Add storage to your Amazon Fire tablet using a microSD card

Main points

• You can expand your Fire tablet’s storage by inserting a microSD card, providing up to 1TB of additional storage, depending on the model.
• Look for “Class 10” microSD cards from trusted brands like SanDisk or Samsung for fast read and write speeds.
• You can choose to format your microSD card as portable storage or internal storage, depending on how you want to use the extra space.

Are you finding that you’re running out of space on your Fire tablet? This is easy to do if you have a lot of data on your device. For example, you might want to download some episodes of your favorite Netflix show to watch on a long flight. HD content can quickly fill up storage space on your Fire tablet, leaving you with little room for other content.

The good news is that you’re not limited by the size of your Fire tablet’s internal storage. You can expand your Fire tablet’s storage by inserting a microSD card. This can give you up to 1TB of additional storage, which should be enough for most people’s needs.

If your Fire tablet is low on storage, follow these steps to expand your Amazon Fire tablet storage.

What do I need to expand my Amazon Fire storage?

You’ll need a microSD card, preferably a “Class 10” model, to ensure it has fast enough read and write speeds. These are very affordable these days; even the Amazon Basics version now has fast read and write speeds. However, we recommend choosing a microSD card from a trusted brand like SanDisk or Samsung rather than some off-brand microSD card you can find cheaply online; you may find yourself paying more in the long run if you need to replace them.

You don’t necessarily need to buy a card with a lot of storage, either. The 128GB microSD card has at least double the capacity of Amazon’s highest-capacity Fire tablet, the Fire 11 Max. For smaller tablets, 128GB will provide up to eight times the current storage space. However, if you want as much storage as possible, most Fire tablets support up to 512GB of additional storage, and some newer models even support up to 1TB of additional storage. We suspect 128GB will be enough for most people, though.

Which Fire tablets can be expanded?

All current Fire tablet models support microSD expansion. That means you can buy any Fire tablet Amazon currently offers and know you’ll be able to add storage when you need it. If you have an older model of Amazon Fire tablet, you may also be able to expand it. When you hold it in landscape orientation with the camera on top, look for the small plastic cover on the bottom edge.

How to expand storage on Fire tablet?

Thankfully, the process of installing a microSD card in a Fire tablet is simple. All you need to do is find the microSD port underneath the plastic cover. If you hold the Fire tablet in landscape mode with the camera on the top bezel, the microSD port is in the right corner of the bottom edge. If you hold it in portrait orientation, the ports and buttons are on the bottom edge, and the microSD port is on the right, toward the top corner.

Open the plastic cover and push the microSD card in with the top of the card facing up and the contacts on the bottom facing down. You should feel the microSD card slot click into place. If you want to remove the microSD card, open the flip cover and push it down on top of the microSD card, then release. This will pop the microSD out of the slot a little so you can remove it.

How to fix “microSD card incompatible” error

If you receive a notification on your Fire tablet that the inserted SD card is unsupported or faulty, you may need to format it. This is easily done directly from your Amazon Fire tablet.

1. tap Format and erase Regarding error notifications.
2. On the card format screen, choose to format the microSD as a portable SD card or internal storage.
3. Your microSD card will be formatted according to your selection.
4. You should now be able to use a microSD card as additional storage on your Fire tablet.

How to erase a microSD card and reformat it for a Fire tablet

If you want to use a microSD card that you previously used for another purpose, or if you just want to erase the current data on the microSD card, you can manually format it using your Fire tablet.

1. Open set up.
2. tap storage.
3. Select your microSD card.
4. Click three o’clock icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
5. choose Format for portable storage or Format to internal storage.
6. If you choose Format to internal storageonce formatting is complete, you will see a screen asking if you want Move content to storage device.
7. You can choose to move the content now, or you can do so manually later by following the instructions in one of the following sections.

What is the difference between portable storage and internal storage on a Fire tablet?

Portable storage allows you to use a microSD card to store data, such as files and photos, but does not allow you to install system files, such as apps, on the card. If you use Amazon apps (such as Prime Video or Audible), you can store downloaded content (such as offline show episodes on Prime Video) on a microSD card to help save space on your Fire’s internal storage. However, any data from third-party apps will be saved to the tablet’s internal storage.

If you format a microSD card as internal storage, your Fire tablet treats the card as additional internal storage, allowing you to install and run apps from the microSD card. This can be useful if you use a third-party app like Netflix; since the app can be installed on a microSD card, any content you download (such as offline episodes of Netflix shows) will be saved to the microSD card, This frees up remaining space in internal storage. However, some applications may not install on the microSD card.

Which option you choose depends on how you want to utilize the extra space. If in doubt, it’s probably safest to use portable storage options. This method also allows you to remove the microSD card to transfer files to other devices.

How to move Fire tablet apps or data to SD card

Once the card is in place and formatted, you can move data, content, and applications to the SD card. Doing so is a simple process.

To move content/data to a microSD formatted for portable storage:

1. Open set up.
2. tap storage.
3. under portable storage devices, Switch the data you want to save to the SD card, such as music, photos, and audiobooks.
4. Anything you want to keep on internal storage should be closed.

To move content/data to microSD format as internal storage:

1. start up set up app.
2. choose storage.
3. On your microSD card, click Move data to SD card or Move apps to SD card.
4. If you choose Move apps to SD card, not all apps will be moved. Only programs that can be run from external storage will be moved.