How to quickly back up your phone

💡 Need to know

• On Android, go to Settings> Google> Backup.
• On iPhone, go to Settings> [Your Name] > iCloud. Choose iCloud Backup.
• Make sure you have enough storage space for the backup.

There was a time when losing your phone meant losing everything on it—contact details, messages, and photos. That’s not the case anymore. At least, not if you regularly back up your phone.

Smartphone backups preserve your data no matter what happens to your phone. If it gets lost, stolen, or damaged, you can simply use the backup to restore your data to a new device. It’s a stress-free and user-friendly process.

You need a backup in place before anything happens to your phone, though. If you’re wondering, “How do I back up my phone?” Asurion is here for you. Our experts have helped millions of customers protect and optimize their devices. Learn how to back up and restore data on your phone with this guide.

What does backing up your phone do?

Backing up your phone makes sure that you don't lose any of the data that's important to you, such as your:

• Contacts.
• Photos and videos.
• Wi-Fi network and passwords.
• Music.
• Apps and app settings.
• Email.
• Passwords.

How to back up your phone to a cloud service

Cloud services like Apple iCloud® and Google One™ (which includes Google Drive™) give you a secure, encrypted digital vault for your photos, files, and settings. By syncing your data to the internet, you ensure everything is backed up automatically and stays retrievable from any device, even if your phone is lost or broken.

Easy ways to back up your Android phone to Google or a PC

To back up your Android phone, you also have two options: cloud storage or a computer backup.

To back up to Google Drive®/Google One®:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Go to Google > All services > Backup and restore.
3. Choose Backup> Back up now to create a manual backup.
4. Go back to All services. Select Photos & videos, Device data, or both to include them in the backups.
5. Toggle on Back up to enable automatic backups.

This process will create a backup of your phone data stored in your Google account. If you have more than 15 GB of storage used in your Google account, you can pay for more through Google One. If you want to back up your entire phone, try manufacturer tools like Samsung Smart Switch for a full backup copy.

To back up your Android phone to a PC:

1. Plug your phone into your computer.
2. On your phone, tap the Charging this device via USB notification.
3. Select File Transfer.
4. On your computer, open File Explorer.
5. Click on your phone.
6. Locate your phone’s files and copy and paste them onto your computer.

How to back up your iPhone using iCloud or a computer

The most convenient way to back up an iPhone® is to use iCloud®, Apple’s® cloud storage service. So how do you back up your phone to iCloud? Follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Select [Your Name]> iCloud.
3. Make sure the color-coded bar shows plenty of room left in your iCloud storage to store a backup of your phone data. Choose Manage Account Storage to see a more detailed breakdown of how you’re using your iCloud storage space.
4. If you think you have enough space, choose iCloud Backup from the main iCloud menu.
5. Select Back Up Now to create a manual backup right away.
6. Alternatively, toggle on Back Up This Device so your phone automatically creates a new backup whenever your phone is plugged in, locked, and connected to Wi-Fi.
7. Your phone will let you know if you don’t have enough storage space. In that case, you may want to delete some things from your iCloud to make room for the backup.

The advantage of turning on automatic backups is that you won’t have to remember to manually back up your phone every once in a while. You should always have a fairly recent backup, so you won’t have to worry about losing much data if something happens to your phone.

You can also create an iPhone backup using your computer with these steps:

• Connect your phone to your computer with a cable.
• On Mac, open Finder and choose your iPhone from the sidebar.
• In Finder, click General > Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac> Back Up Now.
• On Windows, open iTunes® and click the iPhone icon.
• Click Summary> Back Up Now.

Then, if you lose or damage your phone, you can restore your iPhone from a backup.