Sync

[gderreck]

Greetings,

I am hoping I can get some help re sync. First I should say this involves two Android devices and a notebook running Windows 10.

I want to have backups fot my Chrome browser bookmarks as well as my Android contacts. I can backup the contacts using MyBackup pro. The Chrome bookmarks seem to require turning on sync. That syncs amongst othet things: bookmarks and contacts.

That's the rub. It's obvious I don't understand how Google handles sync. I deleted a bunch of contacts on my tablet (Android 5). The contacts began disappearing on my phone (Android 8). Fortunately I had a backup of my contacts, which I restored.

I reset my tablet. Before doing so, I did a backup of my contacts and bookmarks. I got the contacts back, but only 2 bookmarks which weren't even related to Chrome.

I have turned off auto sync as it seems that deletes as well as adds from a device get synced. At least that's how I see it. Now I am unable to backup bookmarks. It seems I would need root access to backup the bookmarks folder in Android.

Oh yes, I have a question Is it possibe to sync my bookmarks, contacts, etc for my Android devices in isolation, without them affecting the other device and Windows Chrome? Are there settings on the device or in my Google account which would isolate the devices?

As an alternative, I could root the tablet (Galaxy Note pro 12.2) and back everything up. If I brick it, not terribly expensive to replace. The phone (S7) is a different story. I have never rooted a device. Is the state of the technology such that an average guy can do it? If so, is there a reliable source for this?

I'd like to thank you guys in advance for your help.

Graham

 

[hallux]

Sync isn't for "backup". As you discovered, when sync is on for all items, any device logged into your account will see changes from any other device, provided all devices have all sync options enabled. What you're trying to accomplish by NOT syncing all devices puzzles me.

What you should be able to do is go into settings > accounts > google account > account sync and turn off the sliders for any features you don't want to sync. You need to do this for any device you don't want syncing those items.

Oh yes, I have a question Is it possibe to sync my bookmarks, contacts, etc for my Android devices in isolation, without them affecting the other device and Windows Chrome? Are there settings on the device or in my Google account which would isolate the devices?

Only if you have a different account for each device. While syncing technically DOES "back up" your data, it does so by syncing it to your Google account so it's available wherever you're signed in to Google.