Phones are getting better at automatically backing up data, but unfortunately there's always the possibility that you'll lose your phone or drop it in water and lose everything. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to backup that data, ensuring that even if something does happen to your phone, you won't lose all those embarrassing photos of your kids you were going to show at their 21st birthday.
Whether it be through Google, a third-party app, or your computer, here's how to properly backup phones to make sure you never find yourself in a situation where you end up with lost data.
With Google
Backing up most of your data is actually pretty easy with Google, and it has gotten far easier over the past few years. Unfortunately there isn't yet a one-stop backup method for Android phones through Google, but there are ways to backup different types of data. Keep in mind, however, that these options don't cover things like SMS, though we do have an entire article to help you out with that. Here's how to backup your data with Google.
Photos and videos
If you're not already using Google Photos, you should be. The service automatically backs up every photo and video you take to the cloud, so you'll never have to manually backup your media ever again. If the Photos app isn't already on your phone, you can download it here. Once it's installed, you'll need to make sure Photos is set to automatically backup your files. Here's how to do that:
- Open the Google Photos app
- In the menu, head to Settings
- Tap 'Backup & sync'
- Make sure the switch is turned on
The best part about Google Photos? You can upload as many files as you'd like for free. Photos and videos will have a maximum upload quality of 1080p for the free unlimited storage option, which should be good enough for most people. If you'd like to keep the original resolution quality of your photos and videos, you can, but it will count against your Google Drive storage limits. Here's how to check your Google Photos upload quality:
- Open the Google Photos app
- In the menu, head to Settings
- Tap 'Backup & sync'
- Tap 'Upload size'
- Choose the option you'd like (High quality with free unlimited storage, or Original with Google Drive storage limits)
Of course, you probably have more than just photos and videos on your phone. Here are a few ways you can backup the other files:
Other files
Google Drive lets you store your other files in the cloud, which means they'll be accessible from any connected device. To manually upload folders and files, follow these instructions:
- Download the Google Drive app, if you don't have it already
- In the app, press on the '+' button
- Press 'Upload'
- Select the file(s) you'd like to backup
- That's it!
Settings and apps
To backup your phone's settings and apps, you'll want to use Android Backup Service. This service essentially backs up the apps you use and the settings that you have selected in most Google apps, making it easy to restore those settings on a new phone. For a complete list of what gets backed up with Android Backup Service, head here. Otherwise, follow the instructions below to activate it:
- Open your smartphone's Settings app
- Scroll down to "Accounts and Backup" and tap on it
- Tap on 'Backup and restore"
- Toggle on the "Back up my data" switch and add your account, if it's not there already
And that's it! Your device should be pretty much all backed up now. Unless, of course, you want to use a third party service instead of Google's own.
Using other backup options
Google's services are great, but if you're looking for a more comprehensive solution — one that backs up everything at once, that is — you might need to use a third-party app.
Unrooted phone
There are a ton of great apps out there for backing up your data, and one of the best is Super Backup & Restore. It allows you to back up individual items on your phone, such as apps, contacts, SMS, calendars, voice calls and more. Users can define where the backups go for easy locating later and you can also schedule automatic backups along with backing up to cloud storage.
- Download Super Backup & Restore
- You will see a list of item categories that you can backup (Pictures, Apps, etc)
- Select which category you want to backup
- Select the individual items you'd like to include in your backup
- Tap on "Backup"
And that's all there is to it. Easy, right?
Rooted phones
While most people won't need to root their phones to backup what they need to, rooting your phone can help you backup a few more things. By rooting your phone, just about everything on your phone can be restored, including things like app settings, system data, and even Wi-Fi passwords. One of the most used apps for backing up a rooted phone is Titanium Backup. While Titanium Backup certainly looks a little outdated, it's a very powerful app indeed. Here's how to backup your files using Titanium Backup:
- Download and open the app
- Tap the menu button in the top-right corner and select 'batch actions'
- Select everything you want to backup
- If this is the first time you're backing up your device, you'll at least want to select 'backup all user apps' and 'backup all system data'
- You can also choost to backup the files to Dropbox or Google Drive, which you may want to do in case you lose your phone
- You can also opt to create a recovery compatible .zip backup file
- This ensures that even if your phone's system files become corrupt or something else happens that prevents you from being able to boot up your phone, you'll be able to restore your phone from the backup
For a full explanation of Titanium Backup and how it works, head here.
Backing up to your computer
Instead of backing up your device to the cloud or to the phone itself, you might want to backup all your files to your computer for easy access later on. Luckily, this is pretty easy to do, and the process is pretty much the same whether you're a Mac or PC user. Mac users will need to download and install the Android File Transfer app, though. Here's how to backup your Android device to a computer:
- Plug your phone into your computer with your USB cable
- On Windows, go to 'My Computer' and open the phone's storage
- On Mac, open Android File Transfer
- Drag the files you want to backup to a folder on your computer
And that's it!
Whether you need to create a full backup of your device or you just want to make sure you don't lose your photos, backing up your phone shouldn't be hard to do. Thankfully, it's not! If you can think of any better ways to back2up your phone, let us know in the comments section.
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