The backup you have never checked is not a backup
The short answer
Turn on the automatic backup your phone already has, then check the last backup date is recent. The check is the part people skip and the part that matters, because backups fail silently when storage fills up and nobody finds out until the day the phone dies.
Turn it on, then verify it
- Switch it oniPhone: Settings, your name, iCloud, iCloud Backup. Android: Settings, Google, Backup. Both are usually already on and worth confirming.
- Check the last backup dateThis is the step. If it says weeks or months ago, the backup has been failing silently and you have been carrying an unbacked-up phone.
- Fix the reasonAlmost always full cloud storage. Either clear space or pay for the next tier, which is a few euro a month against losing everything.
- Check photos separatelyPhotos are frequently a different service from the device backup. Confirm the photo library is syncing and showing recent pictures.
- Do it again in three monthsSet a reminder. Backups fail quietly and the failure has no symptom until it matters.
What the automatic backups actually include
The two that catch people are messaging history and two-factor authentication. Several popular messaging apps keep their own backup separately from the phone's, and turning that on is a different switch. And authenticator apps tied to a device can leave you locked out of accounts when the phone dies, so check yours has a recovery route before you need one.
| Usually included | Often not | Never |
|---|---|---|
| Photos and videos | Anything already in cloud storage | App data the developer excludes |
| Messages and call history | Some messaging apps' history | Passwords not in a manager |
| Contacts and calendars | Files sitting loose in downloads | Two-factor codes tied to a device |
| App list and most app data | Media downloaded for offline use | Anything on a memory card, on some phones |
| Device settings and layout | Health and fitness data on some setups |
Cloud, computer, or both
Cloud is automatic, which is its entire advantage, because a backup that needs you to remember is a backup that stops happening. Its limits are cost once you exceed the free tier and needing the account credentials to restore.
A computer backup is free, complete, and as recent as the last time you thought to do it, which for most people is never. It is genuinely useful before a repair or before selling a phone.
Both is the right answer if the contents matter. They fail in different ways, which is the point of having two.
Before a repair, specifically
Back up first if the device still switches on. Not because a repair touches storage, which it does not, but because a phone that has already been dropped is a phone whose storage has already been shaken, and the backup costs nothing.
Know your passcode and your account password. Testing a repair means using the device, and a phone nobody can sign into cannot be fully tested or fully restored.
And if the phone will not switch on at all and the data matters, say that before we start rather than after. Recovering data and recovering the device are sometimes different routes.
Before selling or trading
Back up, verify the backup, then sign out of every account, then factory reset. In that order.
Resetting before signing out leaves the device tied to your account, which makes it worthless to the buyer and creates a conversation neither of you wanted.
And check the backup restores onto the new phone before you hand the old one over, if you possibly can. That is the only test that proves it worked.
Common questions.
Check the last backup date rather than the switch. If it says weeks or months ago, it has been failing silently, and the usual cause is full cloud storage.
No. A screen, battery or port repair does not touch storage. Back up anyway, because a device that has been dropped has had its storage shaken whether or not anything looks wrong.
Device backups usually include the built-in messages app. Several third-party messaging apps keep their own separate backup, which is a different switch and worth checking.
Authenticator apps tied to a single device can lock you out of accounts if the phone dies. Check yours has a recovery route or a cloud sync before you need it.
If the contents matter, yes. Cloud and computer backups fail in different ways, which is the point of having both. A computer backup before a repair or a sale is quick and free.
Where this leads.
Next in care and prevention.
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