can I transfer to the SD Card?

tr1ad

Active member
Jun 16, 2017
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Forgive my noob question, but coming from iOS where all storage is onboard; what exactly can I put on the SD card, and how do I go about this ?

Thanks for taking the time to respond
 
Photos, videos and documents are very commonly moved to the SD. The Camera will use it for default storage if one is installed. Also, there is no "exactly" :)
Apps, with a few limitation, can also be partially moved to the SD to free up room on the phone. If you search the forums for "transfer to SD card" you should find quite a few threads to read over. The SD card does have limitations and risks however.
 
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Personally I use the internal storage for apps and docs and use the sd card for music, pictures and as storage for the camera.

Transfering apps to the sd card can be problematic and 64 GB of internal storage is plenty for me.
 
Yes, most usefull for storing your pictures and audio, movies etc.
You hardly loose them that way and will survive a factory reset.
Apps are a different matter though. They may install a small percentage to your sd card, or maybe half of it.I don't find it usefull for that, but if space is running out then it's handy alright.
 
Here's what I've found useful to store on my SD card:

- Pictures/video
- Google Play music and movies
- Youtube and Netflix downloads

Some apps can be moved to the SD card, but most can't. You can go to the app settings for individual apps to find out if they can be moved, or you can just download an app from the Play store which will give you a list of apps that can be moved, and do the move in bulk. Apps run a bit slower from the SD card, but back when I used to put apps there I didn't really see a noticeable difference.

Note that if you put photos and video on your SD card, someone could potentially remove the card from your phone and access them, even if your phone has been locked. If you're worried about the safety of your personal data, you can encrypt the SD card easily from your phone's lock screen security settings menu. You'll still be able to access your SD card data from a computer when your phone is plugged in and unlocked, but if someone ever steals your phone they won't be able to remove the SD card and access the data. If you ever switch phones you can decrypt the SD card just as easily. However, when I did this while switching from my S7 Edge to my S8+, it failed for some reason and I lost all my photos. I also had to exchange my S8+ under warranty recently, and precisely the same thing happened when I decrypted my SD card. So if you opt to do this, you might want to back your data up to a computer hard drive before switching phones.
 
Personally I use the internal storage for apps and docs and use the sd card for music, pictures and as storage for the camera.

Transfering apps to the sd card can be problematic and 64 GB of internal storage is plenty for me.

What he said. Also, microSD cards tend to be slower than internal storage, even the fastest ones, so moving apps can slow down your phone.

With a 256GB card, I have my entire music on my phone. That still gives me approx 80GB freespace on my card, and I still have 38GB of internal storage.
 

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