Tuesday Tip: How to backup your mobile phone

We keep a lot of important stuff on our cell phones like photos to phone numbers. So it’s a good idea to backup your mobile phone regularly, in case your phone is lost, damaged or stolen – or in case you buy a new phone and need to transfer your old data.

You may find yourself asking “How do I backup my phone?” Well, there are several different ways to backup phone data on your phone, depending on the type of phone you have.

How to Backup Phone Data on an iPhone

You can easily back up your iPhone or iPad data with iCloud or iTunes. What’s the difference?

iCloud

*Stores backups in iCloud.
*Offers up to 2 TB of storage (your first 5 GB are free).
*Always encrypts your backups.
*Lets you create and use backups from anywhere with Wi-Fi.

iTunes

*Stores backups on your Mac or PC.
*Storage depends on your Mac or PC’s available space.
*Offers encrypted backups (this function is off by default).
*Lets you create and use backups from your Mac or PC.

Follow these steps to backup an iPhone to iCloud:

1. Connect your device to a Wi-Fi network.
2. Go to Settings > [your name], then tap iCloud. If you’re using iOS 10.2 or an earlier version, go to Settings, then scroll down and tap iCloud.
3. Tap iCloud Backup. If you’re using iOS 10.2 or earlier, tap Backup. Make sure that iCloud Backup is turned on.
4. Tap Back Up Now. Stay connected to your Wi-Fi network until the process is complete.

You can also enable iCloud Backup and automatically back up your device every day. Follow these steps:

1. Make sure iCloud Backup is turned on in Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup. If you’re using iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud > Backup.
2. Connect your device to a power source.
3. Connect to a Wi-Fi network.
4. Make sure your device screen is locked.
5. Make sure you have enough space available in iCloud for the backup.

Follow these steps to backup an iPhone with iTunes:

1. Open iTunes and connect your device to your computer.
2. If a message asks for your device passcode or to Trust This Computer, follow the onscreen steps.
3. Select your device when it appears in iTunes.

You can also back up your iPhone or iPad using a third-party cloud-storage service like Dropbox, Google Drive or Box. These are especially good for sharing files with other people, since iCloud makes sharing more difficult.

These services also handy if you’ve used up your free 5 GB of iCloud storage and you don’t want to pay for more space. Most cloud-storage services offer a limited amount of free space, with the idea that you’ll sign up for a subscription once you’ve reached your limit. But if you do a bit of organizing, you should never have to pay for cloud storage. Just separate your files and store them using different services. Put your personal photos in one service and your work-related files in another – and so on.

How to Backup Phone Data on an Android Phone

The easiest way to backup phone data your Android phone is with Google, which just happens to own Android. Google Photos, for example, will back up every photo and video you ever take to the cloud – automatically.

The app probably came preloaded on your phone. If not, you can download it from the Google Play store. Just ensure that the app is set to automatic backup.

1. Open the Photo app.
   2. In the menu, choose Settings.
   3. Choose Backup & Sync.
   4. Toggle on Backup & Sync.

Google Photos gives you unlimited free storage if you upload photos and videos with the High quality setting, which most people find good enough. If you choose Original quality, your storage space will be limited.

If you have other files you’d like to back up, you can use Google Drive to store them in the cloud, where you can access them from any connected device. Like Google Photos, Google Drive probably came preloaded on your phone.

To backup your mobile and manually upload folders and files with Google Drive, follow these steps.

1. Open the Drive app.
2. Tap the + button.
3. Tap Upload.
4. Select the file(s) you want to back up.

You can back up your phone’s settings and apps with Android Backup Service, which will back up the apps you use and the settings you’ve chosen for most Google apps. This makes it simple to restore those settings on a new phone.

Follow these steps to activate Android Backup Service.

1. Open your phone’s Settings.
2. Select Backup & reset.
3. Tap Backup account and add your account if you don’t see it there already.

As mentioned above, you can also use any number of third-party cloud-storage services to backup your mobile files from your Android phone.