Mobile phones are something that has become as much personal as a PC, try to touch or use someone’s device without their permissions and you will get all sorts of lectures on privacy and managing space.
The little items that make a phone important to many of us are actually the contents inside, these includes photos, videos, apps and conversations between friends among other things. Thankfully, smartphones are getting a little better at automatically backing up our data, but we all do know very well there is always that possibility of losing a phone or dropping it in water and ending up with almost no memory of our precious device. That’s why backing up becomes a necessary part of our routines to make sure we don’t find ourselves in a situation without our data.
We are going to show you how to properly backup your data using various Google platforms or your computer. Keep in mind, there may be other better third-party backup options out there but we have decided to digest the common free options available.
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Here’s how to backup your photos with Google
Backing up your phone data with Google photos is actually pretty easy and straightforward. If you are not using this service, you are definitely missing a lot of things. The service automatically save every photo and video in your phone Gallery to the cloud so you will never have to manually do that ever again.
The only thing you have to do is make sure the Photos App is set to automatically backup your files and get access to an internet source for the operation to get started , here is how to do that:
- Open the Google Photos app
- In the menu, head to Settings
- Tap ‘Backup & sync’
- Make sure the switch is toggled on
- Get connected to and your Gallery should be synced
Google Photos allows you to upload as many files as possible for free and available for download in both android and iOS. Videos and Photos have a max upload quality limited to full HD at 1080p for the free unlimited storage options which should be good enough for most of us.
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 is another useful app from the tech giant that lets you save your files and folders in the cloud. The important thing to note is to keep in mind that the free storage package is limited to 15GB so you should be picky on the folders to save. To me, this is another good option for many people.
To manually upload folders and files, follow these instructions:
- Download the Google Drive app, if you don’t have it already
- Open the app and tap on the ‘+’ button
- Click ‘Upload’
- Select the file(s) you’d like to backup
- That’s it to backup other files!
How to back up Settings and apps
You will need to use Android Backup services to automatically backup your phone settings and Apps. This service makes it easy to restore those settings on a new Android phone and essentially goes ahead to automatically download the frequently most used apps and make a list on Playstore for all previously installed apps on your device.
Follow these instructions below to activate it:
- Open your Phone’s Settings app
- Scroll to “Accounts and Backup” and tap
- Click on ‘Backup and restore”
- Toggle on the “Back up my data” switch and add your Google account, if it’s not there.
How to back up on your computer
Backing up our phone data to the computer comes with a myriad of reasons, from easy access to deficit of reliable fast internet. But regardless of your reason, the good news is the process of doing so is pretty much the same on most computers whether you’re a PC or Mac 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! Your phone should be pretty much all backed up by now. Unless, of course, you want to use a third party service.
