How to Back Up Your Phone: Step by Step for Android and iPhone

A phone backup is what lets you get your content back when a device goes missing, stops working, or is replaced with a new one. Android and iPhone handle backups differently, though, and photos and WhatsApp chats are stored by separate mechanisms of their own. In this guide you turn on automatic backup on both systems, see how to keep a full copy on a computer, and do the step most people skip: confirming the backup actually ran. Restoring to a new phone and the data a backup does not cover are covered at the end.

1. Start by getting clear on what a backup saves and what it doesn't A backup is a copy of your phone's contents kept in the cloud or on a computer, and it is restored to a new device during setup. Apple states that iCloud Backup includes "information and settings on your device that aren't otherwise stored in iCloud" — meaning that once you turn on an iCloud feature, that data is no longer carried inside the backup but lives directly in iCloud. On Android, automatic backup covers apps and app data, call history, contacts, device settings, and SMS and MMS messages, while photos and videos are backed up separately through Google Photos. A backup is not all-encompassing: not every app can back up its data, and two-step verification codes and account recovery codes may fall outside its scope.
2. Android: turn on automatic backup and review its scope Open the Settings app, tap "Google services" then "All services," and turn on "Backup." On the same screen, the "Backup details" section shows which data types are being backed up; when a data type you selected shows "On" beneath it, that type is included. Google notes that a first backup can take up to 24 hours to finish, so leave the phone plugged in and on Wi-Fi. Keep in mind that your backup can be deleted if you turn backup off or don't use the device for 57 days.
3. iPhone: turn on iCloud Backup and run the first backup manually Open Settings, tap your name at the top, go to "iCloud" then "iCloud Backup," and turn on "Back Up This [Device]." With that switch on, your iPhone backs itself up automatically whenever it is connected to power, locked, and on Wi-Fi. To get the first backup without waiting, tap "Back Up Now" on the same screen and stay on Wi-Fi until it completes. If you want to choose which apps are included, tap your device's name on the iCloud Backup screen and turn individual apps on or off.
4. Photos: don't confuse syncing with backing up To turn on backup in Google Photos, tap your profile picture or initial in the app, go to "Photos settings" then "Backup," and switch it on; backed-up photos count against your Google Account storage. On iPhone you go to Settings → your name → iCloud → "Photos" and turn on "Sync this device." Here is the critical distinction: iCloud Photos is a syncing service, and in Apple's words "changes you make on one device change on your other devices too" and "when you delete photos and videos on one device, they're deleted everywhere that you use iCloud Photos." Anything you delete by mistake stays in the "Recently Deleted" folder for 30 days and is permanently deleted after that — so syncing is not a safeguard against deleting the wrong thing.
5. WhatsApp chat backup: a separate job from the phone backup WhatsApp chats do not travel with your phone's general backup; they use their own backup, and it works differently on each system. On Android, in WhatsApp go to More (three dots) → Settings → Chats → "Chat backup" → "Back up to your Google Account," pick a frequency other than "Never," and choose your account; to run one by hand, tap "Back up" on the same screen. On iPhone it is WhatsApp Settings → Chats → "Chat backup" → "Back up now," with the frequency set under "Auto backup." WhatsApp states that backups made to a Google Account use storage provided and managed by Google, and that if you exceed the storage limit you need to free up space for backups to resume; it also notes that backups not updated in 5 months may be deleted. So if your chats matter to you, back them up regularly.
6. Back up an iPhone to a computer with encryption If you want a full copy independent of the cloud, connect the iPhone to a computer with a USB cable and open Finder on a Mac, or the Apple Devices app or iTunes on Windows, then select your device. In the backup section of the "General" or "Summary" tab, select "Encrypt local backup" and set and confirm a password. Encryption is optional but it changes what you get: according to Apple, an encrypted backup also stores your saved passwords, Wi-Fi settings, website history, Health data, and call history, which an unencrypted backup does not carry. Write the password down somewhere safe, because you need it to restore the backup.
7. Keep a copy of your Android phone on a computer Android has no standard one-tap full system backup like the iPhone's; alongside the cloud backup you make a file copy by hand. Connect the phone with a USB cable, unlock the screen, tap the "Charging this device via USB" notification, and choose "File transfer" from the "Use USB for" list; on Windows and Chromebook, drag folders to your computer from the window that opens. When you're done, eject the device safely from the computer before unplugging the cable. If your phone's manufacturer offers its own transfer app you can use that too — those apps usually move data straight from the old device to the new one during setup.
8. Confirm the backup actually ran Skipping this is the most expensive mistake; a switch that looks on does not mean a backup exists. On iPhone, go to Settings → your name → iCloud → iCloud Backup and read the date and time of the last backup shown beneath the "Back Up Now" button; if that date isn't close to today, the backup did not complete. On Android, review the "Backup details" section under Settings → "Google services" → "Backup"; from a computer you can also go to one.google.com, select "View" in the "Backup" section, and then "See details" under your device to check the scope. Check the last backup date on WhatsApp's Chat backup screen separately as well, because that counter runs independently of the phone backup.
9. Restore to the new phone and set up what wasn't backed up On Android, turn on the new device, tap through the first few screens, tap "Skip" when asked about setting up using another device, connect to Wi-Fi, provision your SIM, and sign in with your Google Account; then choose the apps and data to copy and select which backup to restore from. For security you may be asked for the PIN, pattern, or password of your old device, so have those ready. On iPhone, choose to restore from an iCloud backup during setup and sign in with the same Apple Account; if you are coming from an encrypted computer backup, you will be asked for the password you set. Finally, set up by hand what the backup doesn't cover: codes in two-step verification apps do not arrive with a phone backup — in Google Authenticator, codes land on the new device only if they were synced to your Google Account, and if they weren't, you have to set up each account again one by one.

⚠ This guide is general information. Yudum cannot be held responsible for the outcome of following it; for official procedures always rely on the institution's own statement. Steps and fees change over time.

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