Add more Storage to Android phones or tablets

Android phones and tablets are fixed hardware devices that have very limited upgrade capabilities. Storage is the only option to upgrade, however, you cannot increase the internal storage that was delivered in the original phone or tablet.  So, how can you add more storage to an Android phone or tablet?

You can add more storage with an external memory card if you don’t already have one. Or you can replace the existing memory card with a larger capacity card. Hardware wise, this is the only way to add storage to the actual tablet itself.

Which SD memory card should you use? Or, How to use a SD memory card.

There are some options for configuring the storage you currently have. For instance, you can move apps from internal storage to USB storage or to the SD card. You can accomplish this by going to Settings, General, Application Manager, then touch an app you want to move. When the App Info opens, if the app can be moved, a button labeled Move to SD Card, or Move to USB Card will be highlighted. Tap the button and the app will be moved from internal storage.

Other options for additional storage is to use a cloud storage service such as OneDrive by Microsoft or Google Drive. These on-line services charge an fee based on how much storage you need. One advantage of using cloud storage is that you can access this storage to retrieve files from any device including a phone, PC, Laptop, etc.

If you have a lot of music or photo files taking up a lot of space in your tablet, you can use on-line services such as Google Music or Google Photos to upload these files. How to backup photos and videos?

Some of the new Android phones and tablets have a USB Hosted port which will allow you to add additional USB flash drives to your tablet. Many of the Samsung Android devices, for instance, has this ability.