How do I back up my phone?

When you switch carriers, your phone’s storage shouldn’t be impacted since that information is stored directly on your phone. However, it can be helpful to back up your data in case you’ll be switching phones (or maybe you just feel like backing up your data). 

How to back up your phone will depend on what model you have (and where you want to keep the information you’ve just backed up). Read on to find out how to back up all of your contacts, music, photos and whatever else you want to keep. Also, it’s always a good idea to double-check your phone’s manual to see what the manufacturer says about backing up your data since phone models vary. 

In addition, we also tell you how to restore your phone from a backup in the event that it’s ever needed if you have an issue with your phone (usually this happens after you need to factory reset your phone due to errors or glitches with your phone).

How to back up iPhone

There are a few different ways to back up your iPhone depending on whether you want to back it up to an iCloud or to your computer (either Mac or PC). Read on for more.

How to back up iPhone to iCloud

Here’s how to do an iCloud backup for your iPhone (this also works if you have an iPad):

1. Connect to Wi-Fi
2. Go to Settings 
3. Tap iCloud
4. Tap iCloud Backup
5. Select Back Up Now (and make sure you stay on Wi-Fi so you don’t drain your data)
   1. If you don’t have enough storage, you might be prompted to buy more

Here’s how to set it up so your iPhone automatically backs up to the iCloud every day:

1. Make sure iCloud Backup is turned on under Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup
2. Make sure your phone is plugged in and charging
3. Connect to Wi-Fi
4. Lock your screen
   1. If you don’t have enough storage, you might be prompted to buy more

How to back up iPhone to Mac

There are two different ways to back up your iPhone to your Mac–either via iTunes or Finder.

Here’s how to back up your iPhone via iTunes:

1. On your Mac, open iTunes
2. Connect your iPhone to your computer via USB cable
3. Select your iPhone
   1. You may have to log in first
4. Click Summary
5. Select Back Up Now

If you want data from your smartwatch to be backed up, you’ll have to encrypt your data

Here’s how to back up your iPhone via Finder:

1. Open Finder
2. Connect your iPhone to your computer via USB cable
3. Select your iPhone
   1. You may have to log in first
4. Select Back Up Now
   1. If you want data from your smartwatch to be backed up, you’ll have to encrypt your data

How to back up iPhone to PC

1. On your PC, open iTunes
2. Connect your iPhone to your computer via USB cable
3. Select your iPhone
   1. You may have to log in first
4. Click Summary
5. Select Back Up Now
   1. If you want data from your smartwatch to be backed up, you’ll have to encrypt your data

How to restore iPhone from backup

You can restore your iPhone from backup either via iCloud or your computer, depending on where you backed up that data in the first place.

Here’s how to restore your iPhone from the iCloud:

1. Turn on your iPhone–you should see a Hello screen, but if not, you’ll have to erase your phone’s content again 
2. Follow the steps until you get to the screen that says Apps & Data
3. Tap Restore from iCloud Backup
4. Sign into your account
5. Choose a backup–most likely, you’ll want to look at the date and size
6. The transfer begins once you’ve made your choice
7. To restore apps and purchases, sign into your Apple ID
8. Now all you have to do is wait for the transfer to finish–make sure you keep your iPhone plugged into its charger and on Wi-Fi so you don’t drain your data

Here’s how to restore it from your computer if you have a Mac:

1. If you’re on the operating system called Catalina, open Finder. If you’re running on Mojave, click iTunes
2. Plug in your iPhone using a USB cable
3. Select your iPhone
4. Select Restore Backup
5. Pick the backup you want to use (again, most likely based on date and size)
6. Click Restore

Here’s how to restore it from your computer if you have a PC:

1. Open iTunes
2. Plug in your iPhone using a USB cable
3. Select your iPhone
4. Select Restore Backup
5. Pick the backup you want to use (again, most likely based on date and size)
6. Click Restore

How to back up Android

There are a few ways to backup your Android iPhone.

How to use Google to back up your phone

To back up your photos and images, you can use Google Photos. If you don’t have Google Photos, you can download it and make sure it’s set to automatically back up your photos.

Here’s how to sync your images to the app:

1. Open Google Photos
2. Tap on your profile image in the top right
3. Select Photo settings
4. Tap Back up & sync
5. Toggle Back up & sync on
6. You can also choose your preferred upload size under Upload size 

You can use YouTube Music, which is Google’s way of backing up songs, if you want to back up your music. Here’s how:

1. Go to music.youtube.com
2. Click on your profile image
3. Select Upload music
4. Pick the songs you want to upload

For all other files, you can upload them to your Google Drive. For settings, apps, SMS, call history and more, Android phones have a native cloud backup solution for this information. To back it up to Google One, here’s what to do:

1. Open Settings
2. Tap Google
3. Tap Backup
4. Toggle on Backup by Google One
5. Go into Google Account data and sync whatever else you’d like to sync
6. Go back to Backup
7. Tap Back up now

You can also make it so your Android phone automatically backs up your data. Here’s how:

1. On your Android phone, open the Google One app
2. Tap Storage at the top
3. Find the phone backup section
   1. If this is your first time backing up data, choose Set up data backup
   2. If you’ve already done this before, tap View details
4. Tap Manage backup
5. Choose your settings (e.g. the data types you want saved)
   1. You may be asked to allow permissions
6. A backup may take up to 24 hours and you’ll know your data is saved when the word On is below the data types you selected

How to back up Android to Windows

Here’s how to back up your files manually to your Windows computer.

1. Plug in your Android phone using a USB cable
2. A notification should show up on your phone that says Charging this phone via USB. Tap on the message.
3. Under Use USB for, select File Transfer/Android Auto
4. Open your PC, and click This PC in your folders
5. Look for your phone and double-click it
6. Select all of the files you want to transfer, right-click and select Copy
7. Create a folder where you want to store your files and open it
8. Paste all of the files into your folder

Alternatively, you can use the Android File Transfer:

1. Plug in your Android phone using a USB cable
2. Go to My Computer and click on your phone’s storage
3. Drag the files you want to back up into a new folder

How to back up Android to Mac

Here’s how to back up your files to a Mac computer:

1. Plug in your Android phone using a USB cable
2. Open Android File Transfer
3. Drag the files you want to back up into a new folder

How to restore Android phone from backup

When you log in to a new Android phone with your Google account, provided you’ve backed up your information, your phone should start downloading that information. Your photos should also be already available via Google Photos.