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How to use micro SD card as portable storage in Android Marshmallow?

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This guide shows you how to set up micro SD card as portable storage in Android Marshmallow, and how to convert micro SD card from internal storage to portable storage in Android Marshmallow.

As discussed in this guide, in Android Marshmallow, you can use SD card as:

The pros and cons of each option are discussed in detail in this guide.

This guide will try to show you how to choose to use micro SD card as portable storage in Android Marshmallow devices and how to convert SD card from internal storage to portable storage.

Please note, some Android phone manufacturers may disable the internal storage option and you may find you only have option: portable storage.

For example, in Galaxy S7 and LG G5, you can only use the micro SD card as portable storage even the phones were released with Android Marshmallow.

Two ways to choose to use micro SD card as portable storage in Android Marshmallow?

You have two different ways to choose to use micro SD card as portable storage in Android Marshmallow:

  • when you first install the micro SD card.
  • you can convert a micro SD card from internal storage to portable storage.

The results are identical.

Set up a new SD card to be used as portable storage in Android Marshmallow

When you first install the micro SD card, you should see a notification as shown below.

Two ways to choose to use micro SD card as portable storage in Android Marshmallow

You can tap Set up as shown  above to proceed to set the micro SD card as portable storage.

Tap Use as portable storage as shown below.

Tap Next as shown below.

You will then be asked to whether to move media files (movies, photos, music) to this new SD card.

Tap move later or move now, then tap Next as shown below.

If you choose to Move now, it may take a while for files to be moved to the SD card.

Tap Done to finish the setup.

choose to use micro SD card as portable storage in Android Marshmallow choose to use micro SD card as portable storage in Android Marshmallow

choose to use micro SD card as portable storage in Android Marshmallow choose to use micro SD card as portable storage in Android Marshmallow

How to convert micro SD card from internal storage to portable storage?

If you set the micro SD card as internal storage, you can always convert it to portable storage at any time.

To convert SD card from internal storage t0 portable storage, you need first go to Settings.

Tap Storage & USB.

In Storage & USB page, you can find SD card is combined with phone storage as ‘Device  storage’ as shown below.

But SD card usage is also reported separately as shown below. Please note, when SD card is used as internal storage, you should let the system to decide how to save files.

Tap SanDisk  SD card (I am using SanDisk in the guide) as shown below.

Tap menu key (3 vertical dots near top right) as shown below.

convert micro SD card from internal storage to portable storage convert micro SD card from internal storage to portable storage

 

convert micro SD card from internal storage to portable storage convert micro SD card from internal storage to portable storage

Among the menu items, as shown above, you can find:

  • Rename
  • Eject
  • Format as portable

Tap format as portable.

Now you are prompted to format the SD card. Tap Erase& Format as shown above to format the SD card and convert it to portable storage.

When you  formatting the SD card as portable storage, all files on the SD card will be erased. This means some apps may not work properly after you convert the SD card from internal storage to portable storage.  For these apps, you may have to re-install them.

My computer can recognize my phone after Android Marshmallow update, but does not show any contents of internal storage and portable storage (SD card).

If the phone is recognized, but phone (internal) storage and portable storage are all shown as empty, you need check the notifications on the phone.

In Android Marshmallow, by default, the USB option is charging only. You need set USB option to MTP to see all contents on the phone storage and portable storage.

You can change the USB option from the notification panel on your phone.

My computer shows phone storage contents,  but does not show any contents in SD card under the phone,  although I already chose to use micro SD card as portable storage.

If you can use the SD card as portable storage on the phone, and the computer can show contents in the phone storage, but not SD card, you may have to format the SD card once.

Actually, if 1). your phone is updated to Android Marshmallow  (not pre-installed with Android Marshmallow) and 2). the SD card was installed and used before the update, you should format the SD card once after updating to Android Marshmallow.

This is a known problem for most Android phones. The Android Marshmallow update from most Android manufactures failed to propagate some SD card features.

You just need format the micro SD card once after updating to Android Marshmallow. Using a new micro SD card after the update is NOT affected.

Do you know how to use micro SD card as portable storage in Android Marshmallow device now? Can you convert micro SD card from internal storage to portable storage in Android Marshmallow device?

If you have any questions or problems on how to use micro SD card as portable storage in Android Marshmallow device, or to convert from internal storage to portable storage, please let us know in the comment box below.

The community will help you.

For any questions or problems with Android Marshmallow, please check our Android Marshmallow Guide page.

If your question is about Android Lollipop, please check out Android Lollipop Guide page.



Comments

  1. Hello, i ignored the SD card notification and it auto putted it as portable storage, is there anything i can do to fix that?
    I’m pretty sure there are alot of people who needs help like me, i’m going to try a factory reset to see if it works.

    Reply

  2. I chose portable storage for my sd card in Android Marshmallow. Does this mean all photos and music automatically go to the sd card or do I have to manually move them to a certain folder on the sd card? If I have to manually move them, how do I do this?

    Reply

    • When you set the SD card as portable storage, it should ask you whether you want to move files. After this, files will not be moved automatically. The phone has no idea whether you want to move them to SD card. Also, some apps can only save files in phone storage (for example, WhatsApp).

      For photos taken by your camera, you can set SD card as storage location inside the camera app. Certain photos may still be saved into the phone storage, for example, burst mode photos, 60fps videos.

      Your can move files with any file manager. SD card is treated like USB driver on the PC. Most phones have it’s pre-installed file manager. You can also use third-party file manager apps, for example, es file explorer.

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      Reply

  3. Hello guys and thank you for your post on this regard.
    I have a question: I didn’t know about this new feature and used 16gb SD class 10 card. No problem with that.
    The thing is that now I’d like to upgrade to a 32gb faster card.
    HOW can I do that? at this moment my 16gb card has many apps and data. How to transfer my data to the new card. Is it possible?
    Many thanks in advance for your help.
    Cheers!

    Reply

  5. I have several SD cards with pdfs and other documents I use for reference and I swap these out depending on what I need. My Galaxy S7 Edge keeps creating an Android folder on my cards even though I have all apps and camera set to Internal Storage.

    Is there a way to stop the OS from creating folders on my SD cards?

    Reply

  6. I have a Samsung tab SM-T800 which has recently updated to Android 6.0.1. I cannot now find how to move or choose to put apps or data on my SD card which used to be easy with Lollipop, using the Apps Manager. So I have data on my SD card but the app cannot read it because it is permanently set to use internal storage – the storage option on the app is greyed out and set to internal. Is there anything I can do? I have masses of space on my card but it appears that I can’t use it. And some apps can’t access data which cannot be read by anything else.

    Reply

  7. I read above that Samsung removed the facility for internal storage use of the SD card. Is there any way around this? I am hugely disappointed with my J5 – 8GB gets nowhere these days – and would like to use the Adoptable storage route. Can you point me in the right direction or is it just impossible?

    Reply

  8. Greetings,

    I’m using SD Card as Portable, but having problems detecting it as a storage especially for WhatsApp, how do I get WhatsApp to work on the Portable SD Card on Android Marhsmellow 6.0? I don’t want to adopt it.

    I was considering to root it then use link2SD but I’m not sure yet, please advice me on how to enable this without using adoptable SD card.

    Reply

  9. i have transcend 8gb sd card in android one deviceused as portable storage. during probably after update to marshmello6.0.1 i converted the memory card to internal storage. may have accidentally removed the sd card now the device not recognising the transcend sd card. it is showing transcend sd card as samsung memory card.what to do now

    Reply

  10. I can’t format my SD 128gb sdxc slot card. It gives error message something like java.. What to do? My phone is Sony Xperia Z3. Thanks

    Reply

  11. I have motog2 .I was using as internal to sd card. For some reason I have removed my sd card from mobile.now I I insert memory then I get unsupported sd card msg .I have important data inside how can access data. Please help me…..

    Reply

  12. My samsung galaxy grand prime plus SM-G532F (android version 6.0.1) does not show the option to make the sd card as an internal memory. What should I do now?
    I must need the extra memory.

    Reply

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