Other files = 200GB?!?!

[Kathrin1]

How in the WORLD does my SD card in my Tab S6 Lite HAVE 200GB OF OTHER FILES?!

For those wondering, the day I got the SD card, I formated it with 64K (64 Kilobytes) allocation unit size.

Is it possible for me to remove them without deleting the photos/videos that I already have on it? Because at this point using like 40% of my SD card storage (200/512GB)!!!

[freddyking222]

😂

[Kathrin1]

I think I'll just wait and see what other people think it could be.

Thanks for the help, though! Really appreciate it!!
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Je pense que je vais juste attendre et voir ce que les autres pensent de cela.

Merci pour votre aide quand même ! Je l'apprécie vraiment !!

[RedDogRabbit]

Did you try Clicking on "other files"? That's what I would do. 

[Kathrin1]

Ya, I tried, but it's not a button. Doesn't do or show anything.

[RedDogRabbit]

Then I'd suggest that you remove the sd card & using an adapter, check it's contents with your computer. 

[RedDogRabbit]

With your computer, you should be able to view the data taking up the 200 Gig..

But I don't really know how you could get 200 Gig of "other files"? It almost seems like an error, unless that data is corrupted or hidden. 

Most apps won't run from an external sd card, Cameras can detect the presence of one, and ask if you want to use the external sd card to store images.. but it just seems strange.. 

What is the total capacity of the sd card? 

Data also isn't normally written to an external sd card.. usually it's the user who moves data to the sd card, or backups, ie: Smart Switch.. but even when I had a device with an external sd card, I could always view it's contents using my phone... I never had to use my computer to view the contents. 

[Kathrin1]

The capacity is 512gb

I've only put around 40gb of actual files like pictures and videos.

The other is the 200gb of "other files"

[RedDogRabbit · Accepted solution]

Looking back at your original post, was there a reason why you formatted it that way? 

Normally with larger external sd cards, they are formatted to ExFAT.

How you formatted the sd card, may be the issue... 

I would probably copy the videos, images and anything else you want to your computer, and Format the sd card using ExFAT and copy the images, videos etc back to the external sd card. 

I have a feeling that the mystery of the 200 Gig other will be solved. 

[Helenna]

Hi Kathrin1,

As adviced by RedDogRabbit, please Backup your Data and Format the SD Card as ExFAT. Before proceeding, ensure that all the files on the SD card, like photos and videos, are safely backed up to your computer or cloud storage.

Once the format is complete, reinsert the SD card into your Tab S6 Lite, and copy your photos, videos, and other files back onto it.

This should hopefully resolve the issue with the "Other Files" category and give you back more usable storage space.

If you still encounter large amounts of "Other Files" after formatting, the problem might be related to something else, like hidden system data or app data, in which case using a storage analyzer.

Thank you.

[DuhVyiz]

I'm wondering if you do a quick search for how to understand a 'partition' on a storage card that might help you here. From what i can tell, you undercut the useable storage. certain format types, Fat32, exfat, and so on, have different amounts of max usable. So, for example, FAT32, I believe, has a 32Gb or 38Gb max usable space, so that amount will overwrite your current partition. Leaving a 'null' data space, which you can use as a block of data similar to the one you've got now, but it'll list as a different drive that's plugged in, but terminal shell commands are easy. Again, YouTube how to use DiskPart》or windows powers hell if your on a normal pc (I run a heavily minimalist Kali Linux build myself.)