Backing Up Moto G 3rd Gen

[AdamQK7]

Hello,

Newbie here - I recently bought a Moto G 3rd Gen which has been a revelation after...a certain other Android Smartphone that almost put me off smartphones altogether. It's great, it's fast, it's beautiful but...how do I back up everything? Contacts, music, photos, etc? My old one used to have software you'd download onto your PC, connect the phone, run the software and it would all back up onto your PC or external hard drive. I can't work out what's going on with this. It's the one bugbear - that and the fact that I can't switch the storage destination for my photos, but that's another thread.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Adam K

 

[Golfdriver97]

Hello,

Newbie here - I recently bought a Moto G 3rd Gen which has been a revelation after...a certain other Android Smartphone that almost put me off smartphones altogether. It's great, it's fast, it's beautiful but...how do I back up everything? Contacts, music, photos, etc? My old one used to have software you'd download onto your PC, connect the phone, run the software and it would all back up onto your PC or external hard drive. I can't work out what's going on with this. It's the one bugbear - that and the fact that I can't switch the storage destination for my photos, but that's another thread.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Adam K

Welcome to the forums. I would suggest backing up all your contacts to Google. Makes it a lot easier if you are say, travelling and your phone gets damaged and you get a new one. Photos can be backed up with Google Photos. You get unlimited space if you select the High Quality upload size. Music....it depends on where you got the music. Music from Google Play can always be downloaded to your PC or streamed.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I got another couple ideas about backups...first thought to edit my post, but decided to make a subsequent one. If you have Auto backup and restore set on Google, and if you have a third party launcher, like Nova, you can back up your homescreens. You can keep the Nova backup file on your device or upload to Drive (or any other cloud storage site). In that instance, you allow Google to restore your apps, and when that is done, you restore the Nova backup, and then the only thing you are left with is setting up any widgets you have (Nova doesn't do that part well, but it's better than having to do the whole thing all over again).

There is also an option to do an ADB backup. What this does is using ADB commands, you can backup the device as it sits.

 

[acejavelin]

Hello,

Newbie here - I recently bought a Moto G 3rd Gen which has been a revelation after...a certain other Android Smartphone that almost put me off smartphones altogether. It's great, it's fast, it's beautiful but...how do I back up everything? Contacts, music, photos, etc? My old one used to have software you'd download onto your PC, connect the phone, run the software and it would all back up onto your PC or external hard drive. I can't work out what's going on with this. It's the one bugbear - that and the fact that I can't switch the storage destination for my photos, but that's another thread.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Adam K

For the most part, Google handles these things for you... Check Settings - Backup and Reset and make sure "Backup my data" and ON and Backup Account is set correctly to your Gmail account. Also make sure in Settings - Accounts - Google you have any relevant services set to Sync.

Contacts - As long as you have a Google account setup on the phone and save contacts as Google contacts, they are automatically stored and synced across all devices using that Google account. Go to https://contacts.google.com to verify they are there. You can also import/export contacts from this web page as well.

Music - This one can be a little tricky, since it depends on the app, but generally you must manually backup any music not purchased through an online service to your computer. Connect the phone and set it for MTP mode and browse to the Music folder(s) and copy and paste

Photos - This one is fairly easy, Google Photos can automatically backup all of your pictures and movies. Open Google Photos and go to the Settings - Backup & sync and set the options appropriately for your circumstances (generally once you turn it on the defaults are fine). You can verify these are backed up by looking at the thumbnails in Photos, if there is a little cloud with arrows in the corner it hasn't been backed up yet and is pending. You can also look in https://photos.google.com

General system data, like WiFi passwords and wallpaper, are automatically backed up and restored with your Google account.

Other things, like SMS (text) messages need a third party app like SMS Backup & Restore

 

[AdamQK7]

Thanks - the music;s my own and kept elsewhere, anyway, so I'm not worried about that so much. How do I save contacts and photos to Google? I'm sorry, I haven't a clue.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Thanks - the music;s my own and kept elsewhere, anyway, so I'm not worried about that so much. How do I save contacts and photos to Google? I'm sorry, I haven't a clue.

Easiest way to check is you can log into Gmail on desktop, and at the upper left you have a drop box just under Google. Check if all your contacts are there. If they are, everything is synced to Google.

 

[AdamQK7]

Wow - indeed, my contacts are there. As if by magic! I'm not taking the ****, I'm truly astonished that it was so smooth. I have to admit, I don't like things in "the cloud" and prefer a hard drive, but I'll take what I can. Now I'll have to sort out the photos.

Thank you for your wisdom and patience,

Adam K

 

[AdamQK7]

Thanks so much - that answered about a dozen questions I was about to ask. Very helpful. Frustrating that it can't be an all-in-one solution, a la Samsung, but as this phone is so much better than my last, it seems worth it.

 

[AdamQK7]

I got another couple ideas about backups...first thought to edit my post, but decided to make a subsequent one. If you have Auto backup and restore set on Google, and if you have a third party launcher, like Nova, you can back up your homescreens. You can keep the Nova backup file on your device or upload to Drive (or any other cloud storage site). In that instance, you allow Google to restore your apps, and when that is done, you restore the Nova backup, and then the only thing you are left with is setting up any widgets you have (Nova doesn't do that part well, but it's better than having to do the whole thing all over again).

There is also an option to do an ADB backup. What this does is using ADB commands, you can backup the device as it sits.

Sorry, but what is ADB?

 

[acejavelin]

Sorry, but what is ADB?

Android Debug Bridge... It is part of the Android Development Studio software package and is special way for a computer to talk to and control an Android device via the command line. One of its functions can be to backup and restore data.

 

[AdamQK7]

Thanks - I understood some of that, but suspect that it is beyond my technical capabilities.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Thanks - I understood some of that, but suspect that it is beyond my technical capabilities.

It sounds more difficult than it really is. There is a minimal ADB fastboot package that you can install on Windows, and the set up is similar to that of the command prompt in DOS.

 

[AdamQK7]

the set up is similar to that of the command prompt in DOS.

Exactly - that's the sort of thing I leave to experts! But thank you...

 

[Golfdriver97]

Exactly - that's the sort of thing I leave to experts! But thank you...

It's not really all that hard, but not something you should be attempting to learn if you are rushed for time or in desperation.

 

[beachfl1]

Exactly - that's the sort of thing I leave to experts! But thank you...

You hear all kinds of things about different backups.... nandroid, adb, titanium, and others. There are different advantages to them all and, like most things, there's a different learning curve with each. I love learning this stuff, too, so it's (frustrating) fun. Most people just want a phone that works, tho lol.

Acejavelin's well-presented and considered reply to you was spot on. Just backup your SMS (and your contacts if google doesn't have them), and let a Google Backup do everything else. (You said you already have all your music somewhere else.) Even if you have to do a full factory reset on your phone one day, as soon as it gets back up and running, you enter your google ID and all your stuff is pushed right back onto your phone in minutes. It's really cool... easy and seamless...

Good luck

 

[AdamQK7]

Hi, I neglected to thank you for your comprehensive, clear and very helpful response, which answered pretty much all my questions. I'm afraid my notifications seem to be a bit awry, so I didn't notice it and kept asking redundant questions, but once I saw yours I read it with interest and found it very useful. thank you for taking the time (and patience!).

Adam K

 

[beachfl1]

.... neglected to thank...

I think you've nothing to worry about. People here seem to really enjoy helping.

 

[AdamQK7]

I think you've nothing to worry about. People here seem to really enjoy helping.

Just as well - I suspect I might be haunting these pages for a while!

But, my god, I do love this phone. I now, finally, see the attraction of mobile phones!

 

[acejavelin]

FYI... of you want to see what is actually backed up on your device, go to:https://www.google.com/settings/dashboard (it can take a minute or so to load all the way) and you will see a section called Android, expand it and you will see your devices and what is actually backed up, a list of all application's configuration backups and when they were last backed up. Note that it appears not all apps are supported for the online backup, my guess is the other apps haven't been updated fully to Marshmallow.