How do I make google backup work?

[955450]

For the past three months or so I am seeing a notification I never saw before on my Pixel. It's a google notification headlined "backup incomplete," and goes on to say that the backup runs automatically when the phone is connected to a power source, has available wifi, and has been inactive for two hours.

This combination never exists with my phone! I charge it in my car, where no wifi is available, and the phone is never inactive for two hours.

How do I get the backup to run automatically - to completion of course - as long as the phone is connected to wifi and has (say) >50% charge on it?

 

[B. Diddy]

Go to Settings>System>Backup and look under Backup by Google One. If you see a time under there, that's the last time the backup was done. Remember that the backup function is automatic and cumulative, so just because it tells you the backup was incomplete at one point doesn't mean it didn't complete some time recently.

You can always manually initiate a backup on that screen using the Back Up Now button.

 

[955450]

Go to Settings>System>Backup and look under Backup by Google One. If you see a time under there, that's the last time the backup was done. Remember that the backup function is automatic and cumulative, so just because it tells you the backup was incomplete at one point doesn't mean it didn't complete some time recently.

You can always manually initiate a backup on that screen using the Back Up Now button.

Excellent answer, and thanks! Yes, the last backup was 19 hours ago, done at a time when wifi was available, but the phone was certainly not charging, and had been active.

Any idea why I never saw this "backup incomplete" message, ever, until sometime in the last 60-90 days? Is it something related to the newest OS (singular or plural)? I pretty much allow OS updates as soon as they're pushed to me.

 

[B. Diddy]

I've only recently started seeing that notification myself. I think it's something new with either Android 12 or with a recent server-side update to Google One.

 

[J Dubbs]

I've only recently started seeing that notification myself. I think it's something new with either Android 12 or with a recent server-side update to Google One.

Yep same here... that's something I've just started noticing recently, although I noticed it on my back up Moto Z3 Play which I hadn't turned on in a couple weeks. It didn't say it needed to be plugged in... just that it would back itself up when the phone was idle for 2 hours. I'm pretty sure our Google accounts get backed up every time the phone is turned on. I'm not sure how often though if you leave your phone on most of the time?

 

[kwd57]

For the past three months or so I am seeing a notification I never saw before on my Pixel. It's a google notification headlined "backup incomplete," and goes on to say that the backup runs automatically when the phone is connected to a power source, has available wifi, and has been inactive for two hours.

This combination never exists with my phone! I charge it in my car, where no wifi is available, and the phone is never inactive for two hours.

How do I get the backup to run automatically - to completion of course - as long as the phone is connected to wifi and has (say) >50% charge on it?

I started getting that message on my Note9 also. "Backup now" would not work. The only way it would backup was if I left it charging for over 2 hours with lock screen, like it said at the bottom of the screen. My phone takes less than 2 hours to charge, so I have to leave it hooked up to the charger longer to backup.

 

[J Dubbs]

I'm actually getting that same message too, I misspoke in my earlier post. I also rarely leave my phones plugged in for 2 hours, I take them off charge as soon as they're full to stretch out the battery lifespan. I just manually back them up once every few days when I think about it... it's pretty quick so no big deal to me. But until the recent messages started popping up I never used to worry about backups, never left my phones plugged in for over 2 hours, and they still always backed everything up.

Like B. Diddy mentioned it must be something new with Google One ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ I do still wonder if they would back up if you just ignored the message and treated them like we used to. I might stop the manual backups and see if it still eventually backs up automatically or not. It really should be automatic like it used to.... just one more thing to have to remember to do, and a kind of important one at that

 

[Mads4life]

For the past three months or so I am seeing a notification I never saw before on my Pixel. It's a google notification headlined "backup incomplete," and goes on to say that the backup runs automatically when the phone is connected to a power source, has available wifi, and has been inactive for two hours.

This combination never exists with my phone! I charge it in my car, where no wifi is available, and the phone is never inactive for two hours.

How do I get the backup to run automatically - to completion of course - as long as the phone is connected to wifi and has (say) >50% charge on it?

I don't usually let my devices get so low and I couldnt make it back up now either... but used to occasionally i forget to charge it if I wasn't using it much... but use it much more frequently now.
But I couldn't make it back up now either at first. Then I deduced from the clues that it requires charging to back up, so I plugged it in. It backs up really fast and then I unplugged it because my device was adequately charged, within my tolerances.
You only needed to work out what it's really saying, i.e. read between the lines the lines and put the clues together.
Google "back up now" only requires that you plug it in while it backs up, to protect you from using charge you may not always have available.