How To Format An SD Card As Internal Storage On Android: 9 Steps

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This helped me How to Format an SD Card As Internal Storage on Android Explore this Article Steps Steps Other Sections Questions & Answers Related Articles Article Summary Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: December 19, 2025 Tested

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This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. The wikiHow Tech Team also followed the article's instructions and verified that they work. This article has been viewed 2,703 times.

This wikiHow teaches you how to erase everything on your SD card, and re-format it as your phone or tablet's internal storage, using Android.

Steps

1. 1 Open your Android's Settings app. Find and tap the icon on your Apps menu to open your settings.
2. 2 Tap Storage on the menu. This will open your internal storage and SD card settings on a new page.
   • On older versions, this option may be named Storage & USB on the settings menu.
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3. 3 Tap your SD card on the Storage page. Find your SD card's name on the Storage page, and tap on it to see your SD storage details.
4. 4 Tap the ⋮ icon. This button is in the upper-right corner of your screen. It will open your storage options on a drop-down menu.
   • If you don't see a "⋮" icon on your screen, scroll down and look for Format as internal on this page.
5. 5 Tap Storage settings on the drop-down menu. This will open a list of all your options on a new menu.
6. 6 Tap the Format as internal option. This will open the formatting wizard on a new page.
7. 7 Tap the orange ERASE & FORMAT button. This option will allow you to erase everything in your SD card, and re-format it as internal storage.
   • You will be prompted to confirm your action in a new pop-up window.
8. 8 Tap FORMAT in the confirmation pop-up. This will confirm your action, and start formatting your SD card.
   • You can track the formatting process on a blue progress bar here.
   • If you're prompted to move all your files from internal storage to your new SD card, you can select Move now to copy your files now, or Move later to skip it.
9. 9 Tap DONE. This will exit the formatting wizard. You can now use your SD card as internal storage. Advertisement

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• Question Will my phone numbers and photos still be there? Community Answer No. Formatting an SD card removes everything on it. You'll need to back up your data. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 1 Helpful 1

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About this article

Co-authored by: wikiHow Staff wikiHow Staff Writer This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 2,703 times. How helpful is this? Co-authors: 2 Updated: December 19, 2025 Views: 2,703 Article SummaryX

1. Open your Settings. 2. Tap Storage. 3. Tap your SD card. 4. Tap the "⋮" icon on the top-right. 5. Tap Storage settings. 6. Tap Format as internal. 7. Tap ERASE & FORMAT. 8. Tap FORMAT to confirm. 9. Tap DONE when finished. Did this summary help you?YesNo

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Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 2,703 times.

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Yes No Advertisement Cookies make wikiHow better. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Co-authored by: wikiHow Staff wikiHow Staff Writer Click a star to vote Co-authors: 2 Updated: December 19, 2025 Views: 2,703

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