How to Back Up and Restore Your Android Phone or Tablet

Let's first look at how to back up your device using your Google Account, an option that should be available for any Android phone or tablet. By using your Google Account, your data and settings are automatically backed up to your Google Drive storage. The following items are included in the backup:

• Google Contacts data
• Google Calendar events and settings
• Wi-Fi networks and passwords
• Wallpapers
• Gmail settings
• Apps
• Display settings (brightness and sleep)
• Language and input settings
• Date and time
• Settings and data for apps not made by Google (varies by app)

Open Settings by swiping down from the top of the screen. Look for a setting for Backup & reset or Backup and Restore and tap on it. In most cases, this should be listed as its own entry in the Settings screen; in other cases, it may be nestled within a more general setting, such as Accounts. If you can't easily find it, tap on the Search icon in Settings and search for Backup, which should display the option you need.

At the Backup & reset screen, tap on the option to Back up my data, which automatically backs up the data and settings on your device to Google Drive.

Turn on the switch to Back up my data. Return to the Backup & reset screen if necessary.

Next, tap on the entry for Backup account. If you have just one Google account, that account should appear. If you use more than one, you can select the account to use. Tap on the account.

Turn on the setting for Automatic restore to restore any backed up settings and data for apps that you reinstall.

Go back to the main Settings screen and hop over to the Accounts setting. Tap on the Google account and then tap on your specific account. Swipe down the list of apps and services to sync. Turn on any you want to include; turn off any you wish to exclude.

If you want to manually sync the data listed on this screen, tap on the More link or the three-dot icon () and tap Sync now.

Sign into Google Drive on your mobile device or your computer. Tap on the entry for Backups. You should see the latest backups for your phone or tablet. Double-click on a specific backup to view more details on it.

Now, let's say you need to reset your phone or tablet and want to restore the data you backed up through Google. Return to the Backup & reset screen. Tap on the option for Factory data reset. (If that option doesn't appear at the screen, then search Settings for the Reset option).

Tap on the Reset button.

At the confirmation screen, tap on the button to Erase Everything or Delete All.

Your device restarts, all existing data is erased, and it resets to factory conditions. After your device is ready, tap on the Welcome screen and connect to your Wi-Fi network. At the next screen, you should be asked if you want to copy your accounts, apps, and data from another device. Bypass this option by answering "No thanks." At the next screen, sign into your Google account and go through the next screens. Finally, you should see a screen asking if you want to restore the last backup of this device. Tap Next to do this.

Your device will then be restored from the backup.

Some Android device makers offer their own backup options. Samsung is one, so I'll use that as the example. First, sign up for your account at the Samsung website.

On your Samsung phone or tablet, open Settings and go to the Backup & reset or Backup and Restore screen. Under the Samsung account section, tap on the option for Backup settings or Back up my data.

Sign into your Samsung account. At the screen to back up data, review the apps and services and enable the ones you want to include in the backup. Turn on the switch for Auto back up if that option appears, or tap on the Back Up or Backup Now command to perform a manual backup.

The backup runs and then shows you the date and time when completed.

You can now restore your data if necessary without resetting your device. At the Backup & reset or Backup and Restore screen, tap on the Restore option in the Samsung account section.

Make sure the correct device backup is listed. Review the different apps and services to see which ones will be restored. Tap on Restore or Restore Now.

You can also restore the data backed up to your Samsung account after a factory reset of your phone or tablet. To do this, follow the steps to reset your device. After your device is erased and restored to factory conditions, follow the setup screens but bypass the option to restore the backup from your Google account. You should then be prompted to create or sign into your Samsung account. Sign in with your username and password. You'll then see the screen to restore data. Tap on the Restore command. Wait for the device to be restored and then check it to make sure the necessary data and settings are back.