Back Up Your Devices in 5 Minutes

Published on July 11, 2013

You've heard it before.  You know you should do it. You get annoying pop-up notifications from the devices you use about it.  I'm sure you'd rather play Words With Friends, but really, its time to back up that device of yours.  One theft or accidental run through the washing machine can leave you without contacts, photos, and app data.  We don't mean to nag, but its really a simple process which can save you from a lot of potential frustration down the road. 

You can also set up your devices to tell you where they are if they get lost or stolen.

Here's a little secret - it takes 2 minutes and basic protection is absolutely free!

Here's some step-by-step instructions, courtesy of the Too Many Adapters blog, to back up your devices, stat.

Back Up AndroidBackup and restore your mobile phone

1.  Click on Settings
2.  Click on Backup & Reset My Data, and make sure you've checked "Back Up My Data" and "Automatic Restore"

Note that different cell phone providers and manufacturers put their own flavors of Android on some of the phones they sell.  You may have to hunt a bit within settings for "Backup & Reset", but it should be there!

Congrats, you've backed up your app data and wifi passwords!  Yeah, that took all of 2 seconds, right?  Now continue on to back up your photos.

3. Click on Settings inside your app of choice (Google+ is a great one, but you can also back up to other services like Dropbox)
4. Click on "Camera & Photos"
5.  Click on "Auto-backup"

You've got the basics covered now.  If you want to verify that everything is really backed-up and/or want to have your back-ups available when you're offline, here's a final step you can take.  If you have a rooted android, Titanium Backup has a basic or premium version.  You can also check out Helium.

Back Up iOs

Backup and restore my iphone

Option 1: Backing Up to iCloud

  1. Click on Settings
  2. Click on iCloud
  3. Click on Storage & Backup, then turn on iCloud Backup.
  • Pssst, while you're in here, turn on Find My iPhone.  This can help you locate your phone if it gets lost or stolen.

4.  Go back a screen and pick what you want to have backed up (Contacts, Photo Stream, etc)


Option 2: Back Up to iTunes

  1. Connect your device to a computer running iTunes
  2. Right-click or control-click the iOs device in iTunes under devices
  3. Select "back up" - You can also create automatic back-ups under the same tab.

These 2 options back up contacts, photos, videos, and purchased music, among other things.  If you're traveling without your computer and want to make sure you have everything backed up, use a third-party cloud storage account like Dropbox or SugarSync.

Want an all-in-one product that can also secure your information?

Look no further than a fantastic app which is Geek-Approved, entitled Lookout.  Lookout is a mobile security app that:

Backup and restore your android phone

  • Protects your phone from potential threats, fraud, and cybercrime, while also protecting your privacy by wiping traces of your personal info
  • Locates your phone if its lost or stolen (along with having it make noise, locking it from use, wiping the phone completely, or sending out a signal flare)
  • Backs-up Google contacts and photos, while also enabling you to restore your data and transfer your data to a new device

There are free and paid versions of the app, which both provide you with some great protection.  In this day and age as we are becoming a mobile-based society, its important to take precautions to protect and preserve as much information as possible.  If you have any questions about how to set up your device, don't hesitate to send us an e-mail or give us a call!