Your tablet and phone hold many important photos, videos and messages, but it’s all too easy to lose them. Barry Collins shows you how to back up all your mobile devices for free
Your mobile phone is probably full of very personal information about you. It may contain your only copy of important text messages from family and friends, along with their contact details – not to mention any photos or videos you have taken using the device.
The sentimental value of mobile phone data made headlines recently when Virgin Media accidentally wiped a voicemail from the phone of Yorkshireman Stan Beaton, aged 68. It wasn’t just any voicemail. It was from Stan’s late wife, Ruby, and he’d kept it for 10 years since her death in 2003. After Virgin managed to restore the message, Stan said: “It’s just a wonderful, wonderful sound that I thought was lost forever” (www.snipca.com/16066).
Stan’s story had a happy ending, but phone and tablet data can’t always be rescued so easily. The only way to guarantee you’ll be able to restore lost messages, contacts, photos and other mobile possessions is to keep them backed up.
Use the backup tools you’ve already got
Most Android phones and tablets come with a manufacturer’s backup tool built in. You’re asked if you want to use it when you switch on the device for the first time. These tools aren’t the most powerful Android backup services available – they’re not even the most powerful free ones. But they’re there on your phone already and are generally easy to use, so they should be your first port of call to ensure your most important data (such as Wi-Fi passwords) is kept safe.
If you missed your manufacturer’s backup tool during setup, or chose not to enable it, open the list of apps on your device and look for apps featuring the name of the manufacturer. For example, HTC’s utility is called HTC Backup (www.snipca.com/16067), while Samsung’s is called Kies (www.snipca.com/16068).
Motorola devices such as the Moto G have a Google backup tool built into their settings. Go to Settings, ‘Backup & reset’ then tick ‘Back up my data’ to link the service to your Google account.
For iPhones and iPads, use Apple’s built-in backup service iCloud (www.snipca.com/16069). Tap Settings on your device, then tap iCloud to set it up. You’ll need to log in using your Apple ID and then select which types of data (photos, contacts, messages and so on) you wish to back up. You get 5GB of storage space for free, which should be enough unless you have hundreds of photos and videos; if you do need more, 20GB costs 79p per month. You can also back up your iPhone and iPad to your PC, although this does involve the dreaded iTunes (download free from www.snipca.com/16075).
Back up messages and call logs
Other important stuff on your mobile device include your text and voice messages, and call logs. These can contain vital information, such as proof that you did actually make a call to the police after a road accident, and precious memories such as family messages.
The best Android app for keeping all this information safe is Mobile Backup & Restore (www.snipca.com/16070) from antivirus company Avast. You’ll need to register for a free Avast account when you first install the app, but once that’s done, it will automatically start backing up your contacts, call logs and text messages. All your data is encrypted, so no-one can intercept or read it, including hackers and Avast employees.
You can check the status of your backup at any time using a secure area of the Avast website (https://my.avast.com). Log in, click the name of your device, then click backed-up items at the bottom-right to make sure all is present and correct.
Back up photos and videos automatically to Google
The free Google+ app (Android www.snipca.com/16073, iOS www.snipca.com/16074) has an Auto-Backup feature that automatically saves any photos and videos you take using your phone or tablet, as well as those you receive via text message. The files are saved to your Google account, which gives you 15GB of storage space for free, or 100GB for $1.99 (£1.34) per month.
To enable Auto-Backup, open the Google+ app, tap Settings, then tap Auto-Backup and make sure the slider is switched to On. Files can be saved via Wi-Fi only so there’s no possibility of running up huge mobile data bills. To find your backed-up photos and videos, go to the Google+ site (https://plus.google.com) on your PC, log in using your Google account and choose Photos from the dropdown menu at the top-left.
Drag and drop Android files in Windows
You can connect your Android phone or tablet directly to your PC via USB and access its files, just as if they were stored on an external hard drive.
The first time you connect your phone and PC in this way, a pop-up message will ask what you want Windows to do with the device. Choose ‘Open Device to View Files’. You may also need to tweak the USB settings on your device for this to work. The exact path for doing so will differ depending on your device, but it’s usually Settings, Storage, then the three dots at the top-right of the screen. Tap ‘USB computer connection’ then ‘Media device (MTP)’.
Now when you connect your phone and PC using a USB cable, you should see it pop up in Windows (File) Explorer like any other external storage device. From here you can manually drag and drop files to create backup copies on your PC.
Back up Android apps to your PC
Basic app data is saved using the built-in Android tools mentioned earlier. However, to make sure a certain app or game’s data is fully backed up and accessible from your PC, use the free Helium tool (www.snipca.com/16076).
First install the app on your Android device, then follow the instructions to install the companion PC program (www.snipca.com/16077). Once this is done, tap Settings in the Helium Android app, then ‘PC download’. A long URL that starts ‘http://192’ will then appear on screen. Type this into your PC’s browser, select the apps you want to back up, then click Start Backup.
This generates a backup file that you can store safely on your PC’s hard drive. If your phone or tablet is later wiped and you need to restore your app data, drag the Helium backup file back into the Restore window using the same URL as before, and follow the instructions on your phone.
Helium’s restore process is powerful but doesn’t require that you root your phone or tablet. Never use an app that does require rooting – it makes your device vulnerable to hacking.