Solved! How do I move data back from internal SD card to the internal storage (Phone) on Android Pie?

Oct 6, 2019
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The issue I am facing is with Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite running on Android Pie. Namely, I converted the SD card to internal storage card, and I moved some data onto it, but now I cannot move the data back onto my phone! The reason why I want to move it back is bcs the SD card is defective and keeps on disappearing, making the phone and data access extremely slow or at least impedes it...

If anyone has any input on this, it would be appreciated...
 
Solution
That is due to your converting it to be "Internal" storage. Sadly this conversion can make it so that they are seen as the same (card and true internal) rather than separate.

If you have the data elsewhere, then first you need to change the status of the card (if keeping the card even though you stated it has damage) to "External" storage to get the phone to not see it as part of the "Internal" storage any longer. That or get a new card which will automatically be "External" storage.
If the card is defective and you can't access the data from it, then there is no way to get said data. Once a card is converted to "Internal" storage it is encoded and only to that one device. So no other devices can access the data and the data can't be ready any other way.

Additionally, if the phone was ever reset, then you would also lose access to the data on the SD card. The only way data on a card isn't encoded is to have left it as "External" storage.

To keep data, files, photos, etc., on a card you don't need to convert it. That only needs to be done if you want to keep apps on the card. Which, if installed directly to the card after it was converted to "Internal" storage would not be movable to the phone. Only apps that were first on the device and then moved to the card are able to move back to the device.

As stated originally, if the card is defective you likely won't be able to get any data from it. The only thing I can think of that you 'might' be able to try is to connect the phone to a computer, with the card still in the phone, and see if the computer can read and access the files. Again not apps. If the computer can access them, then you can move the files over to an empty folder on the computer and then when you remove the SD card you can move the files back to the phone itself (or wait until you get a new SD card). Other than that, there would be no way.
 
Oct 6, 2019
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The card is defective in the sense that it is slow and sometimes missing. The data on it is intact and I transferred it to my PC today, just in case (copied, to be exact, was too afraid of deleting). But there is no way to simply migrate the data back, as I had done in the Phone -> SD Card direction?

Also, the phone was not reset, or anything like that... I find it incredible that Android makes it a one-way process, turning your SD Card into internal card storage, and then not being able to revert the data migration once you don't want to use the said card anymore...
 
You can move the data back. If it was moved to the card and you want to revert the card back to "External" storage, but the card has to work. You just choose to move the file(s) back to the real "Internal" store, either by using a file manager app or by connecting to a computer using the computer just to 'copy' and 'paste' a large number of files from card to phone.

Most devices can do that if connected to a computer, which allows for moving large groups of files or even folders, versus the devices themselves usually limiting the number that can be moved at once.

Then, once moved back, the card can again be converted to "External" storage. But if the card isn't working correctly then that won't work.
 
Oct 6, 2019
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That is the problem, though - when connected via USB and set to Data Transfer, it shows only the SD Card in Mi A2 Lite :S No internal storage... Same goes for trying it on the phone - when I select the folders in the file manager, and then the option Move to... , I cannot select internal storage - it automatically drags me to the Downloads folder which is conveniently placed on the SD card...
This is what frustrates me - it seems I am stuck with this setup... I also tried the stock file manager, the xiaomi one, cx file manager... all show the same thing...
 
That is due to your converting it to be "Internal" storage. Sadly this conversion can make it so that they are seen as the same (card and true internal) rather than separate.

If you have the data elsewhere, then first you need to change the status of the card (if keeping the card even though you stated it has damage) to "External" storage to get the phone to not see it as part of the "Internal" storage any longer. That or get a new card which will automatically be "External" storage.
 
Solution