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:
- 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.
- 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.
- Select Preferred install location on the Storage settings screen.
- 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”.
- 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.