How to Backup Android in 5 Easy Steps

Here, we’ll go over five easy ways to backup Android smartphones or tablets. This is the easiest way to keep apps, data and photos safe. Follow this guide and be prepared for loss, theft, or other situations.

For many users, a smartphone is more important than a home computer, or even a single computer. People’s phones are with them 24/7 and are filled with important emails, contacts and calendar schedules, or lots of pictures and videos. We will record all this and more with apps, with the help of Google and more.

Below, we’ll cover 5 quick and simple steps owners can take to better protect themselves from data loss when it comes to mobile devices. Everything from apps, contacts and system settings to photos or video and even SMS (texts) backup. Whether it’s as a precaution or to replace devices like Note 7 users, we’ve got you covered.

Everything valuable on a smartphone can be backed up in a few easy steps. It ensures a smooth transition to a new device whatever the case. There are some all-in-one solutions to share, but for the most part, a few quick tweaks and first steps will get you covered.

Google Backup and Restore

For starters, Google helps you with most of the important contact and email information. All your app data (like game saves) your calendar, Browser, Contacts, Gmail, Photos, Music, Contact details and even more detailed stuff like WiFi passwords and other device settings. All this can be synced to Google servers with two or three taps in your device settings and restored when you get a new device.

Go to Settings > Accounts (tap Google) > select Google account > check anything you want to sync. Make sure they are also enabled under Settings > Backup & reset. It should be enabled by default, which is nice. This is one of the most powerful tools for the important stuff, but we’ll also review SMS and other stuff. Backup and reset saves almost everything. Along with Android 5.0 came a new restore functionality and Android 6.0 Marshmallow made it even better and backed up everything. Like game saves, settings, app data and more. In 2016 there is a complete solution here. However, you must have Android 5.0 or higher to take advantage of it. There should be many.

As you can see above, Google does a pretty excellent job of backing up almost everything. When you sign in to your Google account on the new phone or tablet, select this option and you will instantly have all your contacts, browser bookmarks, movies, music and even photos. Saving and backing up photos is another big area of ​​concern, so that’s our next topic.

The second aspect of Google’s built-in backup tool is for WiFi passwords and other device settings. For this you will want to go to Settings > Backup & reset. Then check the Backup my data and auto restore option. This will ensure that all those deeper settings and passwords are saved for you, secured on Google’s servers, and instantly returned to your new device. This is shown above and again below for those on versions older than Android 6.0. It looks similar and has the same options overall.

Photo Backup

The next essential essential backup tool is for photos. We all have hundreds of them we don’t want to lose. The problem here is that there are hundreds of different ways to back up your photos. Many of them are extremely easy, so choose what works best for you. Personally, I use the Google Photos app and choose from the Google sync instructions above. Google Photos will keep a full resolution copy of up to 1000GB of each photo taken. Or lower the resolution and it can hold an unlimited amount, which is what we recommend. Quickly find a photo from 3 years ago or even search for “hats”, “cats” or anything else and let it find it for you.

However, the link above on how to automatically backup photos will be your best friend. Whether you’re using Google Photos, Dropbox, or other cloud options, you’ll never lose a photo again. All will be saved instantly and can be retrieved from a computer or mobile device. Google Photos has become one of my favorite Android apps.

Then of course there are other options like Flickr, Photobucket, Dropbox, Box and even Microsoft Skydrive. The 1,000GB (1TB) Google option shown above will save thousands of photos. Much better than the 5-10GB capacity that others offer for free. Dropbox is one of them, but many use it, so we’ll talk about it below.

Go to Google Play Store and Get Dropboxthen enable photo backup as you can see below.

This can be accessed from any device with a Dropbox connection, or by going to their website on your Android smartphone and tablet or on a computer. It is simple, effective and fast. Newer versions may look a little different, and Dropbox now has more options than ever before. Like automatic backup and more.

Manual Backup

One thing I also do as a third backup for added convenience and redundancy is to manually copy and paste all the photos and videos from my smartphone to the computer. This works for other data as well, so this is our third easy step. Simply connect your phone to your computer with the included micro USB cable; it will appear as an external hard drive. Mac users will need to download Android File Transfer tool.

Now click everything and drag everything to a folder on your computer or laptop. For Photos, you will go to Android > DCIM or Camera > and drag all your photos and videos to backup on your PC. That’s always a great thing to do anyway, and once a month wouldn’t be a bad idea.

If you have a Samsung Galaxy device or other Android phone with a micro SD card, you can always remove it from under the battery cover, plug it into the computer and copy files that way for added protection.

Text (SMS) and Call Log Backup

Another thing that many consumers hate to lose when they buy a new phone is all those important text messages. Not to mention the call log, but that doesn’t interest me at all. If you want to save those precious or funny text and picture messages, we can do it in minutes.

my preferred app SMS Backup & Restore, because it is easy and straight forward. This app will quickly backup all your SMS text messages and all call logs to the cloud. Or you can save them directly to Gmail or Dropbox. You can do it manually, set up weekly or bi-weekly backups, and more. Another good option is SMS Backup+.

All-in-One Backup

Finally, there are several all-in-one solutions that will allow you to backup almost anything and everything. These often have limits or are costly, but are an excellent way to ensure you have everything on your device. Not only that, it does almost all the work. similar applications MyBackup Professional it’s been around forever because it works. Root isn’t required, but it helps so the average user can buy the $4.99 pro version, install it, and forget about it. Substantially.

MyBackup Pro does everything mentioned above in one app. It saves it all to a secure cloud or to your SD and computer and all can be restored in a few clicks. This means it will automatically back up every aspect of your device (and even with certain programs) and be ready to restore to a new phone if needed.

If you want to save apps or even backup an app, we can do that. I back up a lot of apps like Textra so if a developer updates I can revert to what I love. While this isn’t ideal, it works great. Whether you’re doing the same or just want to record every app, try App Backup & Restore. It’s easy and free.

Helium An Android enthusiast’s favorite and another excellent all-in-one backup solution. Remember, both of these may require some initial setup or work, but once done, you’re ready. Helium even offers Android to Android syncing so you can copy anything and everything you want from device to device or phone to tablet.

If you’re a Samsung user, the company has a few great tools that do literally everything for you. Its name is SmartSwitch and it will transfer 100% of your old Galaxy S6 to that new Galaxy S7 Edge. It works incredibly well with a cable or even WiFi transfer. Here is more details and a complete guide.

You should do it?

It’s a sad truth, but nowadays smartphones are the most important thing many people have. I would be lost without mine, not to mention my purse is my wallet, but you got it. Having a stolen, lost or broken smartphone is a frustrating experience. It doesn’t have to be though.

Doing the above steps will make you get a new phone and transfer all your old and important data over a breeze, and it’s something that won’t be all that daunting. Let Google do all the heavy lifting, buy MyBackup Pro and be prepared in case of an accident or theft. These will work even if you lose a device, as most of the content is usually stored elsewhere. It can be transferred to or from an SD card or computer.

Even if you don’t do most of these steps, signing into your Gmail account on a new device is almost all you need. It doesn’t do the texts, but it does the rest. The link above is a video showing a feature called Tap & Go restore on Android 5.0 and up. Tapping an old phone into a new phone transfers everything, or lets you manually go through a list and choose which accounts, apps, and more, then restores it all in minutes using Bluetooth and WiFi. It’s pretty amazing when it works right, so give it a try next time you get a new smartphone or tablet.

Everything detailed above will save your information, texts, calls, apps, data and more. It’s safer than being upset, isn’t it?