Change Preferred Install Location in Android Lollipop

Although the newer Android based smart phones are coming with much larger internal storage than ever before, but if you keep installing apps in the internal storage there will come a time when the internal storage will run out of space. This will not only make some apps malfunction, but it will also impact the overall performance of the Android device. In order to avoid this, all you have to do is use a large capacity external micro SD card (a 16 GB micro SD card will suffice for most users) and assign it as the preferred install location in the Android settings.

Everyone knows how to attach a micro SD card in their smart phones, but very few people know how to assign it as the default or preferred install location for all the new apps that you are going to install. Actually it is very easy and you can do it by just following these simple steps:

  1. Open Android system settings. For this you have to touch the menu button when on the home screen and select the Settings from the menu when it appears.
  2. On the Android system settings screen, select Storage from under the section Device. This section covers all the options related to storage memory, SD cards etc.Preferred Install Location in Android
  3. Select Preferred install location on the Storage settings screen.
  4. This will bring up you three options that you can choose for the preferred install location – internal device storage (non-removable memory storage inside the phone), SD card (your micro SD card) and “let the system decide”.Preferred Install Location in Android
  5. After you have selected the appropriate install location, all the apps you install in future shall use that location for their data storage needs.

Conclusion: Changing the preferred install location in Android to an external SD card can improve the overall performance of the device as well as save it from running out of storage space.

12 comments

  1. i did the same thing and stupid apps still install & move apps i moved to sd after updates to internal memory

    i expect this sort of problems in windows but i guess android is the same!

  2. I can’t find the option “preferred install location”
    I can just find default write disk
    What can i do now?

    1. If you can’t find that, then try finding it by going to storage, press apps, press the 3 dots on the top rifght, then set the preference

  3. No such option in Lollipop 5.0.2, either. Your readers have been saying this for months — why no replies or corrections?

    1. The option exists in Lollipop AOSP but phone manufacturers might modify the ROM and remove this option. You cannot say no such option in Lollipop, the problem is with your particular ROM.

      1. Thanks. I’m still new to the Android universe, where nominally identical OS versions differ from phone to phone. I’ll be on the lookout for this when I shop for my next phone.

    1. same for me… I have a rooted GS3 (SPH-L710), and just upgraded (again) by flashing 5.1.1 AOSP (CM12.1), but I do not have a “preferred install location” option under the “Security” settings.

  4. i have also this problem ..

    i can<t defult storagre on sd card ???//
    where is preferd storage loction in j5 ????

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