How to Partition Your SD Card in a Droid for APP2SD

Some Android devices come with low amounts of system memory for storing applications, including some of the older Droids released by Verizon Wireless. APP2SD and its successors are programs that enable your Android device to treat an SD card as additional "application storage" space. To run your Droid with APP2SD, you need to partition your SD card to have two volumes. This partitioning is done with a utility other than APP2SD, but options exist for partitioning the card while it's in your phone or when the card is in your computer.

Partitioning the SD Card With AParted

Download and install AParted from the Google Play store onto your Droid.

Back up any data on your SD Card onto another device, such as your desktop computer, then insert it into your Droid and start AParted.

Select the partitions on your SD Card. If there is only one, tap "Make New." You'll be given a choice to set up partitions. Set up two partitions.

Format one of the partitions with the "ext2" filesystem. Format the other partition with FAT. Ext2 is the native file system used for Android, and is required for APP2SD. FAT is a partition type that can be read in both Windows and Android, and lets you use the SD card to store apps or documents that you want to copy from your computer to the Droid.

Partitioning the SD Card With MiniTool

Download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard onto your Windows PC (link in Resources). This program lets you create and format "ext2" partitions. Ext2 is the native file system for Android and other Linux operating systems.

Plug your SD card reader into your computer's USB port if necessary. Many computers already have integrated SD card readers. Insert the SD card. Back up any data currently on the SD Card.

Launch the partition management tool. It will bring up a list of all the drives on the computer. The SD card volume will usually be the last item on the list.

Select the SD card. It will show a single partition, likely formatted as FAT32 depending on the manufacturer of the card.

Use the sliders to resize the existing partition on the card. You'll be making two partitions on the SD card; one will be treated as memory for APP2SD, the other will be ordinary storage. Format one of the partitions as ext2 and the other one as FAT.

Partitioning the SD Card With EaseUS

Download and install EaseUS Partition Tool onto your Windows PC (link in Resources). This utility lets you create and format ext2 partitions. Ext2 is the native file system for Android and other Linux operating systems.

Put your SD card to your computer's card reader, or plug a USB card reader into your computer and then insert the SD card into that.

Back up any data on your SD card.

Launch EaseUS and select your SD Card's volume label. Delete the partition that's there, then use the sliders to make two new partitions. Format one partition as FAT and the other partition as ext2.

Using APP2SD

Put your newly formatted SD card into your Droid.

Launch the APP2SD app on your Droid to see a list of all the applications on your phone.

Select an app, then select the location for it -- Internal Storage, or the partition on your SD card that APP2SD displays.