We have certainly heard of backups but, if we are new to the IT or technology sector, we are unlikely to be aware of its usefulness and why everyone should know the fundamentals. Each device works until it breaks: behind this empirical law that regulates all things hides the threat of losing all the documents, photos and videos saved in the memory of our devices at any moment, even more if we talk about smartphones .
In this guide we will show you why it is important to make a backup of your smartphone and all the steps to follow to make it correctly on Android and iOS devices, so you can always save all the material in memory and recover them when necessary.
We will show you how to make a simple backup of the photos and videos then the tools to be used to make a full backup that also includes the apps and phone data.
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The backup (or security copy) identifies a procedure for saving data or information of a device within a file, a compressed archive or on a dedicated memory space (even remote).
This procedure is essential to avoid losing valuable information and files following the breakage of the smartphone or other events that can lead to the loss of the device (theft, accidental fall, deletion or unwanted formatting etc.).
The safest backup is the one stored off the device, so you can recover it even if the device is no longer available.
Instead of attempting difficult recoveries to accomplish damage, we can recover the files or folders that interest us using one of the backup methods proposed below.
How to make a simple backup of photos and videos
If we are interested in saving only the photos and videos made with the smartphone (definitely the most used and most difficult to recover files if we have never made backups) we can perform a simple backup, so that you do not have to remember to save your multimedia files every time, our smartphone will perform the backup automatically .
To backup photos and videos we can use the Google Photos app, available for free on both Android and iOS and downloadable from here -> Google Photos (Android) and Google Photos (iOS).
Once the app is installed, all we have to do is open it, configure the Google account with which to synchronize the backup using the Settings menu -> Backup and synchronization .
So we can choose which quality to save the photos ( High quality with unlimited space or Original quality with space linked to the Google account) choose which folders with photos or videos to insert in the backup (the camera folder is automatically inserted among the synchronized ones ) and retrieve them all from Google Drive or Google Photos websites.
Normally the backup is done automatically as soon as we connect to a WiFi network, but we can force to backup also under a data network (eye on consumption, it can be very high for high quality photos and videos).
READ ALSO: Google Photos app with unlimited backup from Android, iPhone and PC
How to backup your address book, app, calendar, email and SMS
Saving the numbers of contacts saved in the address book as well as the events recorded in the calendar and the SMS exchanged is very simple, just use the synchronized accounts of Google and Apple according to the device in use.
On Android smartphones, simply add a Google account in the Settings menu -> Accounts and, in the menu created within the account, make sure that all the ticks are selected, in particular Contacts, App data, Gmail and Calendar .
Synchronization is automatic whenever the conditions of the smartphone allow it (battery under charge, phone connected to WiFi networks, synchronization active and Energy saving mode deactivated).
Synchronized data is accessible from here -> Google Contacts, Google Calendar, Google Bookmarks and Gmail .
On Apple smartphones, the account created on iTunes or the first time the iPhone is started allows you to manage automatic backups on iCloud, the remote space offered by Apple (up to 5 GB for free).
We can check all the backup settings by opening the Settings menu -> Account Name -> iCloud .
We make sure that all the items that interest us are activated, in particular Contacts, Calendars and Mail .
In addition to the data of the apps present by default in the iPhone, we can also save the data of other compatible apps.
We can also keep a full backup of the files stored on the iPhone by activating the iCloud Backup item.
Saved data is accessible from iTunes, the iCloud program or from the iCloud website .
How to backup WhatsApp and Telegram chats
We absolutely do not want to lose the chats and files exchanged via WhatsApp and Telegram ">
The backups will be kept both locally and remotely, so as to facilitate a future reinstallation of WhatsApp on the same device or on new devices.
Backups can only be viewed through the app itself and using the same account that created them.
If we use Telegram we will never have to worry about the backup, since the app synchronizes every chat, sticker, image or video exchanged within the remote account that we are using.
We can access all our Telegram chats from a web browser using the link here -> Telegram Web .
If we purchased a new smartphone we can restore the backups using the accounts recommended in this guide or follow the steps described in the guide below.
READ ALSO -> Transfer phonebook, photos and apps from iPhone to Android on the new smartphone
