Are you about to replace your Android smartphone with a newer model and would like a hand in transferring your data from one device to another? No problem, you just have to be spoiled for choice! To make Android backups you can turn to several free solutions that allow you to save apps, data and settings in an extremely easy and fast way. The data can then be transferred to other devices or restored on the same device following a system reset.
Going into more detail, you can take advantage of Google’s synchronization services to save contacts, calendars, photos and other data on the cloud; you can download applications to your smartphone to back up data, apps and settings; or you can contact the official software of your smartphone manufacturer (eg Samsung, Huawei etc.) and synchronize the data directly with the computer.
It’s up to you to choose the solution that best suits your needs and use it. Find all the information you need below. I assure you that in no time at all you will be able to save all your data and restore them, when necessary, without unnecessary waste of time. Enjoy the reading!
Index
- How to make Android backups for phone change
- Google Cloud
- Samsung Cloud
- Xiaomi Cloud
- Cloud HUAWEI
- Other cloud services
- How to backup Android to PC
- Manual data transfer
- Manufacturer management software
- How to backup Android: WhatsApp
- How to backup Android to iPhone
- How to backup Android with broken screen
- How to backup Android to SD
How to make Android backups for phone change
If you need to make Android backups because you have purchased a new smartphone with the same operating system, you can use the cloud space provided by Google and / or that made available by the manufacturer itself, to save the information directly on the Internet and restore it, to the the right moment, within a couple of taps. As you can easily imagine, in order for everything to go well, it is essential that the new smartphone be logged in with the same account (or the same accounts) previously used on the old one.
Google Cloud
If you have an Android device with Google services and intend to switch to another smartphone with the same feature, you can quickly store a copy of SMS, contacts, emails and other data on the device directly on Google Drive , the cloud service of the Mountain giant. View.
For everything to go smoothly, it is essential that a Gmail account has been previously associated on the smartphone in question and that the new phone is configured using the same account .
Having clarified this, to store data on Google Drive, access the phone Settings by tapping on the gear symbol located on the Home screen or in the app drawer, open the Accounts / Accounts and synchronization panels > [Google account name]> Account synchronization (or similar) and turn ON the switches corresponding to the data you want to save (Calendar, Contacts, Chrome and so on). To save the selected items on Google Drive, press the (⋮) button located at the top right and tap the Synchronize now item from the menu that appears.
Now, it’s time to back up the operating system settings (alarms, saved passwords, wallpapers and so on): therefore go to the Settings> System> Advanced> Backup (or similar) device menu and move the corresponding lever to ON under Backup on Google Drive ; finally, press the Back up now button to save the data on the cloud.
Finally, you just have to activate the automatic saving of photos and videos in the cloud, using the Google Photos app (if you don’t have it, you can download it for free from the Play Store ): open the latter, tap your avatar located at the top right and press on the Photo Settings item resident in the menu that appears.
Now, open the Backup and synchronization section , move the lever to ON the lever of the same name located in the next screen and select the Upload size item , to select the upload quality: Original quality , High quality (the photos will have a maximum resolution of 16 MP and 1080p movies) or Express (photos will have a maximum resolution of 3 MP and videos of 720p).
Keep in mind that uploading images to Google Photos, unless you choose to use the Express option, which would result in a noticeable loss of quality for photos and videos, erodes the space available on Google Drive which, basically, is equal to 15 GB for each account; if you need additional space, you can activate a subscription to Google One , with prices starting at € 1.99 / month for 100 GB .
In addition to the automatic backup of photos and videos made via the device’s camera, you can make Google Photos automatically archive the multimedia elements in other folders: to make this happen, from the Backup and synchronization section of Google photos , tap on the wording Device folders backed up and turn ON the switches corresponding to the directories you want to keep. For further information on Google Photos , you can read the tutorial I dedicated to the topic.
Samsung Cloud
If it is your intention to switch from a Samsung phone to another smartphone always produced by the big Korean I suggest you, after storing all the necessary data on the Google cloud, to also take advantage of 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, open the device Settings , reach the Accounts and backup section and tap the Backed up data item , located immediately under the heading Samsung Cloud ; if you have not yet set up a Samsung account on your device, you will be offered a wizard, which will allow you to log in with a new Samsung profile, or using an existing account. For more information on this, I refer you to reading my guide on how to access Samsung Cloud .
In any case, once you reach the data management screen, put the check mark next to the items to be synchronized (Messages, Call logs, Contacts, Settings, Home screen and so on) and touch the Backup item located at the bottom, so as to start the phase of saving data on the cloud.
Xiaomi Cloud
If you have a Xiaomi smartphone and you intend to switch to another phone from the same manufacturer, you can combine the data backup made via Google Drive / Google Photos with the one provided by Xiaomi Cloud : by doing so, you will have the possibility to save some data strictly connected to the MIUI ROM and Xiaomi apps (Home screen layout and backgrounds, alarm clock, clock, time and notification settings, MIUI system settings and so on) and to restore them on any other Xiaomi device, provided you log in with the same account.
To do so, go to the Settings> Mi Account menu of the device and, if you have not already done so, log in with an existing account or register a new account, by pressing the appropriate button and following the instructions that appear on the screen.
Once logged in, press the Xiaomi Cloud item , locate the Synchronize app data section and use the available items to choose the items to synchronize (Gallery, Messages, Contacts, Call log , Notes, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and so on). Next, tap the Sync button to start data synchronization.
Finally, to save the various settings of the MIUI ROM, tap the Backup Home screen button below the Special Features item and press the Back Up button to proceed; if you wish, through the same panel, you can activate automatic backups by acting on the appropriate lever.
Please, pay attention to the elements you decide to save, as they will affect the space available on Xiaomi Cloud which, basically, is equal to 5 GB : if they are not enough, tap the Update plan button and choose one of the subscription plans available, depending on your needs (starting from around € 4 / three months at the current exchange rate).
Cloud HUAWEI
If you have a HUAWEI device equipped with Google services, therefore produced before 2019, you can easily transfer important data to Google Drive and / or Google Photos by following more or less the same procedure that I explained to you in one of the previous sections of this guide. : the data saved in this way can be restored, with relative simplicity, on any other Android device equipped with Google services.
If, on the other hand, you own a device produced after 2019, you will have to necessarily rely on HUAWEI Mobile Services (HMS), as Google services are not present; the data stored in this way can be easily restored on any other device equipped with HMS, or viewed through the appropriate website using only the browser.
If this is the case for you, you will still be pleased that you can make a complete backup of the device, which you can restore on any other device equipped with HMS, using the HUAWEI Mobile Cloud service : to proceed, open the device Settings , by tapping on the gear symbol located on the Home screen or in the app drawer, and tap on your account name (usually the first item in the list).
If you have not yet configured a HUAWEI account on the device, press the Register button instead and fill in the next form with all the required data, in order to immediately create a new account and associate it with the device.
Once in your account settings, tap on the words Cloud and Backup Cloud and, if you deem it appropriate, define the items to be included in the save (messages, call log, settings and so on) through the Backup Options panel .
Having made your choice, return to the Backup Cloud screen and tap the Backup button to start saving the data on the Internet; I would like to point out, however, that the archived files erode the free storage space available on HUAWEI Drive, initially equal to 5 GB : if you need more space, you will need to take out a subscription, with prices starting from € 0.99 / month for 50 GB .
As for images and videos, however, you can synchronize using the HUAWEI Cloud Gallery , a service that allows you to transfer the entire gallery of the device to HUAWEI Drive: to activate it, go to the Settings> Cloud> Gallery menu and enable the lever located next to the Cloud Gallery Synchronization item .
Also in this case, the storage of the images will affect the storage space available on the HUAWEI Drive: take this into account!
Other cloud services
If the solutions I have provided you so far are not properly suited to your needs, know that there are many other cloud services , some of which can also be used for free, which allow you to upload images, videos (even automatically) and other categories of files, through the official apps for Android; the uploaded files can be viewed from any other device, through the dedicated program or app, or by accessing its website.
If you are interested in learning more about the subject, I refer you to reading my guide to the best cloud , in which I have explained to you, in detail, how some excellent solutions of this type work.
How to backup Android to PC
Contrary to what one might think, saving photos, videos and other documents on Android to the computer disk is a fairly simple operation: below you will find everything explained in detail.
Manual data transfer
If it is your intention to manually copy the files you are interested in keeping, in order to view them from your computer or from any other device you prefer, my advice is to connect your smartphone to the computer via the supplied USB cable and operate via the Windows File Explorer, or Android File Transfer software for macOS.
Before going ahead, make sure that the Android device is set up for data transfer: after connecting it to the computer, tap on the message relating to the USB options in the notification area of the operating system and put the check mark next to the item File transfer or MTP , so that the device can be recognized as external memory.
Windows
Now, if your computer is equipped with the Windows operating system , open the File Explorer by clicking on the yellow folder icon visible in the taskbar , click on the item This PC resident in the sidebar of the new window that opens and do double click on the Android device name .
Now, open the Internal memory / internal shared memory folder , to view the files in the phone memory, or the External Memory / SD Card / SD Card directory , to view the files on the memory card that may be installed in the device.
The game is practically done: to transfer a file or an entire folder to your computer, all you have to do is use the classic copy and paste , or drag it to the folder you want; I remind you that the photos and videos made via the camera are saved in the DCIM folder of Android, those received / sent via WhatsApp in the WhatsApp / Media folder , that the files downloaded via the browser are saved in the Downloads / Downloads folder , and so on.
macOS
If, on the other hand , you have a Mac available , you must necessarily use the free Android File Transfer application , which allows you to activate the display of the memory of Android devices even on macOS. To get the software, open this web page and click the Download Now button .
Once the .dmg package has been downloaded , open it and drag the Android File Transfer icon into the macOS Applications folder and double-click the newly created icon to launch the program. If everything went smoothly, in the window that opens, you should view the contents of the memory of the connected smartphone or tablet: to download a file or an entire folder, all you have to do is drag the chosen element directly on your Desk, or in any other position you prefer.
Manufacturer management software
As an alternative to the solutions I have indicated so far, you can create an automatic backup of the data on the device using the appropriate computer software distributed by the smartphone or tablet manufacturer: this operation is extremely effective, when you need to create a safety copy of the data to be restored in case of problems.
Usually, such programs can be downloaded directly from the website of the phone or tablet manufacturer: for example, the program distributed by Samsung is called Smart Switch , that of HUAWEI is called HiSuite , that of LG is called PC Suite , the software provided by Sony is called Xperia Companion , and so on. To find out more, you can take a look at my tutorial on how to connect Android to PC , in which I have given you all the details of the case.
How to backup Android: WhatsApp
Do you need to backup your WhatsApp conversations , to then be able to transfer them to another Android smartphone (or transfer them to the same phone following a restore of the same) when necessary? No problem. All you have to do is activate the WhatsApp backup on Google Drive and use the same phone number, as well as the same Google account, on the new WhatsApp installation.
To activate backups on Google Drive, start WhatsApp, tap the button (⋮) located at the top right, tap the Settings item attached to the menu that appears and reach the Chat panel > Chat Backup , in order to access the settings of Google Drive dedicated to WhatsApp backup, which you can configure appropriately and with the account you prefer. Once the configuration is complete, you can immediately start saving the data by tapping the Run Backup button .
If you need help in completing the backup of WhatsApp on Google Drive, or in the local memory of the phone, you can refer to my guide on how to backup WhatsApp , in which I have explained everything to you in detail.
If you were to move WhatsApp from Android to iOS instead, read my tutorial on how to transfer WhatsApp chats from Android to iPhone , in which I taught you how to best deal with such an eventuality.
How to backup Android to iPhone
If you are planning to buy a new iPhone and you are afraid of losing the data currently stored on your Android device, know that I have good news for you. In fact, there is a particular application, called Switch to iOS , which allows you to transfer data from an Android phone to a new iPhone, directly during the initial configuration of the latter, within a couple of taps.
All you have to do is download the application from the Google Play Store , start it on the Android phone and follow the instructions that appear on the screen, in order to prepare the data transfer; subsequently, you need to proceed with the first power on of the iPhone, choose to restore data from an Android phone and run the wizard proposed on the display.
If, on the other hand, you deem it necessary to transfer only some data (e.g. contacts, appointments, images and so on), you can configure the same Gmail account on the iPhone as you are using on Android and select the data to be synchronized, immediately after the addition of the same. For more information, you can take a look at my guides on how to pass data from Android to iPhone and how Switch to iOS works , in which I have given you clear indications on what to do.
How to backup Android with broken screen
If you need to back up the data on an Android device with a broken screen , you have several ways to go, based on the extent of the damage and the model of device in your possession; the important thing, in any case, is that the phone turns on and that it is able to start up correctly , even without display feedback.
For example, if the screen turns on, you can see all or part of the elements of the screen but the touchscreen does not work at all, you could use an external USB mouse with OTG adapter to unlock it and access the built-in backup functions; if the phone turns on and is equipped with a Recovery (i.e. an operating system external to Android through which it is possible to perform some delicate operations), you can also rely on the computer and the ADB software , in order to start the data transfer directly from PowerShell / Command Prompt, on Windows, or from the macOS Terminal.
Again, if you own a Samsung- branded device and have configured a Samsung account on it, simply turn it on and use the Find My Device function to unlock its screen or directly create a backup of your most important data.
If you are interested in learning more about the subject, take a look at my guide on how to recover data from a broken phone, in which I was able to explain the subject in great detail.
How to backup Android to SD
Do you have a smartphone or tablet equipped with an SD card and would you like to use it to secure your data, should the internal memory of your device become damaged? No problem: Android has an excellent external memory management system, which can be configured according to your needs.
For example, you could choose to use the microSD as a portable memory , to move photos and other content onto it so that you can also access it by inserting the card into other devices; or as internal memory , so as to be able to “increase” the capacity of the phone’s built-in memory and to be able to easily move apps and other types of files.
In any case, if you intend to transfer the files contained in the Android memory to an external microSD, my tutorial on how to transfer data to the SD card will surely come in handy ; if you own a smartphone or tablet model belonging to Samsung or HUAWEI, you will also find interesting my guides on how to move files to SD card from Samsung and how to move files to SD card from HUAWEI.
