How to backup your Android phone or tablet in 4 ways, and make sure your photos, videos, and other files are safe

Steven John

Apr 30, 2020, 01:01 IST

How to backup your Android phone or tablet in 4 ways, and make sure your photos, videos, and other files are safe

It's easy to backup your Android's data.GaudiLab/Shutterstock

You can backup your Android device's photos, videos, and other data using Google Drive and Google Photos.
To backup your Android phone or tablet's images or files manually, you'll need to link your device to a Google account.
To backup your Android automatically, you'll need to access your device's Settings or System menu, and select the "Backup" toggle or choose a backup service. c
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If you've ever lost your smartphone or had it damaged beyond repair, you know what losing your most important data can mean. If you didn't know how to make a backup, chances are you weren't able to recover the files, images, or videos on your phone.

Being proactive and backing up your Android phone can mean the difference between recovering your family photos, music downloads, work files, or perfect phone settings, and losing them forever.

The first step is linking your device, such as your Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel, to your Google account or any other third-party cloud service your phone supports. You can then choose to back up content, data, and settings from your phone manually or automatically.

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Keep in mind that you can't restore a backup from a newer Android version onto a phone with an older Android version.

The process for restoring your phone's content and data will vary by phone model and Android version, but generally follow the same steps. Here's how to manually and automatically back up your Android device.

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Google Pixel 4 (From $799.99 at Best Buy)

How to backup your Android's photos and videos to Google Photos

1. Open the Google Photos app.

2. If you haven't already synced your Google account to your phone, sign in to your Google account.

3. Tap the Menu icon in the top left, which looks like three stacked lines.

4. Select "Settings."

5. Choose "Back up & sync."

6. Toggle the "Back up & sync" on or off. Toggling it on or to the right will, of course, begin syncing your Android device's photos and videos with your Google account.

How to backup your Android's files to Google Drive

1. Open the Google Drive app.

2. Tap the add button in the lower right corner, which looks like a colorful plus sign.

3. Choose "Upload."

4. Select the images, video, audio, or documents you want to upload.

If your music isn't saved locally to your device, but instead through a streaming service like Google Play or Spotify, you don't have to worry about backing your songs up. They're already saved to your account on that streaming service.

How to automatically and manually backup your Android data and settings through a backup service

1. Open your phone's Settings app.

2. Scroll until you see "Back up & reset." On some Android models, the option is labeled "Backup."

3. Make sure the "Backup my data" toggle is on.

4. For your data to automatically backup, select "Back up my data." This may not appear on all devices.

5. Tap the "Auto back up" toggle to turn automatic backup on.

6. To manually backup your data, select "Back up now" at the bottom of the window.

7. On Android 9, the latest version of the operating system, you simply need to enter your Settings app, tap "System," then select "Backup" to perform backups automatically.

8. If you're using Android 9 and want to backup your phone manually, once you've entered the Backup menu, you'll need to tap "Back up now" before choosing "Continue."