How to back up your Android phone

Losing or breaking your phone doesn't mean you have to lose all your data, too--as long as you back it up first. Find out how to back up your valuable apps, contacts, messages, and more with just a few easy steps.
Android doesn't offer a native backup service, so it's easy to ignore the need to do so. But don't wait until it's too late to start thinking about backing up your phone. Many of us rely on our phone cameras to snap day-to-day photos of our lives and save text messages to have some of the most important conversations. So before a thief swipes that phone, or a spilled cup of coffee bricks it, follow these tips:

Google has your back. Go to Settings > Privacy, and make sure that "Back up my settings" and "Automatic restore" are checked off. Go to Settings > Accounts and sync, open your Gmail account, and check off all options. With these settings in place, your contacts, system settings, apps, calendar, and e-mail will be restored whenever you set up a new Android phone with that same Gmail account.

Photos. Google hasn't implemented a native photo backup service yet, so look to third-party apps to safeguard your photos. You might want to consolidate your mobile photos with those you already have stored in a cloud service. For instance, Photobucket Mobile will automatically upload newly snapped photos in the background to your Photobucket account. Flickr Companion and Picasa Tool are also free apps that allow mobile uploading but don't do so automatically.

Drag and drop. Back up photos from your Android the traditional way. Connect your phone to your computer via USB, set it in Disk Mode and locate the drive (on the desktop for Mac, in My Computer for Windows). Open the drive, find the DCIM folder, and drag the photos you'd like to back up onto your hard drive.

Text messages. Folks at SMS Backup + figured out a smart way to back up your text messages in the cloud. The free app automatically sends your SMS threads to Gmail and stores them under a new label, "SMS."

Let someone else do it. If you like the idea of having someone else back up your data, download MyBackup Pro. The $5 app backs up everything--SMS, photos, apps, call log, contacts, system settings, bookmarks, and more--to your SD card or its online server at no extra charge. MyBackup also allows you to restore your data, should you need to do so.

Data disaster averted! How to back up your Android smartphone to your PC


Oh no! You dropped your phone in the street. Then it was run over. Twice. And then you were almost hit by a Subaru trying to rescue it from the middle of the crosswalk. 

If this sad story sounds familiar, or at least plausible, chances are the first thought racing through your head as cars race over your phone is all of the contacts, photos, text messages, and notes stored on your phone. What’s an Android aficionado to do in a case like this? Like your mother once said, “Plan ahead.”

Planning ahead is the easiest way to make sure your data isn’t lost to the ether, even if your phone is destroyed. Luckily, Google syncs much of your contacts, calendar appointments, docs, and even app purchases with your Web-accessible Gmail account – as long as you give Google permission to do so.

While Google will preserve a lot of your data, there are other programs that backup the same data and more – including apps and photos – wirelessly to the cloud. Read on to find out how to back up your Android phone’s content to your PC.

Go with Google

google-sync-androidGiving Google permission to back up your stuff will vary slightly from phone to phone. In general, you’ll want to go to Settings > Backup and Reset > then tap “Backup my data” and “Automatic Restore.” You’re not done yet. While in Settings go to Accounts and click on the Google Account you want to sync your to data to. Tap the sync icons next to Email, Contacts, Calendar, Books, and any other service you want to virtually back up. That’s it.

But that’s not the only backup trick Google has up its sleeve. If you use Google’s Music service, all of your tunes will be preserved on Google’s servers, even if both your phone and your computer die at the same time. If you have a large music collection like we do, the initial upload process will take a long time – we’re talking days. But once the first upload is done, subsequent albums will upload as they are added to your collection. Your music can then be streamed to up to ten Android devices or to other computers.

Photos, videos, and music from your Android phone may also be transferred straight to your PC or Mac by plugging your phone into your computer and manually copying the files over to your hard drive. It’s not a perfectly synced solution, but it’s quick and easy, especially on a PC where Windows will mount it as an external drive. For Macs, download Android FileTransfer, install it, and run it once when you first connect your phone. It’ll start up automatically after that.
MyBackup Pro

mybackupproWe’re fairly certain that if Google gave Android innate backup abilities, it would work just like MyBackup Pro. Available in the Google Play Store for $5, this app backs up everything that’s possible to back up without having your phone rooted – photos, app data, browser bookmarks, contacts, system settings, home screen shortcuts, alarms, calendars, MMS messages, SMS messages, music playlists and more. The app allows you to schedule backups at convenient times, like when you’re sleeping, and saves the backup files either to the microSD card in your phone or to the cloud, making your data instantly accessible at the MyBackup Pro site. If your phone dies or if you move to a new phone, use MyBackup Pro’s software to restore all of your settings, data, and apps in one session. 
Samsung Kies

kies-air-connectIf you have a Samsung Android phone, you’re in luck – Samsung’s got its own proprietary software for keeping your device backed up. There’s an app called Kies Air that comes pre-installed on most devices, as well as software for your PC or Mac called Kies.

The Kies Air app allows you to connect to a computer running on the same Wi-Fi network. From your computer’s browser you’re able to explore, view, copy, and transfer the data currently on your phone. The app will give you an IP address to enter into your browser and then a PIN code. After this short setup, you’re good to go.

On desktop side, the Kies program is specifically designed to backup your data. Start by  connecting your Samsung phone via USB to your computer and opening the Kies software. When Kies detects that your phone is connected, it’ll display an icon for your phone along with information about how much free space you have left. Along the top, you’ll see a row of tabs. Simply click “Backup/Restore” and check the box at the top for all items. That’s it. Now grab some coffee while the phone backs up for the first time. If you don’t want to preserve everything on your phone, Kies also gives you the option of selecting certain things, such as contacts or music to back up.
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SMS Backup

sms-backup
Want to preserve every last drunken text message for posterity? SMS Backup is a free app that integrates with your Gmail account to back up your SMS messages to a label in your email account. Not only will your old messages remain, they will also be searchable thanks to the fact that they’re in Gmail.

Back that phone up!

As G.I. Joe would saying, “Knowing is half the battle.” The other half of the battle is backing up your data in case your phone accidentally meets the wheels of a truck. Google is definitely an ally in the backup battle, but you’ll want to enlist the assistance of the apps above to ensure all of your photos, notes, and messages are protected.