How to make a backup on Android phones

In recent years, awareness has increased among users of how important backup is, the operation that allows you to have a copy of your personal data available at any time. The spread of smartphones has contributed to accelerating this process, thanks to the numerous solutions proposed. It is therefore not surprising that today Android backup has become an almost routine operation for millions of users. At the same time, however, there is a significant share of Android users who don’t know how to do it.

Why is backing up Android so important? For example, let’s assume that our smartphone suddenly has a fault and is unusable. In the absence of a data backup, the files present inside the phone will be lost if a negative response is received from technical support. So photos, text documents, and music are unrecoverable because you didn’t want to back them up first. As hard as it may seem to believe, this is actually a situation that occurs very often. When it happens, it’s too late to intervene.

So let’s see in detail the steps to follow on how to backup Android with the tools currently available to us, namely apps, programs for PC and Mac, and cloud storage services.

How to backup Android on PC

The data stored in your phone can be easily stored in your computer through Android backup to PC. There are numerous programs that allow you to perform this operation quickly and easily. In most cases, these are official software created by smartphone manufacturing companies, compatible with both PCs and iOS devices.

A short list of programs to backup Android on PC and Mac:

• Samsung SmartSwitch: the official Samsung program to back up all the data in the phone’s internal memory on computers with Windows and macOS operating systems.
• HiSuite: the proprietary software of the Chinese giant Huawei. In this case, compatibility is exclusive to Windows PCs only.
• Motorola Device Manager: the historic American brand, whose mobile division is currently owned by Lenovo, allows owners of Motorola smartphones to back up on computers - both Windows and macOS - thanks to the official Motorola Device Manager suite.

Let’s see in detail the steps to perform for Android backup on PC with Motorola Device Manager.

Important: for the guide we used the Motorola G6 Plus, updated to the Pie version of Android. Being a smartphone based on a stock Android experience, the instructions below are very similar to what we would have given if we had used another Android phone.

Motorola Device Manager

The first thing to do is to install the Motorola Device Manager suite, which includes both the drivers for the computer’s recognition of the smartphone and the actual program with which we will perform the backup. At this link you will find the executable file to download, simply select the hyperlink in the Motorola Device Manager (driver) section, then press the Download for Windows or Download for Mac button depending on the operating system installed on your computer. After a few seconds, the download of the executable file will start automatically.

Once loading is complete, an installation wizard screen warns us that "To reduce installation times, we recommend closing all open applications": we click on the Continue button, then in rapid succession on the buttons Next, Install, Close.

Now let’s connect the phone to the computer with the USB cable provided. Having installed the Motorola Device Manager drivers and software, the system should automatically recognize the smartphone. If this is not the case, open the Settings of the mobile phone, select the Connected devices option, then press on the USB item and choose the File transfer mode under the tab Use USB connection for.

At this point, the computer will be able to read all the files present in the internal memory of the mobile device. For a complete backup, simply copy all the folders in the phone’s storage and paste them into a special folder that we will create and save on the computer.

It is in effect a manual backup, which can be replicated with any other Android phone. More advanced programs such as Samsung’s SmartSwitch instead allow you to follow an automatic procedure where the backup is carried out by the software itself.

Android Backup App

In addition to PC programs, there are many Android backup apps that can keep your phone data in a safe place.

However, there is a problem: to work, many of them require root permissions, the procedure through which the smartphone’s official warranty is invalidated in order to have greater control over the phone. It is an operation that we do not recommend performing, especially for those who are not very familiar with Android and the computer. Fortunately, there are exceptions.

Super Backup: SMS and contacts

The best app for Android backup is called Super Backup: SMS and Contacts. Among its functions, we highlight the backup of apps, contacts, text messages, calls, and calendars. Additionally, you have the opportunity to schedule automatic backups. To restore apps, you need root.

If you want to test its use you need to download the Super Backup: SMS and Contacts app on the Play Store. Once the download is complete, we launch the application to access the home screen. The Apps, SMS, Contacts, Call log, and Calendars boxes indicate the data for which Android can be backed up without root. However, it is not possible to back up photos, you are in fact redirected to another app from the same developers as Super Backup.

Let’s now proceed with backing up our apps. First of all, we select the Apps box, then add the check next to each app of which we wish to have a separate copy, and then press the Backup button at the bottom. The operation is completed in a few seconds.

By default, the backup is saved to the internal memory inside the SmsContactsBackup folder. For greater security, we recommend copying the SmsContactsBackup folder to the SD card or directly to your computer.

For completeness of information, we recommend Titanium Backup (click here to download it on the Play Store) as the reference application for rooted Android backup.

How to backup Android via Cloud

The simplest and fastest method for making an Android backup involves using the Google account, the same one you registered with during the first installation of the phone (corresponds to the email address you use to download and update Play Store apps).

Finally, as an alternative or addition to backup with the Google account, we suggest Cloud storage services, including proprietary ones such as Google Photos and third-party ones such as Dropbox.

With Google

In theory, backup (along with synchronization) by default is performed on Google Drive, thanks to which you can recover the following data at any time:

• Google Contacts
• Google Calendar
• Gmail settings
• Wallpapers
• App
• Password
• Wi-Fi networks

To make sure that your Android smartphone has the service active, open the Settings (gear icon), select the Google item, then under the Services tab tap on the Backup function. In the new screen that opens, move the toggle to ON next to the Backup to Google Drive item. If you wish, you have the option to manually start a backup by pressing the Back up now button.

As far as restoring backup data is concerned, the user does not have to worry about anything as it is an automatic operation performed by Google the first time the phone is restarted after a factory reset or the first time a new Android phone is turned on. The important thing is to use the same Google account with which you previously made the backup.

Those interested in Android backup of photos and videos can use the Google Photos app. Simply open the application, tap on the menu icon, and select the Settings item. In the new screen, we select the Backup and Sync tab, then make sure that the lever is moved to the right next to the Backup and Sync item.

With Dropxbox

Another way to backup Android via Cloud is by using a third-party Cloud storage app like Dropbox. We will not dwell here on what it is and how it works, having already spoken about it in detail in this other guide.

We would only like to point out that thanks to the Dropbox app it is possible to store every type of file in the space available (2 GB in the free plan, ed.), including photos, videos, music, and documents. The procedure is very simple: just tap on the + icon on the application’s home screen, then select one of the options available such as Upload photo or video and Upload file. At this point, all you have to do is select the desired file and it will automatically be stored in the Dropbox storage space.

With Samsung

If you switch from a Samsung phone to another smartphone also produced by the Korean big company, you can also use Samsung Cloud to save information relating to some aspects of the operating system and part of the data relating to Samsung’s proprietary apps.

To do this, just open the Settings of the device, reach the Accounts and backup section, and tap on the Backed up data item, located immediately under the Samsung Cloud heading. If you have not yet set up a Samsung account on your device, a guided procedure will be offered, which will also allow you to log in with a new Samsung profile.

In any case, once you reach the data management screen, place the check mark next to the items to be synchronized (Messages, Call logs, Contacts, Settings, Home screen, and so on) and tap the Backup item located at the bottom.

With HUAWEI

If you own a HUAWEI device equipped with Google services, therefore produced before 2019, there is the possibility of easily transferring important data to Google Drive and/or Google Photos following more or less the same procedure as previously illustrated. However, if you own a device produced after 2019, you will necessarily have to rely on HUAWEI Mobile Services (HMS). However, you can make a complete backup of the device, which can be restored on any other device equipped with HMS, using the HUAWEI Mobile Cloud service.

How to proceed in this case? We open the device Settings by tapping on the gear-shaped symbol located on the Home screen or in the app drawer and tap on the account name (usually the first item in the list). Once we enter the settings of our account, we tap on the words Cloud and Backup Cloud and, if we deem it appropriate, define the elements to include in the saving (messages, call log, settings and so on) via the Backup Options panel.

Original article published on Money.it Italy 2022-08-09 10:46:02. Original title: Come fare backup Android