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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-06-02T13:10:26+00:00

I am developing an application that needs to write files to the SD card.

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I am developing an application that needs to write files to the SD card. I am using GetExternalStoragePublicDirectory() to determine the directory to write to.

I have two phones I am developing with. On a Google Nexus S, running Android 4.0.4 (Ice cream sandwich) it is returning a directory on the SD card. However, on a Samsung Exhibit 2 running Android 2.3.5, it is writing directly to the USB storage on the phone.

Is there a way to force the SD card?

edit:

I found that getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(), and getExternalStorageDirectory() are always returning “/mnt/sdcard/”. This is not actually the mount location for the sd card. On the Samsung Exhibit 2, this is the USB storage location. The card mount location is “/mnt/sdcard/external_sd”. Is there a way to return this actual sd location?

I see that the camera and other apps have found a way to do it. The camera app has a “storage” setting with options “phone” and “memory card”. If “memory card” is specified, images are actually stored on the sd card.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Is there a way to return this actual sd location?

    No, sorry, not in the current Android SDK.

    I see that the camera and other apps have found a way to do it.

    Mostly, they will either be ones written by the device manufacturer, or are reading information via MediaStore, which should index both sources.

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