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It's never a bad time to back up your smartphone because there's always a possibility that you may break it, drop it in water, or even misplace it and lose all your data. Heck, you may even be getting ready to upgrade to one of the best new phones and need to make sure your data is secure. Whatever the case is, you wouldn't want to lose or let go of all your photos, important documents, or contacts. That's why I can't stress enough that it's important to back up all your data frequently. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to back up your phone and ensure that you never lose your precious data.

Back up your Android phone using Google One

The easiest way to back up your Android phone is with Google One. It allows for simple and seamless backups, and all you have to do is download the Google One app from the Play Store to perform a one-time setup.

Google One can save your app data, chat and call history, device settings, and Google Account data, including contacts, calendars, Gmail, and more. Notably, Google One will also sync your photos and videos with your Google Photos library in your preferred quality. The best thing about using it is that it can automatically back up your data over Wi-Fi after the device has been idle and charging for two hours. All Google account holders also get 15GB of free cloud storage for device backups, which is plenty for casual users. More advanced users can purchase an additional 100GB of storage for as little as $2 per month, so it's still a great way to save all your backups without spending a lot of money.

Here's how to get started with Google One to create your first backup and setup automatic backups over Wi-Fi:

  1. Download and open the Google One app on your phone.
  2. Select the Setup backup button and then choose Turn On to enable Google One backups on your phone.
  3. Now, you can decide what data you want to back up to Google One, including device data, messages, and even photos and videos.
  4. Tap Back up now once you've confirmed your selection to begin backing up your device data to Google One.

Once the backup is finished, you can easily access your backed-up data from within the app. Here's how to access it:

  1. Go to the home page of the Google One app and select the Storage tab at the bottom to see how much storage you have left, what's taking up the storage space, and more.
  2. Scroll down to locate your last backup, and select it to expand the preview card with a Show details button.
  3. Select that to check your backup details along with a Back up now button in case you want to immediately run another backup.

Backup your photos and videos with Google Photos

Google One automatically syncs your photos and videos to your Google Photos library, so you don't have to repeat the process if you've opted to sync media during your initial Google One backup. But if you can only care about saving your photos and videos, then you can simply use the backup option within the Google Photos app to secure your media. Here's how to do it:

  1. Download and open the Google Photos app on your phone, and log in to your account.
  2. You'll see a prompt asking you to turn on backup if you're launching it for the first time. If not, select the profile icon located in the top right corner and tap Turn on backup.
  3. Google Photos will now start backing up the photos and videos you have on your phone. You can check the status by tapping your profile icon once again.
  4. It'll show a Backup Complete message once it's done, and you should be good to go.

Create cloud save using Google Drive or other-party apps like Dropbox

If you'd rather have manual control over which files and documents you back up and how you organize them on the cloud, then you might want to consider using Google Drive or third-party services like Dropbox. You can download and use these applications on your Android phone to upload pretty much any file, including media, manually to a preferred location on the cloud and organize them. You can create additional folders to move around your files and even view them anytime via mobile or desktop. The process for that is as simple as selecting the files you want to back up and uploading them to the cloud.

Google Drive also has a built-in Backup and restore option, but that'll navigate you back to your device backup setting, which is essentially what we achieved earlier in this tutorial using Google One. I suggest you ignore that option and simply upload the files you want to back up manually.

Similarly, you can also use Microsoft OneDrive to sync your files between mobile and desktop with just a few taps. OneDrive is Microsoft's official online storage that's used by default on Windows computers. You can download the OneDrive app on your Android phone to seamlessly share, back up, and even view files between the two devices. You get 5GB of free cloud storage on OneDrive, but you can always upgrade your account to add more space.

Using NANDroid backups in a custom recovery environment

TWRP backup on Android

This one's for all the enthusiasts and tinkerers out there. If you have a phone with an unlocked bootloader and a custom recovery like TWRP, you can take a complete backup of your system and data from the recovery partitions. This method, known as NANDroid backup in the modding community, creates a complete copy of your device and restores it to its previous state when needed. It essentially lets you save and restore every aspect of your phone.

Custom recovery backups are a lifesaver when trying out bleeding edge custom ROMs and mods. If something goes wrong, and you end up with a soft-bricked device, you can simply boot into recovery and restore your backup. It will bring everything back to life and restore precisely how you left it.

Using third-party backup apps on Android

There's no shortage of third-party apps on the Google Play Store, so you'll come across endless applications to get the job done.

Swift Backup

I've used Swift Backup in the past to restore my data, so that's what I'd recommend. Swift Backup lets you perform batch actions to let you back up all your applications, messages, and call logs separately. You can even connect a cloud account to Swift Backup to bring all your backups in one place. For instance, you can connect to Google Drive to back up or restore the files to/from the Drive. It's very simple to use, and you'll get started with your backups with Swift Backup in no time.

Titanium Backup

Titanium Backup is also an excellent option, and it gets recommended a lot in our XDA forums among enthusiasts. This app lets you back up all your apps, including system apps with data, which can save you a lot of time when dealing with hundreds of apps. However, you need root access to be able to use all those features in the Titanium Backup app, so keep that in mind. It is a great tool overall for when you're switching ROMs and want to restore all your apps and data with a single press of a button.

Connecting your Android phone to a Windows PC or a Mac

Another way to create a backup of the files stored on your Android device is by connecting it to a Windows PC or Mac. Those using a Windows laptop or a desktop can use a beta app for Windows called Nearby Share to wirelessly connect their Windows PC and Android phone for file transfers. Using Nearby Share is different from using OneDrive because this is designed to send files over a wireless connection to nearby devices only, whereas OneDrive is a cloud solution that doesn't need the devices to be close to each other or on the same wireless network.

Android smartphone with Nearby Share running transferring file to Windows laptop
Source: Android

Mac users, on the other hand, can use Android File Transfer to connect their Android phone to a Mac computer. This is the best tool you can use to create a local backup of your Android phone on a Mac computer, and I suggest you head over to our How to transfer files from Android to Mac guide to learn more.

Using an external drive for manual backups

Lastly, you can choose to ditch all the online cloud-based solutions and wireless methods in favor of offline backups using a computer or an external storage device. This particular method is not for everyone, as it needs a separate computer or a storage device to get the job done. It is, however, a reliable way to back up your Android phone.

The process involves physically connecting your Android phone to a computer or a storage device via a USB cable to transfer your files one by one. You can transfer pretty much everything, including music, photos, documents, and more. You can also use Swift Backup to create a copy of all your data locally on your phone and then copy them to the computer or your storage device.

Final thoughts

Gone are the days when you used to create multiple backups using various apps and services. Google One can handle everything with just a few taps, and it also supports automatic backup features. I also recommend checking out third-party backup apps like Swift Backup, which also lets you handle pretty much everything from one place with batch actions. I've also highlighted some ways in which you can create manual backups of the files stored in your Android device, so be sure to check them all out. It's all about finding the best method that works for you, so feel free to experiment with different services before settling.