Weird behavior with memory space

[Teeko]

Hi,

I´m having weird issues with my phones memory space. I have put a Transcend 128gb memory card in my phone. Yet the phone frequently says there is not enough space. For example recently I wasn´t able to use a camera, for every time I opened the camera, it said there is not enough space to take photos.

So I tried to find how to move photos from the internal memory to the memory card, but couldn´t find it. I´ve only used about 4 gigas of that space, so it shouldn´t be a problem space wise.

I was able to move photos from other apps, such as Nikon Snapbridge, but it seemed there was no way to put the phone´s own camera app to store the photos in the memory card.

However, I found a way to move everything from the internal memory to the memory card. There was some weird behaviour there too. I use my phone in finnsh, and the screen said that the phone is going to move everything FROM the memory card instead of TO the memory card. It seemed to work however, for after that I was able to use the camera again and I knew, it didn´t move the stuff to the internal memory, because that was getting full in the first place.

Only now new issues appeared. Many folders in my photos app appeared “empty” now. When I say empty, I mean they were showing just an icon of a photo, and said the photos can´t be found. Also, when I was trying to take a screenshot, the phone said that the screenshot failed because it can´t be saved.

So, I reversed what I did earlier (moving stuff to the memory card). The phone said that “this will save about 24kb and takes only a second”. Well, it took much longer and at the end it said the operation had failed due to lack of space. However, now taking a screenshot works again as well as using a camera.

Now it says that the internal memory should have about 10 gigas free space and the memory card about 122 gigas.

Also, for as long as I have had this phone, every time I restart the phone and put the PIN, the phone says that the Transcend card couldn´t be found. Every time after the first unlocking of the screen, this notification disappears and in the settings I can find the transcend and the phone seems to be reading it (telling me how much space there is left).

Should I maybe format the card or what?

Does anyone know what is the proper way to put the photos/videos of the camera app to go to to the memory card? Somehow I find it useless to have a big memory card for extra space, if the one thing that is taking the most space (photos/videos) can´t be stored there.

[urs_lesse]

From reports by others, it appears highly likely that it is about the way you formatted the card. There are two ways.

You probably formatted the card to be part of the common internal storage (“phone storage”), allowing to move apps to the card. However, for quite a while now this way of setting up the card is broken and constantly causes saving errors (and/or the loss of photos meant to be stored on the card).

For the time being (at least until this is finally fixed in a future update or rather: upgrade), it can only be recommended to re-format the card as portable/external storage. You won’t be able to move/install full apps onto the card this way, but data should be able to be moved to the card easily (although not always quickly). You might still find ways to save photos directly to the card upon shooting them, but if this isn’t possible, you can still move them manually.

For more, see

A little guide to... using SD cards

Android 6 introduced new options for using an SD card in your phone. When you format an SD card or insert a new SD card, you’ll have two options: Internal/phone/adopted storage or external/portable storage. The option that most closely matches older Android versions is the external option. There are a couple of things to take into account when choosing which option works best for you: TL;DR: Formatting as internal will allow you to store apps on it and have it encrypted with the system interna…

[OldRoutard]

Once your SD card is seen as external “Portable” storage, you can set the stock Camera app to use it - Settings > Storage > choose SD Card.

You can do the same in Open Camera. Settings > More camera settings > Save location
and then navigate to the folder you want to store your photos in. To access the SD card you’ll first need to select the SD from the menu at top left (hamburger menu). You’ll probably also have to grant permission for the app to use the folder you’ve selected (you’ll be asked).

In my opinion the expression “Save location” is confusing as some people may think it’s to do with saving the location data (where geographically a photo was taken). Though I admit it’s not easy to find a better expression. I think the simple word “Storage” used in the stock app is best.