How to Backup Your Android Phone (2023)

There are premium apps for MacOS that offer an iTunes-like experience, but nothing we can vouch for.

Here’s how to back up files from your Android phone to a Chromebook:

1. Plug your phone into a USB port on your Chromebook.
2. Swipe down the notification shade and look for a notification Android system it says something like Charge this device via USB, tap for more options and press it.
3. Look for an option that says File transfer and select it.
4. THE Files The app will open on your Chromebook and you can drag in any files you want to copy.

Maybe you’re out of Google storage or prefer a different cloud service. There are Android apps for Dropbox, Microsoft’s OneDrive, MEGA, Box and others. Most of them offer cloud storage for free, but what you can save and how you do it differs from app to app.

We’ve already looked at how to back up mobile photos on a few of them, and you can usually set this to be automatic, although other files often need to be backed up manually. If you want to automatically sync photos and other files across devices using one of these services, check out the Autosync app. There are specific versions for Dropbox, OneDrive, MEGA and Box.

Whichever service you choose, make sure you keep your cloud storage safe and secure.

If you have a Samsung phone, you have additional backup options. We recommend sticking with Google because Samsung backups can only be restored to Samsung phones, but if you want a second backup or plan to stick with Samsung, here’s how to use Samsung’s cloud service :