It may come as something of a surprise to discover you have run out of space, and need to increase storage on your Samsung Tablet. But the reality is that for many of us, the internal storage capacity of our tablets leaves plenty to be desired.
A few photos, maybe some apps, a game or two, some films and music, and before you know it, that internal storage is almost full. And that's before we factor in what you lose to the OS in the first place.
In good news though, there is the possibility of increasing storage on your Samsung tablet, to help squeeze a bit more content onto it. Like a train on the London Underground, there's always a way to fit a little more on board. Here's what you can do.
How To Increase Storage On Samsung Tablet
There are really two options when it comes to increasing storage on a Samsung tablet. The first is by adding storage, via SD Card. The second is by removing bloatware - content you don't want or need on your device. While the second option doesn't change the capacity of the storage, it will increase what's available to you.
Let's take a look at each of these methods in turn.
Use an SD Card
The vast majority of (but not necessarily all) Samsung tablets will have a slot for a microSD card. And these cards can expand your storage enormously - like this 1TB option. There are a few different types of SD cards available, offering different amounts of storage capacity, and different speed ratings. We'll look at this in a little more detail.
- MicroSD cards offer a capacity of up to 2GB.
- MicroSDHC (High Capacity) cards offer a capacity of up to 32GB.
- MicroSDXC (extended Capacity) cards offer a capacity of over 32GB and up to 2TB.
- Each card will have a speed rating. These are 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10. A card with a rating of 2 is the slowest to retrieve and transfer data, while 10 is the fastest.
MicroSDXC is the best of the range, because it offers the highest storage capacity, and the fastest read and write speeds. But depending on your needs, it isn't essential. While they are great for video recording, especially at high resolutions, the difference is less pronounced for less demanding uses, such as storing still photos.
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How to Insert a microSD Card
Installing a microSD card on a compatible tablet is very straightforward:
- Locate the SD card tray. This is often the same place where you insert the SIM card, if your tablet can do so. Use the ejector pin to open the tray.
- Carefully place the microSD card in the correct slot.
- Reinsert the tray back into the device.
- Wait for the tablet to recognise the microSD card.
Once the MicroSD card is recognised by your tablet, you will be able to transfer lots of content to that, instead of using your internal storage. This is primarily for things such as photos and videos. But you can also format an SD card so that you can transfer apps as well. This makes the SD card much more like internal storage. But usually means it won't work on any other device.
Delete Unused Apps and Content
An alternative option is to remove any content that you don't need. This is a bit more time consuming, but the net result is that you will free up space that was previously taken up by all those pre-installed apps that you've never used.
- Go to Settings.
- Select Storage.
- This will then give you a breakdown of your tablet's storage, with categories such as apps, pictures and videos. You can click on each one to get an individual breakdown. You can also list them in order of size, so you can prioritise the largest apps first.
- Using this information, you can then select whichever apps you don't need and uninstall them.
Copy Media to a Computer
As an alternative, much of your media content can be transferred to a computer. Once you've transferred it, you can simply delete the original files that were on your tablet.
- Start by connecting your tablet to your computer with a USB cable.
- Look for the folder marked DCIM. This is usually where your photos and videos will be stored.
- Select whichever files you wish to move, and copy them onto your computer.
As you can see, there is more than one way to give yourself more storage space on your Samsung tablet. Adding an SD card will increase the overall storage capacity on your device. While removing content will free up space that was previously unavailable.