Why backups come first
Phones get lost, dropped in water, stolen and occasionally just stop working. Accounts can also be locked or taken over. In each case, the difference between an annoying day and a painful loss is often whether a recent copy of your data exists somewhere else.
A backup is a second copy stored away from the phone, typically in your phone maker’s cloud service, with a computer, or on an external drive. The point is simple: if the original disappears, you can set up a new phone and get most of your things back.
What a backup usually covers
Exactly what is included depends on your phone and the service you use, so it is worth reading the description in your settings rather than assuming. In general, a full phone backup may include:
- Photos and videos, if photo syncing or a separate photo backup is turned on
- Contacts, calendars and notes stored with your account
- Text and chat history, with some conditions
- The list of installed apps and, for some apps, their settings
- Phone settings such as the wallpaper, Wi-Fi networks and layout of the home screen
Backups often do not include everything. Some apps keep their data only on the phone unless the app itself offers a backup option. Chat apps often have their own backup setting, separate from the phone’s. Saved payment cards, authenticator codes and certain secure data are frequently left out on purpose, because restoring them requires you to verify your identity again.
Common gaps to look for
The most frequent surprise is a backup that quietly stopped. Cloud backups can pause because storage is full, because the phone is not connecting to Wi-Fi while charging, or because you signed out of the account. Free cloud storage is often limited, so a growing photo library can fill it without any obvious warning.
Another gap is two-step verification. If your authenticator app is not backed up and your old phone is gone, you may be locked out of accounts that depend on it. Many services give you backup codes when you set up two-step verification; storing those somewhere safe is as important as the backup itself.
Finally, downloaded files, game progress and offline-only data can be missed. If something matters to you, find out where it lives.
Choosing where backups go
There are three common options, each with trade-offs:
- Cloud backup: convenient and automatic, but limited by storage and tied to your account. If that account is compromised, the backup may be at risk too, so protect it with a strong password and two-step verification.
- Computer backup: a copy on your own machine is not dependent on a service, but you have to remember to connect and run it.
- External storage: useful for photos and files, but easy to forget, lose or leave plugged in at home along with the thing you were trying to protect against.
Many people use a cloud backup for convenience and occasionally make a second copy of the files they would hate to lose. Keeping at least one copy away from the phone and away from where the phone usually lives is a sound habit.
A simple way to test a backup
A backup you have never tested is only a hope. You do not need to wipe your phone to check it. Try this:
- Open the backup settings and look at the date of the last successful backup. If it is more than a few days old on a phone you use daily, find out why.
- Check how much storage is used and how much is left.
- Look at the list of what is included. Make sure photos, contacts and the apps you care about are all on it.
- Sign in to the backup service from a computer or another device and see whether your photos and contacts appear there.
- Pick one non-essential photo, delete it from the phone, and see whether it can be recovered from the backup or a recently-deleted folder. Only do this with something you would not mind losing.
If you have an old or spare phone, restoring your backup onto it is the most complete test, because it shows what actually comes back. Do it with the spare phone and your account, but only on a device you trust, and sign out when you are done.
Keep it simple and regular
Set backups to run automatically, usually overnight while charging on Wi-Fi. Then check on them every few months, and after any big change such as getting a new phone, switching accounts or installing a major update. A quick look takes a couple of minutes.
Backups also help if you ever need to deal with a phone that is lost or stolen, since you can restore to a new device with little lost. They also help when you are keeping your phone software up to date, because a recent backup makes any major system update less worrying. If an update goes wrong, you have somewhere to return to.
Backups are not a guarantee, and the details differ by phone, but a recent, tested copy is one of the most dependable ways to protect the things on your phone that cannot be replaced.