Your phone holds a lot of important data—think account logins, passwords, banking info, contacts, notes, and more. If you haven’t backed it up recently, there’s a chance you could lose this information during an upgrade. Or even worse, if the phone gets lost or stolen. So, it’s a good idea to make sure your data is safely backed up to the cloud.
Backing up your iPhone
A lot of people have mixed feelings about Apple’s iCloud. On one hand, it really does a fantastic job of backing everything up. It’s like creating a snapshot of your phone, preserving your data and settings until you need them again. In my opinion, it’s one of the more solid options out there for backup services.
Now, while iCloud is helpful, the backups can be pretty slow—I mean, it relies on that meager 5GB of free storage Apple has offered since 2011. If I had to guess, many of you might have run out of storage ages ago, or you’re like me and grudgingly pay Apple monthly for more space to keep everything.
If you care about your data, then backing up is absolutely essential. Here’s how to enable iCloud backup.
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down to iCloud.
- Select “iCloud Backup”.
- Toggle on “Back up this iPhone” and hit “Back up now.”
For those who want to tweak their iCloud backup settings, there are a couple of things to consider. First, find “This iPhone” in the “Back Up All Devices” section. Uncheck any apps you don’t need backed up; that can really help reduce the backup size.
You can even get rid of old devices in the “Back up all devices” section by selecting the device and scrolling to “Turn off and remove from iCloud.” And voilà! Your iCloud storage is lighter.
Oh, and a quick note: iCloud also works for iPads, but those backups count toward your storage limit, so keep that in mind.
Backing up most Android smartphones
If you have an Android phone, regardless of brand, they come with Google’s built-in cloud backup service to save your important data—like photos, videos, messages, call logs, apps, and settings. Here’s how to enable Google Backup.
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down and tap System.
- Select “Backup”.
- Tap Photos & Videos and toggle the backup option to on.
- Then go back and tap “Other device data” to turn on the backup for other data.
Remember, much of this data will count against your 15GB of free Google Drive storage. So if you run out of space, you’ll need to upgrade your storage plan to back everything up properly.
While Google Backup is generally reliable, it may have some shortcomings. For instance, it doesn’t save app settings universally; developers need to enable this feature. And it also won’t back up local files, so make sure to manually save those important documents elsewhere before resetting your old device.
Backing up your Samsung Galaxy phone
For Samsung owners, while Google Backup works fine, you’ll need to take some additional steps to save data from Samsung’s native apps. Here’s how to enable Samsung Cloud:
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down and select Accounts & Backup.
- Tap “Back up data” under “Samsung Cloud”.
- Check the items you want to save and press “Back up now” at the bottom.
- Go back and click “Back up your data” in the Google Drive section to enable that backup as well.
Backup with Samsung Cloud also counts toward your 15GB limit. There aren’t really any upgrade options offered, and while Samsung does offer a temporary free backup, it comes with its own limitations. For example, files synced with other accounts won’t be backed up here, and files larger than 1GB can’t be saved.
When to back up
So, when it comes to backing up your phone, timing is crucial. Whether you’ve just gotten a new phone or have had yours for a while, backups are key to ensuring everything is as you want it. You never know what could happen—your phone might end up in water, or maybe it gets lost or even chewed up by a pet. Regardless of the situation, it’s a good idea to have your backups enabled and set to save new data automatically on a regular basis. Just think of the peace of mind that brings.
