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Storage

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How to configure, access and change data storage for maps, tracks and other personal data

Storage info in Download maps menu​

The Download maps menu has a toolbar with storage information. Here you see the Device Memory and the free space in the device storage. For iOS, you can estimate how much storage space OsmAnd data takes up on your device (orange).

  • Favorite backups
  • Folder structure (iOS / Android)

Menu → Download maps → All Downloads

Storage info Android

Data storage folder​

For Android you can find all information about OsmAnd data and change storage folder in Global settings.

Menu → Settings → OsmAnd settings → Data storage folder

Profiles Storage Settings Android Profiles Storage Settings 1 Android

OsmAnd usage:

Here you can find all information about data size for each categories of data: maps, travel guides, hillshade / slope / contour lines, tracks, audio / video notes, tiles, other.

Change storage folder

Here you can change forlder for keeping your OsmAnd data in your device

Memory namePermission access
Internal app memoryOnly OsmAnd app has access to its data and none of external apps / pc has access
Shared memoryMultiple OsmAnd apps could have access and multiple external apps
External storage 1Only 1 OsmAnd app has access and Admin apps and USB
External storage NSDCard: Only 1 OsmAnd app has access and Admin apps and USB
Multiuser storageOnly 1 OsmAnd app has access but it's shared between multiple Android users
Manually specifiedDepends on the path

Storage on SD card​

⚠️ Android only
This feature is currently not available for the iOS version of the OsmAnd app.
warning

When the user enables USB mass storage to share files with a computer or unmounts the SD card via the system settings, the external storage is unmounted from the device and all applications running on the external storage are immediately killed. Read more here.

In order to move the OsmAnd home (maps) folder to an external SD card:​

  • Go to Settings (on the start screen) → OsmAnd Settings → Data storage folder
  • Change the value to a path pointing to the external SD card, on many Android systems it may contain /storage/extSdCard or similar. Please note that some versions of Android strictly limit your choice of which path will be write-accessible for apps.
  • You are then asked if the contents of the OsmAnd data folder should be moved from internal memory to the external SD card. You may also perform this manually using a built-in file manager app on the device, or via connecting the device to a computer as external storage and performing the move from there.

How do I use my SD card with OsmAnd under Android 4.4+ and 5?​

If you update your Android to version 4.4.x, you will experience a known Android issue with the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission: Android has changed the rules so that from now on no application can write to the external SD card anywhere outside its new standard folder Android/data/[PACKAGE-NAME]. If OsmAnd was installed prior to updating your device to Android 4.4.x, it will continue to work (read-only) with the old, non-standard osmand folder, but won't be able to update any map and other files there.

Solutions:

  • Move OsmAnd's data folder osmand to the internal storage. \ Drawback: Internal storage can be rather small.
  • Move OsmAnd's data folder osmand into its standard SD folder, \ for OsmAnd+ : (extSdCard)/Android/data/net.osmand.plus/files \ for OsmAnd : (extSdCard)/Android/data/net.osmand/files \ Caution: Whenever you uninstall OsmAnd now, all your data will be erased as well! (Unless you unmount your SD card, or rename the net.osmand(.plus) folder before de-installation.)

If you manually want to perform the necessary copies/moves, either use a PC to perform this action on the SD card, or on the device itself use the file manager tool which came pre-installed with your Android (only these methods will have the necessary write permission). All copy operations may also be invoked in OsmAnd itself via Menu/Settings/General/Data storage folder but the copy operations may take a long time or result in errors (e.g. if the SD card is too full).

Backup & Restore​

Backup and Restore for OsmAnd Pro​

subscribe

  You need to subscribe to OsmAnd Pro.

cross-platform

This is a cross-platform feature (Android <-> iOS OsmAnd versions).

This feature helps to keep and restore your OsmAnd data. There are two variants of backing up in OsmAnd: OsmAnd Cloud and Local.

Local backup​

Back up or restore data (it has restrictions for unpaid users. you can't back up and restore Favorites, map markers..) from a local file:

  1. Back up as file - creating and saving OSF-file in your device.

Menu → Settings → Import/export → Export to file

Backup local Android Backup local Android

  1. Restore from file - opening and restoring OSF-file (you backup).

Menu → Settings → Backup & Restore → Local backup → Restore from file

Backup local Android Backup local Android

Copy raster map package created on PC​

Map package can be saved in two formats: SQ Lite and Metainfo. Next, you need to move your map package file(s) to OsmAnd-tiles directory:

For Android OsmAnd - you need to access storage to copy file(s) from PC to the device folder BASEOSMAND_STORAGE/tiles or you can click the file on your email, cloud, or messenger, download it and choose OsmAnd app to open. Map package is added automatically to your online maps list in OsmAnd.

Import sqlitedb Android