Backing up your Android phone data is extremely important. Unfortunately, it can be a little difficult to backup and maintain and un-rooted Android phone. You will have to depend on different services to backup all of your Android phone’s data. Don’t worry though, as today we are going to tell you everything you need to create a complete backup of your Android phone.
Can you really take a complete backup of your Android without root?
Well, not exactly. Unlike an iPhone (which automatically backup everything on your phone while you are sleep); Android, on the other hand, can not take complete backup on it own. Basically, you have 2 backup options in Android.
- Partial backup (No ROOT) – this includes your Contacts, Pictures, Videos, Music, Browser data etc. You can use Google backup solution for this, which is build in your phone. Or you can use third-party apps from Play Store to get more backup options like call log, Messages, and System Settings etc (which is not included in Google backup)
- Complete Backup (ROOT) – this type of backup include everything you get from the above partial backup plus — the backup of all the apps and its data (using Titanium backup) or you can create an exact copy of you Android state using Nandroid backup from TWRP recovery. But for this article, we’ll only focus on Partial backup method.
Backup Your Android Device (No Root)
Method 1: Backup your Android using Google Backup
This is most convenient method partly because it’s built in your Android device. Again, unlike iPhone it won’t keep a 100% backup of your device, but you can get close to 60%. What Data Does Google backup?
Chrome browser data Contacts Calendars Documents Hangout Messages Installed or Purchased apps Photos and Videos (if Google Photo sync is enabled) Music (uploaded to Play Music) System Settings (Wi-Fi, lockscreen settings etc)
Step 1: Backup Basic Settings
To enable the Google Backup feature, Go to “Settings” and tap on “Backup and Reset” option. Now make sure “Back up my data” option is enabled here. All your application data, passwords, contacts and phone preferences will be saved in Google servers.
Whenever you will factory reset or access another Android phone using your Google account, all this data will be downloaded and applied. If you are not comfortable with Google storing all your personal data, then you can easily delete it. Go to “Backup and Reset” option again and turn off the toggle button next to “Back up my data”. The auto backup feature will be turned off and all the previously collected data will be deleted from Google servers.
Step 2: Backup Photos and Videos
To automatically backup all your photos and videos, you will have to depend on a cloud storage service with automatic sync. There are many options, but Google Photos would be the best option for backing up photos and videos in your Android phone. Many Android phones are shipped with Google Photos app installed, so there is a good chance it is installed in your phone as well. Additionally, it offers unlimited storage for photos and videos with high quality. If you don’t mind saving your photos and videos at 16 megapixels and 1080p resolution respectively, then you can backup unlimited photos/videos. If you want to save a picture/video in its original quality, then its size will be quoted to your Google Drive storage, which offers 15GB for free. Most Android phones are unable to shoot higher quality photos/videos than the quota, so you should have no problem saving the data with unlimited storage. When you will open the Google Photos app, it will prompt you to automatically backup all the photos and videos. Just confirm it and rest will be handled by Google Photos. All the backed up data can be viewed and downloaded from any Google Photos app on any device. To view your backup photos and video, go to photos.google.com.
What it’ll not backup?
SMS Call logs Custom Settings like launcher, lockscreen etc Most of the App Settings and data (that the app don’t share with Google Play services)
Step 3: Backup Text Messages and Call logs
Since Google Backup do not include SMS and Calls backup, we’ll use a third party app to take the seprate backup. Text messages and call logs are one of the most important types of data that may even contain sensitive information. So you need to be very careful about how you should backup this data. For this purpose, I trust Easy Backup & Restore app that is astonishingly easy and completely free to use. The app allows you to backup SMS, MMS, contacts, call logs, calendar, and bookmarks. And all of this data can be saved in a SD card or your choice cloud storage service, including Google Drive, Box, Dropbox and OneDrive. True to its name, Easy Backup & Restore has a very simple interface that allows you to quickly backup or restore data with just few tabs. Simply tap on “Backup” and select the type of data you would like to backup. After that, select where you would like to backup the data. If you would like to save the data with you, then select SD card. Otherwise, just go for your choice cloud storage service. You can also select multiple backup places to have multiple backups.
To restore the data, download Easy Backup & Restore in the new phone and click on the “Restore” button to restore the data. There is also a “View” option that allows you to view the data before you restore. Additionally, the created backups can also be sent to other people via email. You can either manually backup all the data or tell Easy Backup & Restore to automatically back it up after a specific time. Both new and old backup will be kept, but you can choose to delete the old backups after a specific time period.
Method 2: Backup Everything in One Place
Above are simple ways to backup all the Android data using free and unlimited services. However, you will have to depend on different services to store and restore the data, which can be a little tiring. If you want to backup all the data in one place and without rooting the phone, then it can be done using G Cloud Backup app. What does this backup include?
Contacts Call log Messages Photos Videos Music Documents Calendars System Settings Browser data WhatsApp data
However, it comes with a limited space of 1GB that can be increased to 10GB by completing different free offers (lots of offers). Although the app is great for backing up Android data, but you are only limited to 10GB max storage for free. If you want more space, you will have to pay for it. The data you can backup include, SMS, call logs, contacts, photos, videos, audio files, documents and other types of files. When you will download the app, G Cloud Backup will prompt you to tell what type of data you would like to protect (backup). Just check the checkbox next to each data type and it will be backed up according to schedule. Furthermore, you can also password protect the app to prevent other people from accessing your data.
Unfortunately, G Cloud Backup is unable to backup app data and settings. You will need to have a rooted phone to get this feature. No need to worry though, as you can still use the built-in “Backup and Reset” feature to backup app data (like mentioned above).
Wrapping Up
If you want to backup Android data for free without any limitations, then you will have to depend on different services to backup different types of data. However, G Cloud Backup is a good service if you are willing to shell out $3.99/month to get their unlimited storage package. As for the free 10GB space offered by G Cloud Backup, you will have to complete many offers that can consume a lot of time. Also Read: 6 Useful Tips to Free Up Space on Your Android Device
