[Closed] android storage issues

Watching with interest - same problem here.

I have the same issue about App updates not moving onto the SD card but I store photos on the card and both Gallery and Google Photos see them there.

For Google Photos there's a setting required. Open the app and hit the hamburger menu.

TBH I auto-upload all photos and don't really care if they're on the phone.

Download ES Explorer and it will give you an indication of what is using the space internally/on the SD card as well as give you a clean-up option.

Do you use WhatsApp?

If so, every time you send a pic/ video/ file, Android creates a duplicate copy of whatever you sent. If you sent the same picture 20 times, it saves 20 copies of it. Absolutely bizarre.

I found this was taking up a crazy amount of internal memory. Use file manager to browse to the WhatsApp folders and you'll see the sent folders. Check in there and there could be lots of duplicate files clogging up space.

scotroutes - Member
TBH I auto-upload all photos and don't really care if they're on the phone.

This is the correct way. Or as my mate found out in lisbon a few year ago, you'll be rather upset when someone grabs your phone out your hand a sprints off link usain bolt.

You can always view through google photos with an internet connection anyway.

If you're already using Google photos, why not back all your pics up and remove them from the phone? Easy to do with the 'free up space' function in Google pics.

I periodically download all my pics and vids to my back up on the desktop.

but I store photos on the card and both Gallery and Google Photos see them there.

For Google Photos there's a setting required. Open the app and hit the hamburger menu.

TBH I auto-upload all photos and don't really care if they're on the phone.

Download ES Explorer and it will give you an indication of what is using the space internally/on the SD card as well as give you a clean-up option.

Do you use WhatsApp?

If so, every time you send a pic/ video/ file, Android creates a duplicate copy of whatever you sent. If you sent the same picture 20 times, it saves 20 copies of it. Absolutely bizarre.

I found this was taking up a crazy amount of internal memory. Use file manager to browse to the WhatsApp folders and you'll see the sent folders. Check in there and there could be lots of duplicate files clogging up space.

ideally tho id just like it all set up so all my photos and vids are readily available to view without having to keep looking at cleaning stuff out.

thanks a lot

EDIT:

If you're already using Google photos, why not back all your pics up and remove them from the phone? Easy to do with the 'free up space' function in Google pics.

I periodically download all my pics and vids to my back up on the desktop.

Google Photos
Hamburger menu
Settings
Backup & Sync

Go to my files
All files
Tap Device storage
Hold on one you want to move
Sd card will be an option
Click move to there.

Google Photos
Hamburger menu
Settings
Backup & Sync

says back up device folder is 'gallery'.

when to back up is set to roaming, strangely. should it be 'while charging only'?

and if its already set to backup/sync my media to gallery, why cant i see my photos in there now i moved them to sd card?

thanks

EDIT:

Go to my files
All files
Device storage
Hold on one you want to move
Sd card will be an option
Click move to there.

Standard problem with Android is favouring internal storage (Win Phone, not that anyone uses it, also has similar problem), though it's partly down to the relatively slow speed on an SD card compared to the internal flash memory. Some apps just don't work well on SD card, so default tends to be internal and some can't be moved.

Worse is apps in firmware that can't be moved or deleted. Especially annoying if you have an operator branded phone crammed with bloatware.

Was supposed to be the intention that internal storage was for running things, and SD was for data. That would be fine if manufacturers would spec the phones with decent amount of internal storage.

Anyway, you might have apps on internal storage that are consuming a lot of data. You can go through each app under settings and I think clear data for them. It might reset the app and have to log in again though.

Photos you can move in various ways, or just sync to Google/OneDrive/whatever and then delete them off the phone. Set the photo app to store on the SD card by default, and do the same for any app or phone setting that has a setting on where to store data.

I've had the same problem for a while. Massive SD card with loads of space, that no apps will use.

Doesn't help that lots of services almost require you to have their app rather than use their website. I just want to use your website to get a small piece of information once a month or so, no I don't want your sodding app!

Ahsat had the same problem with her HTC M8. Never found a solution though. The new HTC M10 is using the storage correctly though

Not sure what release of Android you are using but the latest 'clean' version allows you to format the sd card as internal memory.

If the HTC gives you that option back everything up and do that

Mount it on a PC via USB. Move all your photos off the phone. Delete the .thumbnails folder inside \DCIM.

Not sure what release of Android you are using but the latest 'clean' version allows you to format the sd card as internal memory.

Not all OEMs turned on Flexible Storage in their config so its hit or miss depending on device 🙁

Not sure what release of Android you are using but the latest 'clean' version allows you to format the sd card as internal memory.

If the HTC gives you that option back everything up and do that

and should i ever upgrade phones, can it be formatted back to a normal card?

Mount it on a PC via USB. Move all your photos off the phone. Delete the .thumbnails folder inside \DCIM.

thanks

how do i ensure its all in the cloud

its a chromebook

Use the Chomebook to log into your account. Can you see any photos?

Use the Chomebook to log into your account. Can you see any photos?

anyways, the fact that theyre all in 'photos' means theyre backed up yep? which means im good to go?

now before i format, do i need to move all the apps back onto internal memory? if so they may not fit, so i guess i just format and then reinstal anything im missing afterwards, that right?

thanks

was all ready to go ahead with this but then started googling, and seems theres a lot of negative opinions and bad experiences of doing this.

cards reading data too slow, cards failing and thus a dead phone etc. im a bit frit to do it now.

going back to basics, as my gallery doesnt seem to show any of my photos now theyre on the sd card, are there any other 'picture/photo' apps that will show all content rather than using the gallery? and any way of photos automatically being saved to sd so i dont have to keep moving stuff over?

and any way of photos automatically being saved to sd so i dont have to keep moving stuff over?

Not exactly the same but I use Microsoft's Onedrive which automatically uploads photos to my Onedrive cloud folder. Works well for me.

What gallery app are you currently using?

I've got Google Photos & Quickpic on my phone.

The camera is storing to SD card & all of the pics I've taken are visible in both of those apps.

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Have you tried running ccleaner? Should free up a fair bit of space

Not exactly the same but I use Microsoft's Onedrive which automatically uploads photos to my Onedrive cloud folder. Works well for me.

What gallery app are you currently using?

allthepies..... you may be correct.

Have you tried running ccleaner? Should free up a fair bit of space

not sure microsoft will work on an android phone, would it?

Works fine on my Moto e, also worked fine when I had a work iphone.

Me and the mrs use Dropbox which automatically uploads a photo or video when taken. So now and again I just clear my phone.

thinking bout the onedrive and dropbox, arent they just the same thing as my google 'drive' and google photos? so just uploading to the cloud, which im doing anyway?

just like an easy way to view all my photos whenever i want to, even offline.

Google Photos appears to be backing up the OPs photos so that's already taken care off.

A dead SD card is a rare occurrence and would only affect any Apps you'd moved onto it. All the "phone" Apps are always on the Internal memory and can't be moved. Any photos that are on it can be downloaded should the card fail.

Just move over as much as you can and get on with it ya big jessy

Browse it from windows, delete all pics, vids etc. make sure things like podcasts are removed after listening or do a full factory reset.
You can go to my aps in the play store and select what you want on fresh.

A dead SD card is a rare occurrence and would only affect any Apps you'd moved onto it. All the "phone" Apps are always on the Internal memory and can't be moved.

get on with it ya big jessy

Yesterday you were asking how to move all the photos you've ever taken ever onto the SD with no notion of whether they were being backed up anywhere or not. Today having confirmed that your data is safe you're concerned about the card failing?

sadexpunk - Member
thats not how i understand it, reading up on it suggests the card becomes part of the phones gubbins, so the phone doesnt work if the cards taken out (or fails)

Nah, I'm pretty sure this is not correct.
The phone will function without the SD card in it, even if some of the apps won't work. None of the 'operating system' for want of a better word will be on the card.
You can take the card out & try it.....

Although it's a bit of a pain in the arse, I would get all your files backed-up and then work out what apps you want to keep & what aps you can do without.
Then do a complete factory reset on the phone.

Once it's up & running again, only re-install apps that you really have to & make sure anything that stores files, writes them to the SD card.

I have just replaced my 4 year old Xperia T, which was running Kitkat (I think) and was severely limited for internal storage that could be used for apps.
Before deciding to replace it, I did a factory reset around Christmas time & only re-installed the essentials which helped a lot with how well it ran.
Battery life was still rubbish, mind.....

sadexpunk - Member 
not sure microsoft will work on an android phone, would it?

Lots of Android and iOS apps now from Microsoft, and some are better than their Windows Phone equivalent.

MS is concentrating on services and apps now rather than phones, so they're making them for the most popular ones.

Bonus with OneDrive is if your main PC and/or laptop is Windows, you get the inclusive OneDrive storage from that, plus if you buy an Office365 subscription you get 1TB of storage on top of the Office suite, plus Word, Excel etc you can use on the phone also.

And SD card failure - had it loads. microsd in particular. Some I can recover, some have been terminal death. Various brands. eMMC often used for internal storage is more reliable and also faster typically.

Anyway, just keep everything in the cloud and then you can kill the phone and/or card, just replace and it's all still there.

thats not how i understand it, reading up on it suggests the card becomes part of the phones gubbins, so the phone doesnt work if the cards taken out (or fails)

Yesterday you were asking how to move all the photos you've ever taken ever onto the SD with no notion of whether they were being backed up anywhere or not. Today having confirmed that your data is safe you're concerned about the card failing?

gaining more internal storage has resulted in the photos not being available in my gallery.
i wouldnt be too bothered at all about an sd card failure (now i know my photos are safe) but i would if the card was integral to my phone working or not.

thats why im interested in the different tangents for achieving the same thing, formatting the card as internal storage, different apps to view photos, or camera settings to auto save photos to card, that sort of thing.

but however i get there, my end goal is to free up a full internal memory, and have my photos easily available.

Nah, I'm pretty sure this is not correct.
The phone will function without the SD card in it, even if some of the apps won't work. None of the 'operating system' for want of a better word will be on the card.
You can take the card out & try it.....

EDIT:

*cough*
BOLLOCKS
*cough*

That article is about Adoptable Storage. You don't need to go down that route to create more space using your current setup unless it's to remove the occasional hassle of moving apps over when you've updated them.

ah sorry, thought it was exactly the same thing, 'adopting' your sd card to be internal storage......

Ah. To follow-up on my earlier post.....having read the article you link to....

Yeah, you need to be careful with newer versions of Android that will allow adoptable storage.

Basically there are two choices if your phone lets you use it....

One is having the card act as more phone memory to store/run apps etc.
The other choice is just using it as a file dump for pics/music etc.

For what you want, I would stick to using it as the second option, which I think is called 'portable device' when given the option as to how you want to use the card.

You mentioned earlier about moving your pics to the SD card & them no longer being available. How did you do this move....?
It almost sounds as if your phone is set-up to use the MicroSD memory as more internal memory rather than file dump mode, but you've somehow shoved the photo's onto the card & now they can't be 'seen' by the gallery apps.

If you DEFINITELY have the files you want backed up & all your contacts etc. stored on Google etc. I would do a factory reset & when the whole thing comes back to life, set the SD card to 'portable device' rather than 'internal memory' if you get the option & go from there.

hmmm.......im a bit confused now, altho its immaterial as ive just taken the advice ^^^ to format the card as internal.

just so i can try and understand it all tho, im assuming theres a difference between internal storage and adoptable, as scotroutes says. then the only other option is portable, which is just a bog standard sd card, am i right?

stumpy, my phone was just set up how it came originally, a 16Gb HD and i put a 32Gb SD card in for files.
ive found that apps wont easily store their files on the card tho, they try and store them internally and its become a bit of a PITA with the internal storage filling rapidly, even tho i still consider myself a relatively light user compared to some i know.

in my settings now, my storage reads.....

13.71Gb, total used of 45.20 Gb

phone storage 13.73 used of 16.00Gb
sandisk sd card 56.00kb used of 29.20Gb. (it was around 10Gb before)
so phone storage is the same as expected, and the card has been wiped as expected......

ive deselcted all the whatsapp stuff from being shown in gallery so i can concentrate on camera piccies. theres nowt in there now. i took onepic just now and it shows in the gallery, so it looks like itll work from now. its not toooo important as i can find stuff in google photos, but is there a way of getting the google photos back into being able to be viewed in gallery? id prefer it if so but its no biggie.....

thanks for your help, much appreciated.

Do you know what version of Android your phone is running? If not, go to "Settings>About Phone" and look for the "Android Version".

If it's lower than 6, then you don't have this adoptable storage option as it was only introduced in 6, I think.

It's all quite confusing because the terms used to describe the memory seems to have changed, as the usage has changed (i.e. phone, internal, external etc).

You mention that the phone memory is reading as:

total X of Y, which is then split into
phone storage
sd card

If you can see this, then I don't think you have adoptable storage activated. I say this because when I first got my P2, I didn't realise what the differences or ramifications of choosing 'internal memory' or 'portable device' actually were. I chose 'interal memory' and then found that there was no option within the camera device to choose the storage location as 'sd card' and going into file explorer showed no SD card, just the total phone memory & SD card lumped as one clump of memory.
I changed it to 'portable device' and hey presto, the SD card appeared in file manager & I could chose it as the default storage location for photos....

If you go to the pic that you say you have taken and look up it's details (in Google Photos hit the 'i' button below the image). You should be able to tell from this where it is being stored; SD card or internal memory.

If it says something like storage/[b]emulated/0[/b]/folder name/folder name....... then it's being stored on the phone memory, not on the SD card.
if it just says storage/folder name/folder name......or storage/emulated/1/folder name/folder name..... then it's on the SD card.

but is there a way of getting the google photos back into being able to be viewed in gallery? id prefer it if so but its no biggie.....

Do you mean getting photos back from the cloud?....I am not sure in truth as I haven't sent any photo's to any kind of cloud storage....but I imagine there would be an option within Google Photo's to 'sync' photo's and drag them back from cloud storage to the device.....

android version is 6.0 and as i mentioned above, ive already formatted to internal storage as the option was there and i was advised to.
it seems fine so far. i should maybe have tried to save the sd pics id moved onto some sort of removable drive so i could copy and paste later to my gallery but hey ho, too late now. still hoping i can pull them back from cloud to device but after looking in both gallery and google photos, i dont see an option.

pic i took is in /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/100MEDIA so that suggests its internal storage, but..... i dont officially have any external storage/card any more anyway as i formatted it all to internal.

thanks

hmmm storage issues again :-/

i thought id sorted it by formatting the sd as internal, but for some reason im getting the 'phone storage is low' and storage space running out' messages that wont shift.
if i go to settings/storage, i have 17.92Gbof 45.2Gb used, phone storage 15.76 of 16Gb used, and 2.16 of 29.2Gb used on SD card. yet i thought they were both being used as internal now.

if i tap the SD cards settings, i have the option to format as portable, so its obviously still seeing it as internal.

frustrating......

any ideas?

ta

bumpity bump?

Erm....dunno.

I saw this yesterday, but because my SD card is set to 'portable device' rather than 'internal storage' I wasn't really able to have a dig around on my phone and see what's different.

Do you have a breakdown of what is using that memory?
Mine for example says:

Device Storage - 16.3Gb Total used of 32Gb
OS occupied Space 8.13 Gb
Internal Storage 8.17Gb of 23.87Gb

If I interrogate that further (click on internal storage), then 5Gb are Apps.

SD card is on 2.3Gb of 29.05 Gb

If you go into your apps - can you check whether they are being stored on the SD card, or whether they are going on the phone memory?

As an aside - I have just notice that Spotify is taking up almost 2Gb, but I didn't think I had any downloaded music - need to investigate that....I must have downloaded a playlist without realising.

yep, internal has system at 7.89Gb, apps 5.34Gb etc
SD has apps 2.05Gb

i know this from before, some apps can be moved to SD, some cant, but even if you move them, when theyre updated they go back to internal.

thats why i thought 'format card as internal' as advised above ^^^ would have seen both the internal [i]and[/i] SD as 40-odd GB of internal memory.

may be time for a new phone but its frustrating having so much spare space on the card and not being able to use it. or rather the fact that 16Gb of internal gets full so easily and ****s things up for me.

thanks