Maintaining an up-to-date backup of your Android phone and all of its data is a crucial responsibility that comes with phone ownership. Let’s face it, phones may break, be lost, or worse, be stolen. And when that occurs, the financial strain of having to replace a phone is already enough; don’t make things worse by not having a backup of your pictures or calendar.
The problem with backing up an Android phone is this: It might be perplexing. Owning a Pixel 4 or Galaxy S10 results in a little different backup procedure and even a slightly different service.
It’s a good idea to spend a few minutes to sit down and make sure your phone is routinely backed up.
How almost all Android phones can be backed up
Similar to Apple’s iCloud, Android comes with a built-in backup service that automatically backs up data from apps, Wi-Fi networks, and device settings to Google Drive. Your Google Drive account’s storage is unaffected by the free service.
Every Android phone comes with Google’s backup service, but some manufacturers, like Samsung, also provide their own options. You can utilize one or both services if you have a Galaxy phone; having a backup of a backup doesn’t harm.
After you set up your Android device, Google’s backup service ought to be activated by default, but you should confirm that it is. Follow the instructions below to locate the backup settings, but if you are having problems, utilize the Settings app’s search box to look for “backup.”
Backup your settings, data, and applications.
Open the Settings app on your Android smartphone, then choose System > Backup to see your backup settings. One of the switches should be marked “Back up to Google Drive.” Switch it on if it’s off. If you are logged into several Google accounts on your phone, you may tap on the Accounts option to choose which Google account you wish to use to store your backups.
When backup is enabled, the following data will be automatically backed up on your phone:
- Contacts
- Google Calendar settings and events
- Passwords and Wi-Fi networks
- Backgrounds
- Settings for Gmail Apps Display settings (sleep and brightness)
- Settings for input and language
- Time and date
- Data and settings for non-Google applications (varies per app)
Under the “Active Backups” area, you’ll see a list of data types and the most recent backup date. To see additional details or adjust which applications are backed up, choose an area, such App Data. For instance, the Google Photos app’s backup settings page opens immediately when you tap Photos & Videos.
Your home screen layout is saved up and restored if you’re moving from one Pixel phone to another. When I’ve tried to restore a backup from a Pixel to, example, a Motorola phone, I’ve had varying degrees of success. You will definitely get different mileage.
You may manually initiate a backup at any time by going to this section and selecting Backup Now. To expedite the process, make sure your phone is plugged into a charger and is linked to a robust Wi-Fi network. Before configuring your new phone, you should manually create a backup if you’re upgrading.
Images and videos
Google Photos offers limitless free picture and video backups, if you don’t mind Google converting them to “high-quality.” This just indicates that Google limits 1080p movies and 16 megapixel photos.
Although you have the option to have Google Photos backup your images and videos in their original format, doing so will use up all of your Google Drive storage space.
Verify that Google Photos is loaded on your Android phone, choose the desired quality, and activate backup.
Every time you’re using Wi-Fi, the app will automatically backup your pictures and videos.
Samsung Galaxy gadgets
Through Samsung Cloud, Samsung provides its own backup and restoration service, which has been somewhat more dependable than Google’s backup service in my experience.
By accessing the Settings app and choosing Accounts and backup > Backup and restore, you can confirm that Samsung’s backup service is enabled. Backup options for both your Google and Samsung accounts may be found there.
Make use of both services. Using both not only makes two copies of your phone, but it also allows you to utilize Google’s backup service to recover your phone in the event that you decide to move to a non-Samsung phone in a year.
Make sure all the data categories you want to have backed up to Samsung are selected by selecting Backup data under the Samsung account section. By choosing the Backup button located at the bottom of the screen, you may initiate a backup manually.
Your Samsung Account’s 15GB of free storage will be used for backups to Samsung Cloud; you may upgrade to 50GB for $0.99 or 200GB for $2.99 per month.
The ability to restore a single piece of data—like the home screen layout, for instance—at any moment is my favorite feature of Samsung’s backup service. For example, you may use Samsung’s backup settings to restore your home screen from the most recent backup with a few touches if you decide to reorganize your home screen and move a number of applications about and then change your mind.
Make sure that Backup my data is enabled under the Google Account section. By choosing Google Account, you may start a manual backup and see the current backup progress on the Google backup settings page described in the previous section.
How about creating a file backup?
When it comes to backing up data you’ve downloaded or saved on your phone’s storage, you have a few of alternatives. You may either connect your phone to your computer and transfer the data over manually, or you can utilize cloud storage services like Google Drive or Dropbox.
Choose the files or folders you want to upload after installing the app on your Android device, then let it do its job.
You won’t have to worry about manually uploading changes to either service on a regular basis if you develop the habit of storing any files in the cloud. You’ll also always have a backup copy.
We offer a guide to assist you find and retrieve your Android phone as quickly as possible if you do lose it. Additionally, we provide a few pointers and strategies for becoming proficient with Android 10, the most recent and best version of the operating system.