Set Up a New MicroSD on Surface Pro 4 , Pro 3, or 3 : Using it for OneDrive, Apps, and More!

[@carolynanover847]

FYI: Please read this before following his directions. Make sure that the microSD is NTFS formatted before doing anything. I followed everything he said and got an error message at the very end. I went back to my microSD and clicked CTRL Z to undo. Then formatted the microSD to NTFS and did all the steps on this video. Next time, I'll read the comments first. Thank you Mathew McFadden for mentioning to format the microSD first.

[@khalikhalisah]

I've been using my surface 3 for a year now and I NEVER KNEW THERE WAS A SLOT FOR A MICRO SD CARD THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU SAVED MY LIFE

[@estidi]

An additional trick I use: set the drive letter for your SD card in Disk Management (say D:). This way, the D: letter will always be assigned to your SD card even if there's another external storage plugged in. For example, say you unplug your SD card and then plug in your flash drive. If you didn't set the drive label, the flash drive will take the D: letter and potentially mess up your sync. And if you plug in your SD card after, it will take other letter and you have to re-set the OneDrive location setting. But if you set the letter, the flash drive will instead take another letter (say E:) even if your SD card is unplugged.

[@alemess63]

Hi Sean, I own a surface pro 4 since December and your videos are THE BEST THING ON KZbin for me to use and maintain my surface! Many thanks and...do not stop doing this!!!

[@SeanOng]

+Alessandro Messina Thanks! Stay tuned, I've got more videos on the way :) If you have any special requests, let me know.

[@thinkingimpaired5663]

you definitely simplify the ownership of the surface pro. great video.

[@SeanOng]

+Thinking Impaired thanks!

[@cragjones]

Hi Sean, Thanks for this.Just got a Surface 3 Pro, so very helpful. Two important queries though not answered in comments: 1) What is the biggest amount of memory on a micro sd card that a surface 3 pro can handle? i.e. is it 128GB or can it deal with more? 2) If you move the OneDrive folder to the SD card DOES IT still synchronize with your OneDrive storage in the cloud on the Microsoft servers? Thanks.

[@LovingAtlanta]

👍I love the tip to use a dedicated micro SD card for OneDrive. BRILLIANT because you're right it takes up so much space. I love clicking around your channel to watch various videos because I akways learn something new or get a good tip, Thank you, 👍😁

[@CharlesEBright]

I have a windows 10 2 in 1 setup and having the option to use the mirco sd card is huge for extra storage. Great video.

[@fishycomics]

Thank you very helpful video; what would be the largest sdxc card allowed?when moving the video file, the actual file stay in the. Same. Visible area, but all files are actually on the sod card, that. Would decently free my space u when editing

[@fishycomics]

I had to rewatch. No limit to sd card size. I will move my camera roll. Vid and download to an sd card

[@lowellshatraw]

GREAT explanation on how to utilize the ext SD card. I'm planning to test a 200-256GB card in my Surface Pro 3

[@stanisawprzybylski5782]

go.vitzo.com/savemedia-extension

[@MrEzra710]

Thanks for that timely video. I'm planning on picking up a Surface 3 tomorrow and will look for your other video about OneDrive. I have a full desktop, but would like to access _some_ folders on my Surface.

[@bjsharplin1]

Even though I don't own a Surface, or Windows 10 computer, this was a good video. Well explained. This applies to any computer that can accept a SD card. My only suggestion would be to explain how to get the SD card out. You need to push in to eject the card. DO NOT just pull on it to get it out. I use a SD card on my macbook pro to store my downloads folder.

[@danielaunspach6312]

+Brian Sharplin On most machines, you do have to push in to eject the microSD card. On the Surface Pro 3, you do not push in to eject - you simply slide it out, as Sean did here. On my MacBook Pro from 2013, the SD card is just pulled out, also. I don't know if it's cheaper to manufacture the readers this way or if there are other considerations, but about the only place I've recently seen the push to eject type of slot is on cameras. I've shot the little buggers across the room before, so maybe this is the justification for the new design? ;-) I agree with you. Sean does a great job of instruction.

[@TheRsqazzy]

+Daniel Aunspach Actually on the Surface Pro 4 you push to eject. Since this is the most recent iteration of the surface line, I'd say this is the new design.

[@danielaunspach6312]

+TheRsqazzy Good to know. Thanks for the clarification!

[@bjsharplin1]

+TheRsqazzy Good to know. I don't want anyone just trying to rip it out and break the port. Sean does great vids and I wanted to bring awareness to how sd ports could work.

[@FredAlluso]

Agreed, this is a good video. I just got confirmation from my MS tech that the Surface Pro 6 (unlike the 3 or 5) does not come with the spring release. You must slide out the SD card to remove it. That said, be sure to not push it in further than it should go, otherwise you may need a tweezer to pull it out. And one final note, to make the removal easier, try to purchase one of the newer microSD cards that actually have a little lip on them (this allows for easier removal with a fingernail).

[@manalabonada9241]

Thank you to the end of the world, Sean. You're a life saver! You solved a big problem for me in seconds.

[@LovingAtlanta]

👍Great video. After having my computer crash several years ago I started storing iTunes snd various other files on my external hard drive but I think I'm going to do this for other media & apps as well. Thanks. 😁

[@IslandBBQMan]

Great and timely video as I just upgraded from the SP2 with 526GB to SP4 with 128GB. I'd recommend reformatting SD to NTFS and running BitLock before adding files.

[@gerivrdc]

ok, thanks for the advise but how you do that? :)

[@rezathegreenarrow6161]

thanks for the video,just have a question,if I move gears of war 4 from apps to micro ad card is it gonna effect on the quality of the game like getting slow etc...?

[@erickdolores5102]

excellent information, just to add that the MicroSD format must be NTFS not exFAT

[@alanpham9055]

Sean, great video. Just bought brand new SP4 on Black Friday. Your method worked great. However, after moving OneDrive to the SD card, I no longer have the OneDrive icon in the Hidden Icons section at the bottom of the screen/Task Bar area. So if I were to reverse this process and store OneDrive back on the C: drive, how can I access OneDrive settings to "unlink this PC" like you did at the start of the video and right-click OneDrive in the Hidden Icons to access its settings? I can't seem to reverse the process to use the C: drive for OneDrive. TIA for your help.

[@sudhnshu]

It was a great video, just wanted to confirm Surface pro 4 - core i5/4gb ram/ 128 gb ssd can support SD card upto? Without affecting any performance of system.

[@cnvpiii]

Thank you for this tutorial, very helpful!!

[@TheTechSultan]

Hi Sean thanks for your awesome videos about the Surface pro 4. i am considering on buying one but i am concerned about the ability for easy reading like books and epub. i use ipad 4 for these things currently. can you show us a video about how easy or hard to read books on the SP4 and what are some of the best apps to read epub books. thanks again and keep up the good work :)

[@asherogle9864]

hey dude great video, say if I wanted to undo this process would I have to cut and paste the OneDrive folder in my micro sd back to the original users file location?

[@rich2785]

What is the largest MicroSD Card I can put into my Surface Pro 3?

[@Santy4tas]

I see the surface recognizes the SD card as “USB Drive” and not like a “SD Card” this let me think that is possible to boot some OS from the micro sd card. Do you think is possible? Hope you can help me. Thank you so much!

[@ddp2049]

Almost video was looking for a video to explain if I can use one drive on a memory card. Do you know if okay to use google drive on a memory card? As well how to move apps onto a memory card. do you know how fast files are transferred onto the memory card? and which memory card i should buy

[@roselane2457]

So I followed your direction but my surface 3 won't allow me to link my onedrive directly to the microSD card. Not sure if I missed anything. I tried your method with and without formatting the microSD as NTFS. All that the computer said is, Onedrive folder can't be created in the location you selected.

[@shawngee1]

Can you do a full review on the Surface Pro 4? Been waiting.

[@ShawnJames310]

Which type of i5 processor does the surface pro 3 come with the 2 or 4 core one? How would you know? It doesnt specify ....Also how much micro sd reader storage can the slot drive handle up to? It doesnt specify also.... There are 2tb micro sd cards on the market now. Will the surface pro 3 be able to manage a 2tb card?

[@gregoryapicella9088]

Are you able to still use everything you moved to the microSD card even when the card is not in the surface? Thank you for all your help!

[@brwntwn123]

Obviously not

[@LilMOMMAson]

Sean, forgive my ignorance but why (or how) would my one drive files take up space on my Surface? I thought One Drive was cloud storage, thus everything saved to it is saved to a cloud and not my Surface.

[@crazyforver12]

hey I just purchase surface pro 4 and wanted to down load an app but it says that I cant . The app is sketchable drawing app. It says I don't have the hardware for it ... but I do I just think its the memory I need. My question is if a purchase a micro mini sd card would that solved the problem? I have 97.6 GB free and need 2GB memory and 1GB video.

[@FireBlaze78]

According to the title, I can also apply this on Surface 3?? Please elaborate! Because that's what I have a surface 3.

[@jasoncabrera812]

Nice. Great help to organize my files. Thanks for the info...

[@RDaMyth]

If working on the OneDrive through the Micro SD card off-line, when you go back on line does the One Drive on the Micro SD card resync to the One Drive in the cloud automatically?

[@BettieG82]

Can you do this with Dropbox?

[@jrmbtr]

Sean, what format did you leave the card in? I just got this same card but the 200GB model for my SP3. Came as exFAT but formatted it to NTFS. Any suggestions as to which is better in this case? Also, any clue how to change the disk icon for it?

[@MrElectrifyer]

+jrmbtr NTFS is the best option as it removes all limitations on file size and what not, thus allowing you to fully utilize the MicroSD card like a second partition on the Surface.

[@DaKurupt19]

I bought a Sandisk Extreme Plus that should have 90MBs R/W speeds but I'm only getting less than half of that. Why is that?

[@millennialfarmersdiary9961]

My facebook app keeps on crashing after moving it to sd card.. what do you think is the problem?

[@islamicteachingchannel]

Hi, i tried this on window 11 but not working can you help

[@RickyBobby_USA]

What would be the problems with having the larger storage 512 or TB surface?

[@stefenb.9440]

sean when I go into users I don't see a primary account just default.migrated, stefen(my name file), and public file. i'm unable to go on to your instructions please help!!!

[@janitziaolivas9502]

Is the San Disk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I card with adapter A1 (for faster mobile app performance) 128 gb appropriate for surface pro 4?

[@kimmiestar23]

Do I have to have a OneDrive account to be able to get a SD card to work in my surface pro?

[@aidanbrennan7389]

Excellent advice.

[@Michaelwave64]

I'm using a Surface Pro 3. I was wondering why my surface pro won't recognize the Micro SD card. I'm using a San Disk Extreme Plus 32GB. What do I do?

[@mariongracemcminn212]

Great video. Easy to follow . Thanx

[@unr3achabl35ky5]

REEEEEAAALLLLY HELPFUL :D thank u :)

[@fantaagingercat7577]

I need some help. My micro sd card does not work. Actually, when I wanted to open my sd card it can not open.

[@scottkravitz6254]

Sean, I am running the latest version of Windows and this move option is still greyed out. Do you have any other suggestions?

[@SeanOng]

+Scott Kravitz Not all apps can be moved to the SD card. For example, the built-in apps or apps that are bundled with your Surface. Try downloading a new app and it should work. Here's a link to an article with more information. Let me know if you're still having trouble. It might also be the way the card is formatted and could be a variety of other issues. Happy to help more. www.howtogeek.com/234998/how-to-install-apps-to-an-sd-card-or-another-drive-on-windows-10/

[@mervynsg9]

After I setup OneDrive on my SD card, new files that I save on OneDrive desktop doesnt sync to OneDrive Web. Any idea why?

[@Coroshia]

would this perform well with more heavy games?

[@H24LA]

What SD card would you recommend?

[@glussier100]

He was using a Sandisk Ultra 128GB card, so my guess is that he would recommend that.

[@00SoParanoid00]

for me it doesnt work on my surface 3...have You any suggestion?

[@athenawisdom07]

Thanks for the great video. Do you think I can also use the same method for setting up dropbox folder in the external SD card? I have surface pro4. Thanks

[@jacuzzis1]

Sounds familiar. I recently tried to use dropbox I had installed on a system years back and hadn't really needed, or used it since installing....anyway when I attempted logging onto it, it insisted I create a new password to use, since they'd deleted the one I had used when I created my account. Once I had gotten it working I left it and did some reading to try and relearn how to use it....when I checked back, I found it had been busy backing up everything it could find and I didn't know how to stop it. It finally stopped the backup when it filled the storage of the app to capacity and a bit more. In my case that was with a basic account and another 3 1/2GB...a total of 5.25GB to stop at 5.29GB. And I noticed another thing...it kept right on setting up whatever else it was still finding to get it prepared to begin filling whatever more space it wanted for my to buy for it....sort of a "Little Shop of Horrors" situation. I still need to go back to that and try to resolve/undo the runaway backup that appears to have been initiated the moment I had logged back into my old, unused account that only had a few MB's I'd played around with back when I'd first decide that app could come in handy. Wish me luck, is all I can say about that except I haven't been able to get any worthwhile help from dropbox after spending MUCH TIME with their tech support and really have begun to think it's just a way to ransom systems to sell storage space and upgrades. Just saying.

[@jpflynnoz]

Very useful! Thanks for your contribution!

[@debashisban]

Hi Sean, can you tell me in Surface pro 4 if a screenshot is taken is it automatically get stored in the screenshot folder and is it possible to crop the screenshot from there ?

[@SeanOng]

+Debashis Banerjee Yes and Yes. Make sure to open the image in the default photo application. From there, cropping is easy.

[@scottkravitz6254]

Sean Thank you for the video. Im running the latest version of Windows 10 on a new Pro 4 and I have inserted a new 128 GB Micro SD card. When I try to move an app in the apps folder the MOVE choice is greyed out and will not allow the move what am I doing wrong? Any help is greatly appreciated!

[@SeanOng]

+Scott Kravitz Sorry for the delay. You need to update your Surface. Go into windows update and check for updates. After you install the latest windows 10 update build, that option should no longer be greyed out. Let me know if that helps!

[@alemess63]

Hi Sean, a question from Italy! The MAIL tool in win10 is not so good. But I need to connect to Outlook Web Access to download my work emails in my personals surface, and the Outlook client in Office does not allow that. What is the email client you suggest as the best for managing work emails through synchronization with Outlook Web Access? Thanks!!!

[@SeanOng]

+Alessandro Messina I'm surprised Outlook in office is not working for you. Have you tried playing with the settings? I only use the Windows 10 mail app and Microsoft Outlook in Office 365. I've heard others talk about good alternatives, but I've never tried them.

[@alemess63]

+Sean Ong thanks! I will search for solutions.

[@nassirirani6569]

could you please tell me how to fix when we want to move any apps to sd card on windows 10 but the box (move) not able to do .Thanks

[@EpicShangHaiguy]

Not many apps can be be moved

[@WKLai-vo5cm]

Hi Sean, does this also work with OneDrive for Business?

[@spaladon]

W.K. Lai it will

[@susankirby2850]

Great easy instructions.

[@kurkiminiaturki3227]

great video, thank you for teaching me this.

[@tonisamaniego7252]

so is an sd card another USB? Like another place to store documents, music, ect?

[@tonisamaniego7252]

ok thank you creep...

[@RD4888]

what is the maximum of the SD card in this slot

[@mathieuhysun3992]

I'm sorry is only for win 10? Because I can't move app I am win8

[@jeffrobins7494]

Any need to format the card?

[@slodown3670]

Excellent! Many thanks!

[@nitehawk68]

What is the largest capacity SP4 Pro support?

[@AviationChannelNZ]

Hi Sean, what is performance like moving Photoshop or larger apps to the microsd?

[@AviationChannelNZ]

And does it support UHS-II?

[@Oscarandjo]

+Robbie Chui MicroSD cards are much slower than the built in storage, I'd advise against it.

[@SeanOng]

+Robbie Chui Not too big of a performance hit. For media software, consider using the primary drive as the scratch disk or where video and media files are being accessed in real-time. The SD card is still great for longer term media storage and storing program files. It might add a few seconds to software startup times, but other than that, nothing major.

[@SeanOng]

+Robbie Chui I don't have a definite answer on this, but I think the answer is no (someone, please correct me if I'm wrong). I believe a teardown revealed only UHS-I: www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+Pro+4+Teardown/51568

[@AviationChannelNZ]

+Sean Ong thanks for your replies!

[@hmdl-wzzn135]

Thank you so much..from Kuwait!

[@adzplus1]

thanks alot for posting this video!!

[@davidkenison4509]

When I moved my music to the SD the music no longer will play--How to resolve?

[@madgehaynes2258]

Thanks! Very helpful!

[@jimmychong3884]

Great video! Thanks.

[@kellykrogmeier5050]

I cannot move any apps the move button is not clickable. please help!

[@debbiechingmanchan7445]

Can i save or move the apps on the sd card? Doesnt Seem i have a choice to do so :(

[@SeanOng]

+Chan Debye If you have updated windows 10 to the latest version, you should be able to move apps to the SD card like I show in the video. Not all apps work (such as the apps that came with your device). Usually apps that you download from the store will work. Hope that helps.

[@MrZizinho1993]

is it okay to keep the SD card inserted there without removing it EVER?

[@brwntwn123]

Well of course, do you constantly remove ur hard drive from your ps4?

[@primoroy]

Can you format and encript the SD card for security?

[@glussier100]

Yes you can.

[@yeuuei]

nice tutorial, thank you very much

[@guidoanchoa2007]

whatabout for surface 3

[@car1it05WAY]

what's the largest sd card that the surface pro will accept?

[@EliMastermind]

I have a 512GB

[@cypressmaccarthy8132]

i have an idea that i can install ubuntu on my sd cad

[@phillipmorales8213]

+Sean Ong Hey I really need your help! I can not put OneDrive on my MicroSD no matter how many times I try using your method on my Surface Book. Can you please help me? It is a 128GB and this is using the latest update of Windows 10.

[@SeanOng]

+Phillip Morales What error does it give you? Did you make sure to unlink your OneDrive first?

[@phillipmorales8213]

Sean Ong yeah I did and it just says "Can't move OneDrive to this location". Any other information you need to help me?

[@phillipmorales8213]

+Sean Ong maybe it does not work on Surface Book?

[@phillipmorales8213]

+Sean Ong IT WORKED!!! I realized the problem was that I did not download all of my OneDrive files on my PC before trying to move it. Thank you so much for posting this video your content is super helpful

[@SeanOng]

+Phillip Morales Fantastic!!! I hope others who have similar issues finds this comment. Glad to hear it worked for you!

[@prcrussian]

If I have to save onedrive in SD card, why don't I just simply use the SD card for storage directly?

[@SeanOng]

+Joe Sutton Wong You can do that too!

[@ladybarefeet]

+Joe Sutton Wong Because then your files won't be on one drive and you can only access them if you have the SD card with you. . .

[@christopherk7725]

Security concern question: What if your Surface is stolen and the thief simply removes and reads you SD Card?

[@Oscarandjo]

+Christopher K The SD card isn't encrypted so they would be able to read all the files. Perhaps there is a way to encrypt it.

[@SeanOng]

+Christopher K Good question. If security is a concern (I imagine it would be for many people using OneDrive) you may want to just use the online-only method I describe in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p56UgJlqmqt3ers or you may also consider encrypting your MicroSD card: [EDIT - don't bother yourselves with my links below, see +MrElectrifyer's simple instructions for encryption!] www.surfaceforums.net/threads/how-to-encrypt-sd-card-automatically.16706/ See also: www.lovemysurface.net/bitlocker-on-surface/

[@MrElectrifyer]

+Sean Ong That guide to encrypting is overly complicated though. To encrypt the MicroSD Card and not worry about entering a password on your Surface Pro every time it's inserted, do as follows: 1. From the "This PC" screen (Win + E), right-click on the MicroSD card, select "Turn on BitLocker" and follow the on-screen instructions to enable encryption 2. Again from the "This PC" screen, right-click on the MicroSD card, select "Manage BitLocker" and select "Turn on auto-unlock" for the MicroSD card. Done :)

[@SeanOng]

+MrElectrifyer Thanks! I've updated my message pointing to your reply, this will help a lot of people!

[@christopherk7725]

Good stuff Guys - Thanks

[@rmirawan8455]

great video, thanks

[@jairovazquez6098]

can i store drop box in the sd card?

[@mysterioso74]

Does the SP4 support 200gb micro sd card?

[@SeanOng]

+mysterioso74 Yes

[@mysterioso74]

strange...I bought one and it not compatible...I called MS and they said SP4 only support up 128gb...I don't know what to do...if you have any advise I would appreciate it...

[@edwinflores7836]

Dosent let me click the "move" button

[@TimothyDeck]

Will this work on a Mac as well?

[@bjsharplin1]

+Timothy Deck It does work, but the process is different. You can get special SD cards that work better in the macbook pro laptop. The special card sits flush with the edge of the computer since the card only goes in about half way. The special card just makes it easier to keep the card in full time. You can check out Transcend or JetDrive or other alternatives. Also the guide to move the entire home folder is here...computers.tutsplus.com/tutorials/relocate-the-home-folder-to-another-drive-or-volume--mac-48822 You can also just redirect your downloads folder in Safari or Chrome to a folder on your SD card.

[@TimothyDeck]

Thanks so much for letting me know. I appreciate it. :)

[@randomstuff-cu4of]

i dont have that cloud icon in the arrow

[@mohammedmalkawi7239]

Yes, thank you

[@jacuzzis1]

Hello Sean. First: Are you still around and doing what you seem to be doing well on your site? Second: If the answer to First is "yes" then I'd like to ask if it's okay if I pick your brain because I recently needed to get a device to replace my tired, old HP laptop on a limited budget and found a refurbished Surface 3. I really like it and am still trying to get it "right" and learning things about it all the time and know I could and should learn more...Like add more storage real soon. Can you, that is, will you help with that, please? I've subscribed and will be back to check with you...thanks.

[@bmwjs1]

amazing!!!!!! thank you so much!!!!!!

[@billligon4005]

ITunes won't let me move to SD card?

[@Tassidy85]

Great video

[@lolSpiderPiglol]

um... how about formatting your micro sd card before you do all this?

[@StepDoku]

Yes you have to format it to NTFS before doing any other thing

[@RobinHorneSavh]

This didn't work for me .... error message stating that I have to point my OneDrive to a NTFS drive.

[@undagr0undvibes]

When you're at the "This PC" window, right-click on the microSD card, click "Format" and on the "file system" dropdown menu, change exFAT (default) to NTFS

[@gabay1953]

Thanks

[@DaytimeSoloo]

my surface cant find the SD card?

[@howardsend6589]

Put it in when Surface Pro is on, but screen is on keyboard. Inserting SD card on a switched off Pro did not work for me at all. Do as he does in the vid and it works.

[@catgarcia2238]

Format it on pc or phone