Why can't I move photos from my Galaxy S3 phone to my external SD Card?

[Jeani72]

I've followed another post about moving photos from phone to SD Card but when I do it, it says Move Failed and will not move the photos. About 2 months ago, my phone started saving the pictures to the phone instead of the card and I've taken about 130 pictures without realizing it. I'm about to upgrade to the S5 and would like to get these moved to the card before I do. I've also tried to move Video and Music as well but with no luck. According to my phone, I've got a 16 GB SD Card with about 14 GB available space. However, my phone only has about
1.5GB available space. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[SpookDroid]

What are you using to move them? If you're running KitKat, the access to SD Card was somewhat restricted, and only system File Managers can fully move stuff around. If you're using a different File Manager, chances are it won't let you move the files, only copy them.

You could also use a computer to make the move. Have you tried the card somewhere else? Make sure it's not write-protected or damage...

 

[Jeani72]

I'm just simply going into my Apps\My Files\ and finding the photos, etc. here on the device, choosing to select all and then Move. I back up and go in the external SD Card and find the same location and choose Move Here and it failes. I tried to copy but that fails as well.
According to the 'About Phone', it just has Android version 4.4.2. I don't see anything about KitKat.
I did connect to my home PC and tried to move and copy there but it wouldn't go.
Card somewhere else? Like where? How do I know if it is damaged?

 

[SpookDroid]

To test the card you'd need either a PC card reader or just using it in another phone with SD Card support.

But you say you tried connecting to PC and you couldn't transfer the files to your computer either? That doesn't sound good :S If you have issues writing to SD Card it might be the card or the card reader itself, but if it's not letting you transfer your files via USB it might be a bigger issue.

Have you tried using Kies Air to transfer your pictures via WiFi to your computer?

BTW, KitKat is how the 4.4.X version of Android is called. If your phone is on 4.4.2, then you do have KitKat.

 

[Jeani72]

Let me clarify... I can connect via USB and copy photos from the card to the PC and copy from device to PC.
I did have an empty folder on the card that I tried to delete from the PC but was denied because it said it was write protected. Is that my issue when trying to move to card on the phone? How do I fix that?

 

[SpookDroid]

Mmmm... so your card is write-protected. On SD Cards there was a small switch that allowed you to lock or unlock a card, but I don't think there is such a thing on microSD cards. Have you used the card with any adapters lately? I've read that the switch on an SD Card adapter DOES affect the microSD Card, so actually plugging the card into an adapter and flipping the switch can lock/unlock it. The other option I've seen is to format the card

 

[gdio53]

KitKat will prevent any unauthorized program from writing to the SD card, even when connected to a PC. Try using the My Files app to move the files.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[Jeani72]

I've never removed the card from the phone so I guess reformatting is my only option. Not happy about that. Concerned I might not have everything copied from card. Tried again and was having some issues. I'll keep trying before I do any major.

 

[Jeani72]

Thanks gdio53 but that's where it says "move failed" or "copy failed".

I did upload to the verizon cloud and I'm still working on copying to PC as another alternative.

 

[SpookDroid]

If you have issues even copying stuff from the card, it sounds like the card might be having issues itself... I can't tell you how many times I've seen an SD card go bad and lose files without warning...

 

[AxlMyk]

With the PC, change the write protection in properties

AC App on SGS3

 

[Jeani72]

Reformatting the sd card did the trick. I backed up my back ups and went for it. I was able to reformat, then move everything I had on the device to the card. I was also able to pull down a lot from the cloud to restore and all is working much better. I was finally able to upgrade to the S5!
Thank you all for your help and expertise!

 

[SpookDroid]

No problem, glad we could help With the reformat, were you able to move files into the card again?