How to Use SD Card as Internal Storage on Windows 11 | 3 Ways in 2024

User Case: Want to Use SD Card as Internal Storage

“I am using a laptop with only 32GB of primary storage. Unfortunately, if I will install a lot of programs and add some cloud storage to it, this capacity will be filled up very quickly. Fortunately, this computer has a microSD card slot that I can use to expand my storage, but I can't install programs on it or put my cloud storage directory on it because it is not recognized by Windows as internal storage or permanent storage space.”

When you want more space on your computer, you can choose a spare SD card. It saves more money compared to other hard drives. It can serve the same purpose as the hard drive on your computer. The only difference is that a local hard drive is permanent in your laptop, while an SD card is a portable solid state memory for you to store your data and take it with you.

Pros and Cons of Using SD Cards as Internal Storage

Like the user in the case above, there are many others who would like to expand their computer storage space by using SD cards. It is possible to do this. However, before showing how to make the SD card the internal storage of Windows 11, please understand the benefits and drawbacks of your doing so.

💛 Benefits of Using SD Card as Internal Storage on Windows 11

• Expand internal storage. For computers, there are a large number of applications to install, which eats up the internal storage of the computer. You can add SD cards as additional internal storage.
• Save money. Buying an SD card with a large capacity will be much cheaper than a new hard drive.
• Requires very little power. Adding an SD card to your computer does not waste much power because SD cards require very little power.

💛 Drawbacks of Using SD Card as Internal Storage on Windows 11

• Apps are not accessible after removing the SD card. After you install apps using the SD card as internal storage, you will find that these apps are no longer accessible when you remove the SD card from your computer.
• Not good performance. SD cards are slower to read and write than computer hard drives, especially if you move some applications to a lower quality SD card - load times, refresh rates and sync speeds can be greatly reduced.

How to Use SD Card as Internal Storage on Windows 11

After understanding the above, if you still want to use SD card as permanent storage for Windows 11, you need to follow these steps.

#1. Make Sure Your SD Card Is Formatted as NTFS

In order to be able to mount your SD card as permanent storage for Windows 11, it must be formatted with the same file system as your computer's primary storage file system. For Windows 11 it says that the primary file system is NTFS. Usually, SD cards are formatted in FAT32, but let's check that first.

1. Insert your SD card on your computer.
2. Press Windows + E to open File Explorer and navigate to This PC. Right click on the SD Card Drive and then select Properties.

3. Check the file system in the Properties window. If the file system of your SD card is NTFS, then you can skip directly to part 3. If the file system of your SD card is not NTFS (i.e. FAT32), then you will need to continue with the following steps.

#2. Formatting the SD Card to NTFS

💓 Note: This step will delete all files from your SD card. Before doing this step, be sure to make a backup of your SD card if you have important files on it.

1. Right click on your SD card drive again and click Format....

2. In the next window, select the file system as NTFS. You can leave all other properties unchanged.

3. A warning window will then appear, warning you that it will delete all files. Click OK to continue. This will start the formatting process and when it is done another window will pop up telling you that the formatting is complete.

#3. Mount the SD Card Folder on Windows 11

To use SD card as internal storage on Windows 11, you will also need to create a folder in the C: drive and then mount it. You can do this by following the steps below.

1. Press Windows + E to open File Explorer and open the C: drive. Then create a folder named SD Card.

2. Press Windows + S to open the search box and type Disk Management in the box. Click on the Create and format hard disk partitions. This will open the Disk Management window. Locate your SD card drive. It is usually listed as Removable.

3. Right-click on the drive of your SD card and click Change Drive Letter and Paths....

4. Then click on the Add button to open another windows. Besides Mount in the following empty NTFS folder box, click Browse.

5. Then search for the folder you created (C:/SD card). Select that folder and press OK.

6. You will then see that the folder you created will appear on the mount path. Press OK to continue.

The Quickest Way to Move Files to the SD Card

After setting the SD card as internal storage, you can install the software on it. You can also save files, etc. in it. If you want to move files from another drive to your SD card to free up its storage space, what is the fastest and safest way to do it?

You can quickly sync your files from other locations to your SD card with the help of free sync software - AOMEI Backupper Standard. The whole operation is very easy with just a few clicks. Even if you are a computer novice, you can quickly get started. It can help you sync files to a cloud drive, a USB drive, network location or NAS device. It can run automatic sync for data that are changed frequently.

First download this software to your computer and open it. To move files from other locations to SD card folder, you just need to click Sync -> Basic Sync. Then select the files you want to transfer and the destination separately. Finally, click Start Sync to complete this operation.

Conclusion

This article gives you details on how to use SD card as internal storage on Windows 11 so that you can use it to save space on your computer's disk. You can also download applications to the SD card.

AOMEI Backupper Standard can help you not only to transfer files, but also to migrate your system or your entire disk. You can use the cloning function it provides to do this. This will be very useful when you want to upgrade your computer's hard disk. Just download it and try it out!