How to Partition an SD Card for Your Android Device

Updated by

Tracy King 

Written by

Linda 

Last updated on April 22, 2024

Translating English to Chinese refers to the process of converting English text into Chinese. This can be done through manual translation, translation software, or online translation tools. For instance, the English sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." translates to "那只敏捷的棕色狐狸跳过懒狗。" in Chinese.

This page will guide you through preparing your SD card, selecting the partitioning tool for your SD card, and setting it up as Android internal storage or adoptable storage. Read on to learn how to expand your Android device's storage using the SD card right now:

How do I partition an SD card on an Android device?

"Similar to many of you, I have a Samsung Galaxy Precedent with internal storage that fills up fast. I know Link2SD can move apps to the SD card to free up internal space. But the issue is, I don't know how to partition my SD card. Does anyone have a step-by-step guide for that?"

"Hey, does anyone know how to add a new SD card on Android phone to expand the internal storage? I need to shoot videos with my Android phone, but it gets full pretty quickly. I'm thinking of buying a new SD card for more storage. What should I do?"

Partitioning refers to logically dividing a large storage device or memory into separate subsections. This is often done to alleviate storage pressure within the device. If you have an Android phone with insufficient memory, you might need to partition the SD card inside to expand the internal storage.

So, how do you partition an Android SD card to free up more space on your Android phone? For instance, by setting the SD card as a secondary storage location for photos, music, and videos, or by moving installed apps to it. Keep in mind that the method may vary depending on your needs. Fortunately, the process is almost identical. Below, we'll provide you with a simple step-by-step guide.

Part 1: Preparing the SD Card

Before you start partitioning the SD card, there are a few preparatory steps you should take. This is also crucial for protecting your data on the SD card.

# 1. Prepare your used or old SD card - Back up data

To prevent any accidental loss of data, it is recommended that you back up the data on your SD card to an external storage device or computer.

Step 1: Retrieve the used SD card and connect it to your computer.

Step 2. Extract all valuable data to your PC by copying and pasting or using a reliable backup software.

For more details, refer to: How to Backup Data on SD Card before Formatting.

Step 3. Once the backup is complete, erase all partitions and data on the SD card to prepare it for formatting.

You can use the Disk Management tool, right-click on the partition of the SD card, and choose "Delete Volume".

## 2. Choose the Right New SD Card

If you need a new SD card, make sure to get the right one. We know that SD cards can be confusing, since they come in so many different types and sizes.

• SD card: 128 MB - 2 GB, formatted as FAT32
• SDHC card: 2 GB - 32 GB, formatted as FAT32
• SDXC card: 32 GB - 2 TB, formatted as exFAT
• SDUC card: 2 TB - 128 TB, formatted as exFAT

For most storage needs, an SDXC card will be best.

Part 2: Choose an SD Card Partitioning Tool

After you prepare your SD card, you can partition it using a reliable SD card partition tool. This allows you to create partitions on the SD card where you can direct root apps to store their data. That way, you can install and run your programs from the card itself.

Here, we recommend two SD card partition tools for expanding Android storage:

#1 Partition Software - tools Partition Master (100% Full-Featured & Professional)

A reliable disk management tool, like a partition software, can make SD card partitioning much easier. It supports creating a primary FAT32 partition as the "SD card" and a second EXT partition as the new "internal storage."

#2.  Built-in Windows Tool - Disk Management (Free)

Windows Disk Management is a built-in tool in the Windows operating system mainly used for managing hard disks on Windows computers. It can also assist Android users in partitioning an SD card by creating new FAT32 partitions, thus expanding storage space.

Part 3: How to partition an SD card on an Android phone

As mentioned in Part 2, there are two methods that can be applied to partition an SD card. Choose one of them and follow the tutorial steps in this part to expand your Android phone's storage or internal memory now.

#1. Partitioning the Android SD card using a partitioning tool.

Features include repartitioning an old SD card, partitioning a new SD card, and extending Android's storage space and internal memory.

If your SD card still has partitions, you can now use Partition Master to delete the entire partition and leave unallocated space on the SD card:

Launch Partition Master, right click on the SD card partition and select “Delete”. Then, click “OK”.

Then, you can use a disk partition tool to repartition the SD card and create a new partition on Android SD card to extend internal storage following the guide below:

Note that for expanding Android storage, you'll need a FAT32 partition, and for increasing internal storage, you'll need an EXT partition to move your installed apps to. You'll thus be creating two partitions: 1) a FAT32 partition; and 2) an EXT partition.

Just set different sizes for each partition, and make sure to include the SSD. The steps are the same as listed here:

Step 1. Launch Partition Master. On the main interface, right-click unallocated space on the hard drive or external storage device and select "Create".

Step 2: Adjust the size of the new partition, choose a file system (depending on your preference), label, and then click "OK" to proceed.

Step 3. Click the Run 1 Task button, and then create the new partition by clicking Apply.

Watch the following video tutorial to learn how to create partitions on an NTFS, FAT, or EXT file system.

#2. Using Disk Management to Partition the SD Card as Android Data Partition

Function: Partition the SD card as data storage for an Android phone.

As mentioned above, Disk Management does allow you to expand Android storage as a data card. You can use it to create a single FAT32 partition to save Android data like photos, videos, music, and so on.

Here's how to create partitions on an SD card using Disk Management:

Step 1. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run box, type diskmgmt.msc, and press Enter to open Disk Management.

< strong >Step 2< /strong >. Right-click on the unallocated space on the SD card, and select "New Simple Volume."

Step 3: Click "Next" to enter the New Simple Volume Wizard, where you can set the size of the volume.

Step 4: Assign a drive letter or path, and format the disk as FAT32. Click "Finish" to complete the process.

After that, you can expand your Android storage or memory using Part 4.

Part 4: Expand Android Storage/ Internal Memory Using Partitioned SD Card

After partitioning, you can follow the instructions here to expand your Android phone's storage space and internal memory.

Step 1: Power off your phone and insert the SD card into its slot correctly.

Insert the partitioned SD card into your Android phone.

Step 2: Restart your phone.

Step 3. Set up the SD card on your Android device:

If you have a newer Android phone running Android 6.0 or higher, you don't need to do anything. Just insert the card and reboot the phone, and it should automatically recognize the FAT32 partition as the data card and the EXT partition as internal storage.

If you're using an older device with Android 5.0 or earlier, do the following:

1. Go to Settings > Storage > Tap on your SD card. 2. Tap the three dots and select "Format as internal" or "Format as portable storage." 3. Choose the formatting option you prefer and complete the process.

Your microSD card should now function as internal or adoptable storage on your Android device.

Conclusions

As you can see, partitioning the SD card is the best way to save internal storage on older Android phones. It also helps to speed up the Android operating system. Thus, you can get better performance from your phone.

On this page, we introduce you to two SD card partition tools that can be used to expand the internal storage or memory of your Android. Both tools are easy to use and very efficient when it comes to partitioning an SD card for use as a storage card.

However, since there is no disk management in Android, to expand the internal storage, you have to use a partition manager to create an EXT partition that the Android phone will recognize as internal storage.