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Losing your data can be a frustrating experience, with valuable memories captured in photos and important work among the files at risk.
Fortunately, backing up your information can save you the trauma of losing valuable documents.
There are two main methods to copy data from an Android smartphone: to another device such as a PC or by backing it up to online cloud storage.
Most handsets have an automatic backup feature, although this can eat up your data allowance if you’re not connected to a Wi-Fi network, so many people choose to turn this off.
The process of manually backing up varies slightly by smartphone model, but there are major similarities between most Android devices.
To a PC
To recover data from your smartphone via USB, by connecting it to a PC or peripheral device, make sure that USB data transfer is activated in the operating system settings.
Android lets you do this via an automatic pop-up option that appears when you connect your handset’s USB cable to your PC or other device.
Select ‘data transfer’ from the list of options, and your handset should become visible on your computer.
Once your Android phone is connected to your PC, you should be able to see it as a device in the My Computer section.
This allows you to view your phone’s folder structure, including photos, videos and even WhatsApp chats, which you can safely copy to your hard drive.
To a Mac
On a Mac, the process is a little more complicated, as you need to download and install an official Google program called Android File Transfer.
Once that’s installed, simply connect your phone to your Mac computer, turn on your phone’s screen, unlock the device, and then look for the same USB status notification as described above.
Tap the notification and select ‘Transfer Files’.
The Android File Transfer program should then open automatically on your Mac.
You can then browse your phone’s storage and transfer files the same way you would on a PC.
To online cloud storage
You can also manually upload files to cloud storage services, such as Google Drive or Dropbox.
Normally this means installing the relevant app, or using the pre-installed version if it came with your handset.
The app gives you the option to select which files you want to upload.
This can involve large amounts of data depending on the file types being backed up. So it’s usually best to do this over a Wi-Fi connection.