How to Force Any App to Move to SD Card on Android

Why Do You Need to Move Apps to an SD Card?

Android users frequently face a recurring problem: their phone's internal storage fills up quickly, especially with phones that come with limited storage capacity like eight or sixteen gigabytes. Apps, games, photos, and videos accumulate until the available space reaches zero, preventing you from installing new apps or even updating existing ones.

Android provides a great feature that allows moving apps to an external memory card, which is an effective solution for freeing up significant internal storage space. However, the problem lies in the fact that many developers prevent their apps from taking advantage of this feature for performance or security reasons. Popular apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram often don't allow automatic transfer to the external card.

This is where the hidden option we'll explain in this guide comes into play, which enables you to force any app to support the transfer to external storage feature regardless of the developer's preference.

History of the External Storage Transfer Feature in Android

The feature to move apps to an SD card first appeared in Android with the release of Android 2.2, known as Froyo, in 2010. The feature was available for all apps automatically, giving users great flexibility in managing storage space.

However, Google decided to remove this feature in Android 3.0 after receiving numerous complaints from users about performance issues and app crashes. The main problem was that external memory cards are much slower than internal storage, leading to sluggish performance when running transferred apps.

The feature returned in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but this time with a fundamental change in how it works. The decision to allow an app to be moved to external storage was placed in the hands of the developer themselves, who could specify whether their app supports this feature or not through the AndroidManifest.xml file settings.

With the release of Android 7.0 Nougat, Google added a hidden option in Developer Options that allows advanced users to bypass developer restrictions and force all apps to support transfer to external storage. This option still exists in all subsequent Android versions up to the current Android 15.

Basic Requirements Before Getting Started

Before we begin explaining the steps, there are several requirements you need to ensure are met on your phone:

Step One: Enable Developer Options

Developer Options is a hidden menu in Android settings that contains advanced tools and settings designed for developers and power users. To enable this menu, follow these steps carefully:

Start by opening the "Settings" app on your phone. You can access it by pulling down the notification bar from the top of the screen and tapping the gear icon, or by searching for the Settings icon in the app drawer.

After opening Settings, scroll down until you find "About phone" or "About device" depending on your system language. Tap on it to enter the device information page.

Inside the "About phone" page, look for "Software information" option. On some phones, you might find "Build number" directly without needing to enter a submenu. Tap on "Software information" if it's available.

Now you'll see a collection of technical information about the operating system. Look for a line called "Build number." This is the magic key to enabling Developer Options.

Tap on "Build number" repeatedly and quickly seven times in a row. After the third or fourth tap, you'll start seeing messages on the screen telling you that you're a certain number of taps away from becoming a developer. Continue tapping until you see a message confirming that Developer mode has been enabled.

Tap 7 times consecutively to enable Developer mode

On some phones with an additional security layer, the system may ask you to enter your PIN, password, or fingerprint for confirmation. This is a normal security measure to prevent unauthorized access to advanced settings.

After successful activation, go back to the main Settings menu. You'll notice a new section called "Developer options" has appeared. On some phones, you might find it under the "System" section.

Step Two: Enable the Force Allow Apps on External Option

Now that Developer Options is available, it's time to access and enable the required option. Open the "Developer options" menu that recently appeared in Settings.

Find Developer options in system settings

The first thing you need to confirm is that Developer Options is enabled overall. At the top of the page, you'll find a toggle button or switch that controls enabling and disabling all Developer Options. Make sure it's in the enabled position, appearing blue or green depending on your phone's interface.

Enable the "Force allow apps on external" option

Now scroll down within the Developer Options menu. You'll find dozens of different options divided into categories such as Debugging, Networking, Input, Drawing, and Multimedia. Continue scrolling until you reach a section related to Apps.

Look for an option called "Force allow apps on external." This is the option we're looking for. In some customized user interfaces, the name might be slightly different such as "Force apps to external storage" or "Allow moving all apps."

Tap on the switch or checkbox next to this option to enable it. The switch color will change to blue or green to indicate it's now active. You won't need to restart your phone, as the change applies immediately to the system.

It's important to understand what this option does exactly. When enabled, Android ignores the "android:installLocation" setting in each app's manifest file, which determines whether the app can be moved to external storage or not. In other words, all apps become transferable regardless of the developer's preference.

Step Three: Move Apps to the SD Card

After enabling the hidden option, you can now move any app installed on your phone to the external memory card. The process is simple and straightforward, and we'll explain it in detail using WhatsApp as an example, since it's one of the apps that doesn't support transfer by default.

Open the Settings app again, then navigate to the "Apps" section. On some phones, you might find this section under "Application management" or "Applications." You'll see a list of all apps installed on your phone.

Search for the app you want to move to the SD card. You can scroll through the list or use the search feature if available. Let's assume we want to move WhatsApp, so we'll tap on "WhatsApp" from the list.

The "App info" page for WhatsApp will open. This page contains comprehensive information about the app such as its size, permissions, battery consumption, and stored data. What we're interested in here is the "Storage" option.

Tap on "Storage and cache." A page will appear showing a detailed breakdown of how the app uses storage space. You'll find information about the app's size itself, stored data, and cache.

Tap "Change" then select SD card to move the app

Here's where the fundamental difference comes in. Before enabling the hidden option, there was no way to move WhatsApp to the external card. But now, you'll notice a new section appearing called "Storage used" with a "Change" button next to it.

Tap the "Change" button. A small popup window will appear showing two storage options: "Internal shared storage," which is the app's current location, and "SD card," which is the new location we want to move the app to.

Select the "SD card" option, then tap the "Move" button that will appear at the bottom of the window. A screen will appear showing some instructions, such as avoiding removing the card during the transfer process, and that the app you're trying to move won't be usable until the process is complete. So tap "Move" again to confirm and wait for Android to store the app files on the external storage.

For example, WhatsApp with many conversations, photos, and videos may take anywhere from two to ten minutes to transfer. You'll notice a progress bar showing the completion percentage. During this time, make sure not to turn off the phone screen or open many other apps that might slow down the process.

After the transfer is complete, you'll see that the storage location has changed from "Internal storage" to "SD card." You can now return to the home screen and use the app normally as if nothing happened. This way, you've successfully forced WhatsApp to move to the SD card without any problems.

Apps That Cannot Be Moved

Despite the power of this option, there are some important limitations and exceptions you should know about. Not every app can be moved to an SD card even with the hidden option enabled.

Pre-installed apps from the manufacturer or core system apps can never be moved. These apps like the Phone app, Text Messages, Camera, Gallery, and Settings itself are deeply tied to the operating system and must remain in internal storage to ensure system stability.

Also, apps that run as background services continuously, such as antivirus or security apps, may not work properly if moved to the external card. This is because Android may temporarily unmount the card in certain situations, making the app unavailable.

Apps that use widgets or mini tools on the home screen may also encounter problems after being moved. When moving an app that contains an active widget, the widget will stop working and you'll need to add it again from the widget menu after the transfer is complete.

Apps that function as accessories or add-ons to other apps, such as icon packs for launchers or themes, are advised not to be moved as they may not work properly from the external card.

Impact of Transfer on App Performance

It's important to be honest about the potential impact of moving apps on performance. External memory cards, even the fastest ones, remain slower than internal storage in most modern phones.

Internal storage in modern smartphones uses UFS 2.1, UFS 3.0, or even UFS 3.1 technology in flagship devices, providing read and write speeds of up to 1000 megabytes per second or more. In contrast, the best microSD cards of A2 or UHS-3 class provide speeds not exceeding 100-160 megabytes per second at best.

This speed difference means that apps moved to the external card may take slightly longer to launch, especially large apps and games with high graphics. You may notice a slight delay of one to three seconds when opening the app for the first time.

However, the bigger impact appears in apps that read and write data continuously. For example, video editing apps or games with large open worlds may experience stuttering or slow loading when working from the external card.

Simple apps like reading apps, notes, or even social media won't be noticeably affected. Most users won't notice any difference in the daily performance of these apps.

Therefore, the smart strategy is to move apps that don't require ultra-fast performance to the external card, while keeping heavy apps and games that require high speed in internal storage.

Important Tips When Using This Method

Troubleshooting

Problem: I can't find the "Force allow apps on external" option

If you can't find this option in Developer Options, there are several possibilities. First, make sure your phone is running Android 7.0 or later. Second, some manufacturers remove this option from their custom interfaces. In this case, you may need to use ADB commands from a computer to enable this option.

Problem: The option is enabled but the "Change" button doesn't appear in app info

Try restarting your phone after enabling the option. Some phones require a restart to apply this change. If the problem persists, make sure an SD card is inserted in the phone and recognized by the system.

Problem: The app crashes after moving it to the card

Your memory card might be too slow or damaged. Try moving the app back to internal storage. If the app works normally there, the problem is with the card, not the app.

Problem: The card is full despite moving apps

Some apps only move part of their data to the external card, while the rest remains in internal storage. Check the space of each app individually to find out where exactly its data is stored.

Other Alternatives for Saving Storage Space

If the method of moving to an external card doesn't suit you, or if your phone doesn't support SD cards, there are other effective ways to free up storage space:

Using Adoptable Storage feature: Starting from Android 6.0, you can merge the SD card with internal storage to become one storage unit. This allows the system to automatically distribute apps and data between both locations without your intervention.

Clearing cache: Apps store temporary files that can take up significant space over time. You can delete these files from storage settings without losing any important data.

Using cloud storage: Move your photos and videos to services like Google Photos, OneDrive, or Dropbox, then delete them from your phone's storage. You can access them anytime via the internet.

Deleting unused apps: Review the list of installed apps and delete anything you haven't used in a long time. You might be surprised by the number of apps you installed and haven't opened in months.

Using Lite versions of apps: Many popular apps offer lightweight versions like Facebook Lite, Messenger Lite, and Twitter Lite. These versions are much smaller in size and consume fewer resources.

Conclusion

Enabling the "Force allow apps on external" option in Developer settings gives you complete control over managing storage space on your Android phone. This simple method doesn't require root access or additional apps, and works on all Android phones from version 7.0 and above that support external memory cards.

Although this solution is very effective, remember that moving all apps to the external card isn't always the best option. Use wisdom in choosing which apps to move, considering the importance of each app and its performance requirements. Heavy apps and games are better kept in internal storage, while simple and less frequently used apps can be safely moved.

Also, don't forget to invest in a high-quality, fast memory card to ensure the best possible experience. Cards rated A1 or A2 are specifically designed for running apps and will provide acceptable performance even with medium-sized apps.