3 less-known Reasons Why Can’t you Move Apps to SD Card!

This post has been Last Updated 4 months ago by Kunal

Can’t Move Apps to an SD Card? And today, I will show you how to save internal storage on Android and why you can’t move apps to an SD card.

This is a common issue that most people get on their Android devices. Unfortunately, many people suffer from this, but I will show you why this is happening and Save the Internal storage.

Why Can’t You Move Apps To Sd Card?

If you’re unable to move apps to an SD card, it’s likely due to device incompatibility or an updated Android version. It’s important to note that the latest Android versions, specifically those above 7.0 (Nougat), no longer support the ability to move apps to an SD card or any external storage.

Why Can’t I Move Apps to SD Card?  

You cannot move apps to an SD card or external storage for many reasons. 

I agree that devices have limited internal storage, and when we bring an SD card, especially for moving apps, you find that you can’t move apps to an SD card, Right? And that’s what the worst part is! 

And here are why you can’t move apps to an SD card. I have also guided you below on how to save as much internal storage as possible using the three hacks.

There are a few main reasons: The Developer did not allow the app to be shifted into the SD card and use widgets of the apps on the Sd card because developers removed this function in 2017-18.

Reason 1: Device Problem 

Sometimes you can’t move apps to an SD card because of your device’s compatibility with moving apps to external storage.

This thing has been faced by many smartphone users nowadays because the phones that are recently launched don’t have support to move apps to memory cards. And one of the examples that I would like to give you is the Realme brand. Their smartphones don’t support moving apps to external storage until you make your SD card internal storage by formatting it.

Reason 2: Developer’s Choice 

As Android developers, they have an option not to move their apps to SD cards. Because sometimes, developers don’t want people to move their apps to external storage after installing them into the device, there might be some reasons. They add Code in their app so that we can’t move apps, which is the “android: installation” attribute in the <manifest> element.

On that note, let’s move on to the third reason why you can’t move apps from internal storage to an SD card.

There’s another term known as Editors Choice on Play Store. Have you heard that?

Reason 3: Moving Wrong Apps

As you all know, we can move the big apps and games, even the tiny apps, to external storage or so-called “memory cards.” But have you ever thought this wouldn’t be possible if you could move the camera app to internal storage or the Play Store to internal storage?

There are pre-installed apps on all the devices that must be installed only in the internal storage. 

Rather than an SD card. Because they don’t work well if installed on SD cards, companies don’t allow us to transfer their default apps to External storage.

Can’t Move Apps then Save Internal Memory

Now, if you are thinking about how we could save our internal storage from getting full because when internal storage gets full, your device will start lagging, and that’s one of the worst things.

To save more Internal Space, here are the steps that you can do that will protect lots of space from your internal storage and move the files to an SD card:

To save your internal storage, follow these steps, which are given below

• Change default download location to SD card
• Also, change your YouTube download location to an sd card.
• Get into your camera settings and also shift storage settings to external storage.

Moreover, you can clear the cache of your device. And I would recommend changing all your default download locations to external storage. That will save you a lot of storage and help you use your SD card’s storage.

Moving apps & games to an SD card 

And if you want to move the apps or the games to your SD card, then you should follow the below procedure that will guide you on how to move apps and games to the Memory Card.

• Open mobile settings 
• Apps > Select any App
• Here Tap on the Storage option
• Now Tap on Change Default Location > Tap on External storage.

This will help you to move your apps to external storage rather than storing them on internal storage.

11 Reasons Why Apps Can’t Be Moved to SD Cards AKA External Storage

Here are 11 points explaining why you can’t move apps to an SD card:

1. Android versions above 7.0 (Nougat) no longer support moving apps to an SD card.
2. Device compatibility issues may prevent moving apps to external storage.
3. Some developers choose not to allow their apps to be moved to an SD card.
4. The “android:installation” attribute in the <manifest> element can prevent app movement.
5. Certain pre-installed default apps are designed to work only on internal storage.
6. The Realme brand’s smartphones do not have native support for moving apps to external storage.
7. Widgets associated with apps cannot be moved to an SD card.
8. Moving large apps or games to an SD card may cause performance issues.
9. Apps that require frequent access or background processes may not function properly on an SD card.
10. Some apps rely on specific file paths or locations only available on internal storage.
11. Developers removed the ability to move apps to an SD card in 2017-2018.

There are a few reasons why you can’t move apps to SD card.

• Security: Some apps need to have access to sensitive data on your phone, such as your contacts or photos. If these apps were moved to the SD card, they would be more vulnerable to being accessed by unauthorized people.
• Performance: Apps stored on the SD card can sometimes run slower than apps stored on the phone’s internal storage. This is because the SD card is a slower storage medium than the phone’s internal storage.
• Compatibility: Not all apps are compatible with being moved to the SD card. Some apps may require specific features that are not available on the SD card.

If you need to free up space on your phone, you can try deleting apps that you don’t use, or moving photos and videos to the cloud. You can also try using a file manager app to move some of your app’s data to the SD card, but this may not work for all apps.

Final Words 

If you cannot move apps to an SD card, then don’t worry. Just save your internal storage by changing it to the default download location. 

And today, I will discuss why you can’t move apps and games to an SD card, and I even show you how to save internal storage if you can’t move apps to external storage. 

I hope that this article will be helpful for you, and let me know in the comments what you think. I would love to see your comments below, so don’t forget to comment.