Using a MicroSD Card with Your Barnes and Noble Nook

I love my Barnes and Noble Nook, but its memory has some serious limitations. To be fair, most of us don't really need more than a gigabyte or two to store books and magazines, but if you're loading music, documents, and files onto your Nook, you'll need a bit more than the internal memory to handle your demands.

Fortunately, the Nook has a MicroSD expansion slot. Unfortunately, you can't see the slot by looking at it. Where is it, and how does it work?

Well, stop panicking. Put down the knife. We'll walk you through this.

Here's a quick guide to expanding the memory of a Barnes and Noble Nook by way of its MicroSD expansion slot.

Take the back cover off of your Nook. Don't worry, you're not going to void its warranty. There's a small place where you can press out near the mini USB connection and two slim spots on the slide where you can easily pry the back off of the Nook. Don't force it--it should come off very easily.

Once you've got the back off of the Nook, you'll be able to see the little spot where the Nook's MicroSD card goes. How devious of Barnes and Noble to hide their expansion slot, right? Well, they put the cover on to avoid any accidental damage. You'll also find the Nook's battery and a little serial number in there.

Slowly slide the MicroSD card into the expansion slot. Don't force it; there are some delicate physical mechanisms there, and yes, you could break them if you aren't careful. Slip the hinge so that the MicroSD card is laying flat against the Nook and put the cover back on the device.

Turn on your Barnes and Noble Nook if it isn't already on. It should see the MicroSD card very quickly. You can load data onto the card using a computer--simply hook the Nook up via USB. Your MicroSD card can be used to store just about anything, so really you could use your nook as a portable drive if you'd like. You could also just load up some tunes or a few extra books and be ready to go.

A quick reminder--you'll need a microSD card to expand the Nook's memory, not an SD card, so if you haven't purchased expansion memory yet, make sure that you know the difference. MicroSD cards are--you guessed it--smaller than SD cards and they tend to be more expensive.

Do you have any tips or questions about using the MicroSD expansion slot on a Barnes and Noble Nook? Post in the comments section below.