How to Use an SD Memory Card

On Android

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Insert the MicroSD card into the device. This process varies by device, and not all Android products support MicroSD. No Android devices support standard SD cards.

Tablets often have a MicroSD card slot along the side of the device.

If your phone supports MicroSD, the slot is usually located below the battery, but if the battery is non-removable, the MicroSD card may be located along the side of the device.

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Open Settings (Settings) with the gear icon located in the Drawer application of your Android device.

You can also swipe two fingers down from the top of the screen and tap the gear icon to open Settings.

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Scroll down and tap Storage. It 's about the middle of the Settings page.

On your Samsung device, tap Device maintenance and then select Storage .

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Tap the memory card name below "Removable" on the storage page.

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View data on SD card. You can scroll down on the memory card's folders, or tap a folder on the SD card page to see its contents.

For example, clicking on the Images option will reveal additional folders.

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Transfer files from memory card to phone. To proceed, you:

Tap an item you want to move.

Tap ⋮

Click Move to . or Move .

Select Android external storage.

Tap MOVE or DONE .

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Tap the "Back" button in the upper left corner of the screen. You will return to the Storage (or Device Maintenance) page.

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Transfer files from phone to memory card. To proceed, you:

Click Internal storage

Select a file or folder.

Tap ⋮

Click Move to. or Move

Select SD card name.

Tap MOVE or DONE

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Format the SD card if prompted . Reformatting the SD card is necessary if the memory card was previously used on another device (such as a camera) that did not use the same file system as the Android device.

If you receive a message that the card is not working or is not compatible with your device, reformatting may fix the error.

On Windows

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Insert the SD card into the memory card reader slot on the computer. If your computer doesn't have a card reader slot, you can buy an external memory card reader that connects via USB.

MicroSD cards should be used with a memory card reader to fit most regular SD card slots.

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Open Start . Click the Windows icon in the lower left corner of the screen.

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Open File Explorer. Click the gray clipboard icon at the bottom left of the Start window. The File Explorer window will open.

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Select SD card. Click your memory card name on the left side of the File Explorer window.

If you can't find your memory card, click This PC , then double-click the SD card name below the "Devices and drives" heading in the middle of the page.

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View files inside SD card. You can scroll down through the files and folders on the page to view them, or double-click a file/folder to open it.

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Transfer files from SD card to computer. To proceed, you:

Select a file or folder to move.

Click the Home tab .

Click Move to

Click Choose location. (Choose location.)

Click a folder on your computer (for example, Desktop ).

Click Move

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Transfer files from computer to SD card. This process is similar to transferring data from an SD card to a computer. To proceed, you:

Select a file or folder to move.

Click the Home tab .

Click Move to

Click Choose location.

Click on the SD card name.

Click Move

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Format the SD card . If the SD card won't open or can't accept transferred files, reformatting may fix it or make it compatible with your computer.

After formatting, all files on the SD card will be deleted.

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Take out the SD card. Click the ^ sign at the bottom right of your Windows computer screen, click the flash drive with the check mark icon, and then click Eject NAME when the option appears. This will ensure that you do not lose data when the memory card is removed from the computer.

On Mac

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Insert the SD card into the memory card reader slot on the computer. If your computer doesn't have a card reader slot, you can buy an external memory card reader that connects via USB.

MicroSD cards should be used with a memory card reader to fit most regular SD card slots.

Many Mac computers do not have an SD card reader.

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Open Finder. Click the blue face icon in the Dock at the bottom of your Mac screen.

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Click your SD card name in the left pane of the Finder window, just below the "Devices" heading. The contents of the memory card will appear in the main Finder window.

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View content on SD card. You can scroll through the files and folders on your memory card in the main Finder window, or double-click a file/folder to open it.

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Transfer files from SD card to Mac computer. To proceed, you:

Select a file or folder in the main Finder window.

Click Edit​

Click Cut – Cut (or Copy – Copy)

Click the destination folder.

Click Edit , then click Paste Item or Paste Items .

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Transfer files on your Mac to an SD card. To proceed, you:

Click a folder on the left side of Finder.

Select the file or folder in the main finder window

Click Edit

Click Cut (or Copy )

Click the destination folder.

Click Edit , then Paste Item or Paste Items .

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Format the SD card . If the SD card won't open or can't accept transferred files, reformatting may fix it or make it compatible with your computer.

After formatting, all files on the SD card will be deleted.

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Take out the SD card. Click the triangular "Eject" icon to the right of the SD card name, located in the left sidebar of the Finder window. This will prevent files on the SD card from being affected when you remove the card from your computer.

Kareem Winters

Update 24 May 2024