You can back up content, data, and settings from your phone to your Google Account. You can restore your backed up information to the original phone or to some other Android phones. You can't use back up when you set up a personal device with a work profile or for work only, or when you set up a company-owned device.
Restoring data varies by phone and Android version. You can't restore a backup from a higher Android version onto a phone running a lower Android version.
Important: Some of these steps work only on Android 9 and up. Learn how to check your Android version.
Where your phone data is stored
Your backups are uploaded to Google and encrypted with your Google Account password. For some data, your device’s screen lock PIN, pattern, or password is also used for encryption.
How your data is protected
To help keep your data safe and secure, it’s encrypted.
- All data, including photos and videos, messages and more are encrypted as they move between your device, Google services, and our data centers.
- Some data is further encrypted with your device’s screen lock. Photos and videos in Google Photos, and MMS media received from your carrier aren’t encrypted by your device’s screen lock.
Automatically back up your phone
Important: To help protect your backed-up data, use a PIN, pattern, or password screen lock, instead of a swipe or Smart Lock.
You can set up your device to automatically back up your files.
- On your Android device, open your device's Settings app.
- Tap Google
Backup.
- If this is your first time, to turn on Backup, follow the on-screen instructions.
Your backup can take up to 24 hours. When your data is saved, the size of the data backed up will be below the data types you selected.
Add a backup account
- On your Android device, open your device's Settings app.
- Tap Google
Backup.
- You will be prompted to sign in to the account if not already.
- If using a different account for backup then:
- Tap Account storage.
- If needed, enter your phone's PIN, pattern, or password.
- Sign in to the account that you want to add.
Switch between backup accounts
- On your Android device, open your device's Settings app.
- Tap Google
- Tap the account that you want to use for backups.
Your phone’s data is automatically backed up to your Google Account. This includes:
- Apps and app data
- Call history
- Contacts
- Device settings
- SMS, MMS, and RCS messages
- Pictures and videos through Google Photos
Learn what happens when you back up your photos and videos.
Learn how to back up files and folders to Google Drive.Manually back up data & settings
- On your Android device, open your device's Settings app.
- Tap Google
Erase after backing up
Get your data onto a new phone
When you add your Google Account to a phone that's been set up, what you'd previously backed up for that Google Account gets put onto the phone.
To restore a backed-up account to a reset phone, follow the on-screen steps. For more help, get help from your device manufacturer.
Your photos and videos are already available in Google Photos. But you can restore the rest of the data you backed up while you set up your new phone for the first time or after a factory reset. At setup, to restore your data, follow the on-screen steps.
The process can take up to 24 hours.
Important: You can't restore a backup from a higher Android version onto a device running a lower Android version. Learn how to check and update your Android version.
Check which photos, data, and settings you backed upYou can check what data and which apps are included in your backup.
- Open your device's Settings app.
- Tap Google
- Under “Backup details,” review what data is backed up on your device.
If you've saved your Google Contacts to your Google Account, they'll sync automatically. If you have other contacts on a phone or SIM card, learn how to manually restore contacts.
How Google handles your data
Important: The data that Google collects is encrypted in transit.
Your backup data is sent to Google’s servers and helps you transfer data between devices. Google collects certain information to perform services on your device. Some of this functionality uses Google Play services. For example, backup collects:
- Messages, contacts, app settings, and preferences are collected as part of your personal backup.
- Personal identifiers are collected to ensure that your backups are associated with you and your account.
- Crash logs and diagnostics are collected for analytics and troubleshooting purposes.
Turn backup off
- To disable your backup, go to Settings
- To delete your backup, go to Google Dashboard.