Guides

Back up first — the step people skip and regret

6 minute read · beginner

Most of the grief on this site comes from one thing: the phone was erased before anyone checked what was on it. If your phone still opens, five minutes now decides how bad the next problem is.

If your phone still unlocks, do this today

  1. iPhone: Settings, your name, iCloud, iCloud Backup, and turn it on. Then tap Back Up Now while on Wi-Fi and charging.
  2. Android: Settings, Google, Backup, and confirm it is on and has run recently. Check the date, not just the toggle.
  3. Photos: confirm they are actually syncing. Open the photos app's settings and check that backup is complete, not pending.
  4. Then plug the phone into a computer and copy the photo and video folders off it as well. A second copy that is not in the same account is the one that saves you.

What a backup usually misses

This is where people get hurt, because the backup ran and they still lost things.

Two-factor authentication apps are the big one. If your authenticator does not sync, erasing the phone locks you out of every account it protects. Export or transfer it deliberately, and print the recovery codes for your important accounts.

Chat histories vary enormously. Some apps back up to your cloud only if you enable it separately, inside the app.

Anything downloaded rather than synced — offline maps, media, documents saved only to the device — is usually not included.

Passwords stored only in the phone's browser, if they are not syncing to an account you can reach elsewhere.

Check your authenticator app before any erase. This is the single most common irreversible loss, and it locks people out of their email and bank at the same moment.

Verify the backup exists

A backup you have not looked at is a rumour. Sign in to iCloud or Google One from a computer and confirm the backup is there, and check its date.

If the last backup is from a year ago, you now know what you would actually lose, which changes what you are willing to do next.

Stop and get help when

  • The phone no longer unlocks — at that point a backup can no longer be made, only found.

Official route

Apple Support or Google support for backup and restore problems on an accessible device.

Who this is for: Owner or authorised user with access to the unlocked device.