Back Up an Android Phone on the Google Cloud

To ensure your phone data's safety, you should back up your phone to the Google Cloud--Android's online file storage--every couple of weeks. You can back up your Android Phone's contacts, calendar data, app data, chrome data, documents, and Drive contents to Google's servers from within the "Settings" app, while your photos and videos back up from within the "Google Photos" app.

Steps

Backing Up Standard Data

  1. Tap your "Settings" app to open your Settings. The Settings app resembles a gear.
  2. Scroll until you find the "Backup and Reset" option, then tap it. You can enable Google Cloud backup from this menu.
  3. Enter your PIN if prompted. This should be the same PIN/passcode you use to unlock your phone.
  4. Swipe on "Backup my data" and "Automatic restore". The pertinent switches will turn green in response, indicating that data backup and automatic restore are now active.[1]
  5. Tap the "Backup Account" option.
  6. Tap your Google Account name. This should be your main Google account that you use with your phone.
  7. Return to the main Settings menu.
  8. Scroll until you find the "Accounts" option, then tap it. You'll need to select the specific account to which you will back up your phone.
  9. Tap the "Google" option in Accounts, then select your Gmail account.
  10. Swipe on the preferences for everything you want backed up. The pertinent switches will turn green in response, indicating their approval for backup. If you aren't sure of where all your data is, back up all of these options.
    • Your standard data options are:
    • App Data
    • Calendar
    • Chrome
    • Contacts
    • Docs
    • Drive
  11. Exit the Settings app. This completes the backup process.

Backing Up Photos and Videos

  1. Open the "Google Photos" app. This app comes standard with all Android phones.
  2. Find and tap the three horizontal lines icon in the upper left-hand corner of your screen.[1]
  3. Sign into your Google account using your Google email and password. These credentials should be the ones you use for your phone's Google account.
  4. Return to the Google Photos app's main screen.
  5. Tap the "Settings" option, then tap "Back up & sync".
  6. Switch on the "Backup" option. This should be at the top of your screen; the switch is next to the word "On" directly beneath the "Backup" heading.
  7. Tap "Back up all" to back up your photos and videos to the Google Photos cloud. You can also swipe on "Roaming" to back up your photos while on data (not wifi).
  8. Verify your backup's success by viewing Google Photos' contents. All of your phone's photos should now be backed up!

Tips

  • SMS backup isn't included in the default backup procedures listed here, so backing up your texts requires downloading a dedicated app. "SMS Backup+" and "SMS Backup and Restore" are both highly-recommended (and free) apps in the Google Play store that are more than suited to this purpose.[2]

Warnings

  • Failing to regularly back up your Android phone can result in losing all your data if your phone stops working.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.techbout.com/backup-android-phone-6081/
  2. ↑ http://www.androidauthority.com/backup-sms-automatically-android-customization-625972/
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