Android Devices: use external storage as a default storage

Question

If you're running out of memory which happens a lot on low-end android devices like Samsung galaxy Y, Samsung galaxy Y-DUOS etc. and want more free space for your apps, then this post is for you..

Answer 1

1. Download and install Java Development Kit from Oracle’s website. I downloaded JDK 7u2 for Windows x64 (approximately 87 MB)

2. Download and install Android SDK from Google’s website. I preferred the recommended Windows Installer

3. Run Command Prompt with Administrator Privileges on Windows 7 or Windows 8 OS. (Start Menu → type in cmd → Right click the Command Prompt → Run as Administrator. The UAC will prompt you with a dialog which you should click as ‘Yes’.)

4. If you have installed the latest version of Android SDK (SDK Manager Revision 16 or later), then type in following command on cmd:

   cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools
   

5. On your Android phone/tablet, go to Settings → Applications → Development and enable USB Debugging. Once done, connect the phone/tablet to your laptop/desktop via USB cable.

   

6. Execute following commands in sequence

   adb shell pm getInstallLocation
   

   You would get an output as: "0[auto]". In Android, Install Location has 3 values:

   0[auto] – Let the system decide the best location
   1[internal] – Install the application on internal device storage.This means any internal storage provided with your device
   2[external] – Install the application on external media.  This means any SD, microSD cards attached to your device or external USB Storage.

7. So let's change the default location to 2[external]

   adb shell pm setInstallLocation 2
   

   This will change the default installation location to SD card of all the applications that you install henceforth. What about those that are already installed on device storage? I am sure you were unable to move all of them to SD card earlier. You can give it a try now! Alternatively, you can download an application Apps2SD and manually move them to SD card.

   To check if the settings changed or not, you can execute Step 6 again and check the results

8. Disable USB debugging on your phone/tablet. Close the Command Prompt and enjoy!

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