Samsung Galaxy S3: How to Move Pictures to SD Card

The best way to organize your picture files is by organizing and grouped it into certain folder according to your liking. Fortunately, Samsung Galaxy SIII allows you to move the pictures between folder in the internal memory.

See also: How to Move Picture Files From One Folder to Another One with No PC Connection on Samsung Galaxy S3

In addition to move picture files between folder in the internal memory, you can also move picture files from internal memory to external memory. This of course will help you to organize your files and also free up some space on your internal memory.


How to transfer pictures to SD card?
Here are the steps you need to do to move the picture files to your external memory:
  1. Go to Apps through Home screen.
  2. Tap My Files.
  3. Here you will see two folders if you have an SD card installed on your phone. SDCard0 is the internal memory of your phone, while ExtSDCard is the Micro SD Card you placed in the back of your phone.
  4. Tap on SDCard0.
  5. Tap on the DCIM folder.
  6. Tap on the Camera folder. By default, this folder is used by your phone to save the picture taken by the camera.
  7. Tap the Menu key.
  8. On pop up menu select Move.
  9. Now all the picture files in this folder will have checkbox next to them. Tap the required picture files you want to move, or you can tap on Select All at the top to move all picture files.
  10. Once you've finished select the picture files, tap Move button located on the upper right corner.
  11. Now you will be taken to the two main folder as you see on the steps #3.
  12. Tap ExtSDCard.
  13. Go to the required folder to place the pictures in, or you can create new folder by tapping on Create Folder then entering a folder name.
  14. Once you have the folder to place the picture, tap Move Here button located on the upper right corner.
  15. Finish. The selected pictures now will be move to the selected folder.

After you've known on how to move pictures files from internal memory to external memory, now you can move the required file to your external memory in order to organize them into certain folder and also free up your internal memory space. So, try this and share your experience here through the comment below :)

75 comments:

  1. What do I do if I can't get the photos on the internal memory to show up in the DCIM folder or the other folders?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Anita Parker,
      Thanks for coming.
      Try to go to Camera apps setting then check the default storage, is it phone or memory card. To make the picture taken by the camera saved into DCIM folder on SDCard0, choose phone as default storage. If you don't know how to change the default storage on Camera app, you can visit our post about it here:http://inside-galaxy.blogspot.com/2013/06/samsung-galaxy-s3-how-to-set-sd-card-as.html
      Now, take a picture then go to DCIM folder as I've mentioned above, you should see the picture turn up there.
      Hope this helps :)

      Delete
    2. I put in a new card because I'm going on vacation. I've directed be photos to go to card.
      Unfortunately. Camera still failing.no picture possible

      Delete
  2. Great help managed to save everything, much appreciated

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jan Walton,
      Thanks for coming.
      I'm more than happy to know that you can find something useful from this blog.
      Enjoy reading and have a nice day :)

      Delete
  3. Can I move music the same way from the internal memory to my external sd card?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi RJ Kerswell,
      Thanks for coming.
      Yes, theoretically you should be able to move the music files using this methods.
      Hope this helps :)

      Delete
  4. thank you so much!!! it worked... you rock

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Faith Grace,
      Thanks for coming.
      Glad to know if it works for you :)

      Delete
  5. I saved all my pus to sd card on siii but I can't see them. Jiw fo I access them now?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Faith Bedwell,
      Thanks for coming.
      Have you tried to pick up your SD card then open it through the computer? Did you see the data inside your card?

      Delete
  6. Would you know why I keep getting a "moving failed" message at the bottom of the screen everytime I try to move files?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rebekah Narofsky,
      Thanks for coming.
      Can you please tell me, did you have a problem when you move a file between folder on your SD card?
      However, you may have to try these things:
      1. Without removing the SD card from your phone, go to Settings> Storage> Unmount SD card then Remount SD card.
      2. If you still have the problem, try to turn off the phone then remove and reinsert the SD card. Once you've finished, turn on the phone then try again to move the files to your SD card.
      3. If the problem is still there, the last thing to do is backup your data/files on your SD card to another external storage (PC or else), then format your SD card. If this is your first time to format the SD card, you can visit our post about it here:http://inside-galaxy.blogspot.com/2013/03/samsung-galaxy-s3-how-to-format-sd-card.html

      Finally, let me know if one of these things is works for you.
      Hope this helps :)

      Delete
    2. I just want to THANK YOU!! I to had this same problem and after looking and looking for a resolution, I finally ran across your advice. I did step 1, and bam, just like that my problem was solved :) THANK YOU!!!!!!!

      Delete
    3. Hi Kymcasey,
      Thanks for coming.
      I'm so happy to know that you can find something useful here :)

      Delete
  7. Hello,

    When i click on DCIM, i don't have a camera folder, I only have photos and video. Neither of them have any files in them... though when I open "gallery" I clearly have plenty of pictures. Where did they go? WHen I'm trying to get files through my usb, I can't figure out which folder to go to!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Artsyfartsyweirdo,
      Thanks for coming.
      Try to open the picture have been taken by the camera through the gallery apps, then tap the Menu key and select Details to see where the picture is saved.

      Delete
  8. I moved my music from the external memory but it wouldn't scan them once I got to the memory card. so basically it wasn't with the rest of the music that was already on my phone

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Darren Mitchell,
      Thanks for coming.
      Also I'm so sorry because I don't understand with your question. And, can you please tell me more clearly about what do you mean with "scan"?

      Delete
  9. Hi. I moved my images to the SD card and did a factory restore - reset. Now all my images are not showing I only get an icon representing the image. I looked at the SD card directly with file manager and I get the same thing. The images all seem to be encrypted. The SD card is encrypted. When I did the restore did I lose the encrypting and now it doesn't display the images ? Or us it something else. BTW I did verify that the images moved properly before I did the restore. HELP !!!

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  10. I actually did this before I checked online but now all my pictures don't show up, even when I take the card out or anything. The entire folder has disappeared along with the 1557 pictures I had on my phone to move... Do you know of any way to retrieve them by chance?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Robert Harnden,
      Thanks for coming.
      I found two apps that may helps you solve the problem. If your phone is rooted then try the apps called Hexamob Recovery Pro. Here's the link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hexamob.hexamobrecoverypro
      if your phone is not rooted, try the app called Android Recycle Bin. Here's the link:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hexamob.androidrecyclebinpro
      I've never used both of these apps, but given from the reviews seems these apps works well.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. Hi Aubrey ph,
      Thanks for coming.
      I've done moving the files to the SD card several times and have never experienced any problems. However, if you don't mind, you could try the app that I've mentioned in my reply in the Robert's comments. Oh also please check whether you have set your phone to auto sync with your Facebook or Google+, if so all the pictures taken by the phone should be saved in there as well.
      Hope this helps :)

      Delete
  11. Hi, In Applications I have a folder Files and in that there isn't a SD Card folder. I have nmc_ext (not sure what this is) but under Thinkfree (?) I have this .thinkfree/file/mnt/sdcard. Is that my sd card? I moved a lot of pictures into that file and my available room didn't change on my sd card. Help! Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Shp72,
      Thanks for coming.
      I'm so sorry in advance, I don't know exactly about those folders. But, can you please tell me, what the folder available when you open the My Files apps? Usually, there are two folders available (if you use a SD card), sdcard folder is your internal storage and extSdCard folder is your SD card placed in the back of your phone.

      Delete
  12. Hi!
    I moved the photos to sd card. Thank you for that. But know I can't see the pictures at gallery. But I can see them on my files. How can I see them on gallery or is it possible?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Esra,
      Thanks for coming.
      By default, Gallery apps can read all image files inside the phone, either in internal memory or SD Card. Looking at your problem, you may have to try to restart the phone and/or remove then reinsert the SD Card, and see whether it helps. Another thing you could possibly do is to check whether the folder where you placed the image files in the SD Card have a file with the ".nomedia" extension. If so, remove those file to make the Gallery apps able to read image files in the folder.

      Delete
  13. Hi, everytime i try to move files to my external memory card, it keeps displaying an error message. This only started recently, i had no problems moving files before this. I can still access files previously stored on the external hard memory card but can't seem to add anything to it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi King Turnip,
      Thanks for coming.
      Can you please tell me what the error did you receive? This error will make you more easier to find the relevant solution.

      Delete
    2. The message displayed is simply "Moving failed" and then it automatically stops.

      Delete
    3. Hi King Turnip,
      Thanks for getting back on me.
      Try to take a look on my replay on Rebekah Narofsky's comment. She also get the same error message as yours.
      Hope that helps :)

      Delete
  14. Hi, Why i can't move file from samsung Gla S3 to external SD card. Everytime when i try to move, it said move fail!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Chalee Arkar,
      Thanks for coming.
      Kindly take a look at my reply in the Rebekah Narofsky's comment, as she was also encountered the same problem with you.
      Hope it helps :)

      Delete
  15. Hi, I have an s3 with a 32gb sd card.
    I have moved my files to the sd card as per your instructions, but my internal memory is still saying it is full. Do I need to delete the files from the internal memory now that I have saved them on the sd card? I cannot load any more apps as my phone keeps saying 'insufficient storage'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi CSI WATSON,
      Thanks for coming.
      Low internal storage will make the app can't work well. So, please make sure your internal storage has enough space or at least over 150 MB if you use Android ICS on your phone. You can delete the files on your internal storage if you already back them up on the SD card or another storage. To know another things that you can do to avoid low internal storage, feel free to visit our post about how to manage ROM here:http://inside-galaxy.blogspot.com/2013/09/samsung-galaxy-s3-how-to-manage.html
      Hope this helps :)

      Delete
  16. My samsung galaxy s3 is not detecting my 32gb sandisk sdcard.
    Last night my friend pass some pict from my fone to her via bluetooth device.
    And then, few seconds, my fone notifies me if i have to format my sdcard.
    I restart this, nothing happen except sdcard not detected..
    I also inserted this to laptop but it didnt recognized.. what should i do?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jane Abante,
      Thanks for coming.
      I have no idea about it. Your SD card may broken. So, if it's new and still under warranty, try to return it then ask whether you can get the replacement of it.
      Hope this helps :)

      Delete
  17. THANK YOU!!! You saved my sanity!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jenny Moore,
      Thanks for coming.
      Glad to know that you can find something useful here :)

      Delete
  18. hey ya i read the whole thread but kinda confusing..... i have recently moved my songs.mp3 files to external memory *memory card ... but when i open that file in music player so a popup that ... sorry the player doesnot support this type of audio file .i have updated library but nothing happened...assistance needed if u pleaseSamsung SIII

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Umair,
      Thanks for coming and also sorry for late answer.
      Well, can you please tell me, from where you get those songs? From a computer or other? And, did the song could be played before you copy them to your SD card? Have you ever tried to play them with another music player app or try to copy them again? Just to make sure whether the problem is the files or the player app.

      Delete
  19. I took a picture that I just love of my kids on my Samsung Galaxy 3 phone. My SD card has since gone bad. The people at the phone store said they couldn't find the picture anywhere on my phone. The funny thing is it is the screen saver or whatever it is called on a cell phone. I have since updated my phone and would love to get that picture off. (now my sons phone) Is there any way to do this? Please help!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Karin Ihde,
      Thanks for coming.
      If you set the SD card as the default Camera app storage, then the picture taken by the camera will be saved on ExtSdCard/DCIM/Camera/
      Another, I just found in the XDA developer forum about how to find the currently used wallpaper. If you rooted your phone you can try to access /data/data/com.android.settings/files/wallpaper to find the image file that currently used as wallpaper. FYI, this is not the original image but a cropped version. If you want to read more about it, here the link:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2043458
      Hope this helps :)

      Delete
  20. Hey, i did all the steps, and when it showing that files are moving or copying after that it shows that it didn't move. I checked the storage in sd card. There is a lot of free space, then why it's not moving?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Evel,
      Thanks for coming.
      Did you receive any error when you're copying the files? Another, try to restart your phone and then try to move the file again to your SD card.
      Hope this helps :)

      Delete
  21. Sweet. Just the thing I needed. Is there a way to save the pictures and recordings directly to SD card ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Pramod Gadilkar,
      Thanks for coming.
      Yes, surely you can do that thing. Simply by switching the storage option in the Camera app settings. To know the complete steps to do so, feel free to visit our post about it here:http://inside-galaxy.blogspot.com/2013/06/samsung-galaxy-s3-how-to-set-sd-card-as.html
      Hope this helps

      Delete
  22. I was wondering a few things 1. I had an SD card that was in an older phone which didn't really have much on it because I didn't use the phone long since my galaxy didn't come with an SD card and it appears I have contracted a virus on my phone..not sure how..but anyhow I went to format the SD card so I could load all photos, videos, and music on the sd card before I reset the phone to factory so I could try to get rid of this virus. I can't download antivirus because whatever's on the phone has eaten up all space no matter what I delete. Anyhow the SD card asked for a PIN. I never attached a pin to an SD card before but I tried all the usual all 0's, 1's, 1234, last 4 of current phone number last 4 of old phone's number etc but none worked. I ended up formatting it on my computer. I was just needing to know if I needed to unmount the SD card before removing? I'm removing it to just make sure everything is saved on there before I reset the phone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Cassidys27,
      Thanks for coming.
      CMIIW, according to me it's better if you unmount the SD card first if you remove it while the phone is turned on. Or just turn off the phone before you remove the card. Ohh, I'm so wondering why you don't just connecting your phone with PC using USB cable and then backup all of the data to your PC rather than copied all of them to the SD card before you do the factory reset?

      Delete
  23. once I put the pics in a new folder it changed the date the pics was taken how do I get the original dates back?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi LilNikki,
      Thanks for coming.
      I just duplicated your issue and you're right. The date will be change when the picture is moved from the internal memory to the SD card or vice versa. And I'm so sorry to say that I don't know how to get the original date back nor the app which has the ability to do so. However, next time, you can try to enable contextual tag on your Camera settings menu to automatically add weather, location and the dates when the photo is taken so you'll have the original date even when you move the picture to the SD card or to the PC.

      Delete
  24. Hy
    I would really appreciate a responce .
    When i go to my settings folder there's n option to change picture location video and music . However the option :set home directory doenst work when i tap on it contrarly to the other ones
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Zaouch Walid,
      Thanks for coming.
      CMIIW, so you want to be able to change the location of the "Set Home directory" option? If so, go to My files app> tap the Menu key then select "Settings"> clear the checkbox next to "Show categories", now you should be able to change the location of the set Home directory option.
      Hope it helps :)

      Delete
  25. I moved my files successfully and they work. But in application manager it shows the memory still shows it in the memory of the internal storage. I checked before I downloaded them and it said 3.8 gb and after it said 4.2 gb. And after I moved them to the sd card it still remains at 4.2 gb. I recently upgraded from 16 gb to 64 gb sd card and ran into the same problem. I had to move everything off the first sd card to the phone and onto the second sd card. Why does it still show on the phone memory when I moved it to the sd card. Thanks, Joshua Wishon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Joshua Wishon,
      Thanks for coming.
      Can you please tell me what's kind of file you have moved to the SD card? Is it music/videos/else? Did the file you move still in the phone's storage(when some files are moved, they should be deleted in the first place then pasted to the second place)?
      FYI, you said that you downloaded them. Instead of moving them manually, you can set your Browser app (if you download by using the stock browser) to save all downloaded files straight to your SD card.

      Delete
  26. DCIM folder still shows up in My Files even though Ive already moved all of my pictures to my samsung sd card. When I check the inside of the said folder, it contains the pictures that is already in the sd card! Its like duplicating or something. Please help! :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Clint Fabros,
      Thanks for coming.
      It's weird. The moved files should be deleted in the first place and then pasted in the second place unless you're copied the files. However, try to move a file between folder in your internal storage and then see, does the file is still showed in its original folder?

      Delete
  27. I recently moved my pics to my sd card to free up internal space. My phone is still showing a cd looking symbol with an exclamation point. I want to be able to still view my pics quickly if needed. So I am wondering if I delete the folders holding the pics, how will I view the pics if and when needed? How do I view the pics on the sd card? Thanks in advance :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kendralee Killian,
      Thanks for coming.
      Your Gallery app will automatically display all pictures in your phone (either those in the internal storage or in the SD card). Pictures that are saved in the SD card will be displayed in the Gallery app with the folder name as its album name and will be labelled with a SD card icon.

      Delete
  28. How do you do this but save all your music?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Georgina Edge,
      Thanks for coming.
      If you've saved all of your music files in the same folder, then you can easily move them through the My Files app or by connecting your phone to your PC and then move and paste the files through the Windows explorer.

      Delete
  29. I have done ur step-by-step but I get "sending failed" please help!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Andrea Saucedo,
      Thanks for coming.
      Can you create a new folder in your SD card?
      If you can't, your SD card may be corrupted and you have to format it so that you can use it with no problem.

      Delete
  30. Thank you very much for refreshing me and my mom's memory on doing this again! We forgot how we did it the first time, but looking through this blog was quite useful! Thanks again!! (: <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Stacie Cute,
      Thanks for coming.
      I really happy to know that this post has given you something useful :)

      Delete
  31. Hi.. I use Samsung Galaxy Grand.. Android 4.0 version.. I selected contents of my Camera folder from Gallery and moved it to Sdcard0.. it sucessfully moved all the files. However, when i searched under "My Files" under sdcard0, unable to find any pictures. Please provide your suggestions as to how i can retreive the photos!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Hemamalini Vijayakumar,
      Thanks for coming.
      The pictures taken with the stock Camera app are usually saved as .jpg files thus when searching pictures in My Files app, use the search term "jpg" and all pictures with .jpg extension will be displayed.
      However, try opening Gallery app. By default this app displays all of the pictures per folder/album so as long as your pictures are still in your phone, then they should be displayed in Gallery app.

      Delete
    2. The pictures are not to be found in the gallery app. But I did move all the photos to sdcard0 and it still cannot be retrieved.

      Delete
    3. Hi Hemamalini Vijayakumar,
      If you have moved all the files successfully to the SD card then you should be able to find them in your SD card and the pictures should be displayed in Gallery app unless the SD card is corrupted or broken.
      You can try remove the SD card from your phone and hook it up to your PC. Explore the folders within the SD card from the PC and try to find your pictures.
      However, if you have turned on auto backup pictures in your Google account, then you should be able to retrieve your pictures from your Google account.

      Delete
  32. I have a Samsung Galaxy s3. In an effort to clear up internal memory I went into my files and transfered everything to my sd card. Now some of my pictures will not show in my gallery. Pictures I take won't work- I get an icon of a cracked black box with a person in it. Although, pictures I take with the forward facing camera (selfies) work just fine. Can you help me please?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Robin,
      Thanks for coming.
      Seems that some photos in your SD card have been corrupted. A corrupted photo in the SD card can make the Camera app encounters error when taking a photo. So, it'd better if you move all files in your SD card to your PC and then format your SD card. Once done, you can set your SD card as the default storage in the Camera app and try to take a photo.

      Delete
  33. I moved some pictures videos and voice recording into folders or renamed the file now when I go to check the details of that picture or video or recording for time and date it says last modified instead of the original date and time it was made how do I change that so I can see the original time and dates for those pictures video and voice recording on samsung s5

    ReplyDelete
  34. Hi!
    I'm using Samsung Galaxy A7.
    I moved all my data to a memory card and I found that my pictures got shuffled..later I realized that their dates had changed.I don't know how to sort them so that everything gets organised again.
    Could you help me please?

    ReplyDelete

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