One of the most frequent complaints from owners of Android smartphones is the appearance of messages, Insufficient space on the device, or The storage space running out. Buying an SD card and inserting it into your smartphone doesn’t fix the problem – the Android device does not have enough space and error keeps popping up.
What Causes The Android Device Not To Have Enough Space Error
The appearance of the Not enough space on the device error or of the warning message The storage space is running out suggests that the space available for storing data in the device’s internal memory has now run out or is about to run out. Storing photos and videos and installing many Android applications can quickly run out of space on your phone’s internal memory, especially for less expensive devices (with limited internal memory).
When you buy a microSD card and connect it to your smartphone, the Android operating system lets you use it immediately. You can thus move photos and videos within this microSD memory to save precious space on the internal memory. Android can automatically detect all the folders containing images and videos to propose them in the Gallery or the Photos app (see Exclude Android gallery photos; Google+ autodial, how it works ).
However, Android does not automatically move apps to the SD card: in some cases, it is possible to do it manually. In contrast, the Move to SD card button is unusable in some circumstances. In these cases, using a free app like Link2SD will fix the problem (see below).
Meanwhile, after connecting the microSD card to the Android smartphone, we advise turning the phone back on and then going to the Application Management section. Moving to the SD card section, you will get the list of applications currently on the microSD card (they have a ticked box).
Also Read: Here Are The First Impressions Of Android 11
By touching any unchecked app (check the space occupied in the phone’s internal memory to identify the “heavier” apps), you can decide to move it manually to the SD card (Move to SD card button ): If the Move to SD card button is not usable or if the microSD is “seen” by Android as a second external card, it will necessarily be necessary to focus on an app such as Link2SD.
Resolving the error Not enough space on the device with Link2SD: all the steps to follow
To resolve the Link2SD device out-of-space error and move apps to your newly purchased memory card, you need to do a few steps:
- Obviously, have a sufficiently large SD card
- Use a computer equipped with a memory card reader. To connect the microSD card, previously inserted in the Android smartphone, it will be possible to use the appropriate adapter usually supplied together with the smartphone or tablet:
- Verify that your Android device has already been rooted. Root rights are essential to use an application like Link2SD (see the Difference between jailbreak, root, and unlocking on mobile devices ). Apps such as SuperSU or SuperUser must be installed on Android.
- Create a second partition on the SD card using special partitioning software (in our case, we will use AOMEI Partition Assistant but other similar programs are fine). AOMEI PE Builder software ( Windows boot disk: how to create it with AOMEI PE Builder ) allows you to create boot media containing, among other applications, AOMEI Partition Assistant, an excellent program for managing disks and partitions (see also Switch files from PC to PC with PE Builder and Backupper ). After creating the bootable media, reboot your computer using the bootable USB stick or CD/DVD created with AOMEI PE Builder. The microSD must be inserted into the SD card and flash memory reader.
- From the AOMEI PE working environment, you can double-click the Computer icon to verify that the SD card is accessible. In the image, it is highlighted with a red arrow: With a double click on the AOMEI Partition Assistant icon, you can access the program that will allow you to create a second partition on the microSD card.
- From the main screen of AOMEI Partition Assistant, you will need to right-click the only partition currently present in the SD card and then choose to Resize partition. Acting on the right “handle” (the circle displayed on the right in the image in the figure), you will have to resize the partition on the microSD card (carry out a drag operation to the left). The size of this partition can be chosen arbitrarily, but take care to leave enough space. As can be seen, in our case, the microSD card has a total capacity of 8 GB; 1.2 GB of space has been allocated to the existing partition, while the rest will be used for the partition used by Link2SD for moving apps.
- The next step is to click on the Apply button in the top left toolbar, then click the right mouse button on the unallocated space and create a new partition (Create partition command ).As the size of the new partition (the second on the SD card), you can leave selected the entire unallocated space that remains available on the memory card (the value 0 KB must appear in the Unallocated space first and Unallocated space after boxes ). It is then possible to select the FAT32 file system, which does not give problems even on older Android devices.
- After applying the changes ( Apply button ), you can reboot the system by double-clicking the Reboot icon displayed on the desktop of AOMEI PE.
- The microSD card can now be removed from the reader of the desktop PC and inserted into the smartphone.
- On the Android smartphone that frequently displays the error Not enough space on the device or the message The storage space is running out, you can then download and install the Link2SD app.
- 1Before starting Link2SD, you must access the Android system settings and then the Developer options menu, thus activating the USB debugging box. If the Developer Options menu does not appear on Android 4. x versions, it is sufficient to use a trick: go to Info on the phone, then quickly touch the build number of items seven times in a row. When Link2SD starts, detecting the presence of the new partition, the app will show a screen similar to the one shown in the figure: Having created a FAT32 partition, you can choose the FAT32/FAT16 file system and tap OK. Link2SD must then be granted root rights: Finally, you will need to accept the restart of the Android mobile device:
- By restarting Link2SD, you can move the apps to the SD card: touch the app to be transferred, then the Move to SD card button.
Android apps moved to SD are labeled yellow under the SD card. If the move operation should display an error or if you have a second SD card (part of the internal phone memory is considered as SD), you will necessarily have to resort to pressing the Create link button. If the move operation should display an error or if you have a second SD card (part of the internal phone memory is considered as SD), you will necessarily have to resort to pressing the Create link button.
Android applications that have moved to the SD using the symlink workaround are highlighted with the yellow label Connected -> SD Card. The Memory Space function is interesting, which allows you to indicate the space available on the various storage media. Link2SD displays some advertising messages that can eventually be closed by touching the “X” in the upper left.
Also Read: Androidtv.com/setup – Configuring Your Android TV With An Android phone
