You can back up content, data, and settings from your phone to your Google Account. You can restore your backed-up information to your phone.
Automatically back up photos, data & settings
- Open your phone's Settings app.
- Tap System
Backup.
- Turn on your backup service.
- Open your phone's Settings app.
- Tap System
Backup.
- Tap Account.
- Tap the Google account you want to use for backups. If the account you want to use isn't there, tap Add account.
Any amount of data
- Google Calendar
- Google Contacts
- Photos and videos
Tip: To find out how long your phone backs up unlimited photos and videos at full original quality, see the tech specs or learn about upload sizes.
Up to 25 MB of data per app
- Apps and app data
- Call history
- Phone settings
- SMS text messages (not MMS)
Back up files
You can save files and folders to Google Drive. Learn how to upload to Drive.
Erase after backing up
After you back up, you can reset your phone by erasing everything on it. Learn how to reset your phone to factory settings.
Restore backed-up photos, data & settings
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.
Important: You can't restore a backup from a higher Android version onto a phone running a lower Android version. Learn how to check and update your Android version.
To add another account to a set-up phone
- Open your phone's Settings app.
- Tap Users & accounts
Add account.
- Follow the on-screen steps.
To restore a previous phone's account to a reset phone
Important: To restore a previous phone’s backup to a new phone, you need the PIN, password, or pattern for you lock screen.
- After resetting your phone, tap Start. Follow the on-screen steps.
- Connect to a Wi-Fi or mobile network.
- When you see "Copy apps & data," tap Next
Can't use old phone.
- Under "Copy another way," tap OK
A backup from the cloud.
- Sign in to the Google Account that has the backup of your data.
- Follow the on-screen steps.
Tip: Not all older apps can restore. Try downloading them from the Play Store again.
If you've saved your 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.
- Open your phone's Settings app.
- Tap Accounts.
- Tap the Google Account you used to back up your data.
- Tap Account sync.
- Check that all the photos, data, and settings you want backed up is turned on to sync to your Google Account. If something is off, turn it on.