How to set up a backup in Google Drive or any cloud storage that supports the WebDAV protocol. Download files from Google Drive Back up your device to Google Drive

Your Android phone is more than just a communication device. It contains personal or business information that is important to your daily life. However, too often you will find that people will lose data too easily on the device. Data can be lost through accidental deletion, accidental formatting of external storage devices such as SD cards, and damage to the device itself. Having a backup of your device is one way to ensure that you can access this data even if it is lost from your device. There are several ways you can backup your device, but one of the most popular ways is Google backup.

Android devices in particular can be backed up very easily by Google. In this article, we will look at how to backup Android to Google, what exactly may be contained in the backup, and how you can view the backup on Google.

Part 1: What does Google backup from Android?

By default, Google automatically backs up certain types of data. Most of the time, these are the types of data that Google associates with the Google services you use. These include;

Contacts, emails and calendars - these are automatically synced with Google Contacts online and can be accessed from Gmail or Google Contacts. Email messages are stored in Gmail while calendars and events are synced with Google Calendar.
Chrome browsing data for Android users who use the Chrome browser, their bookmarks will be synced to their Chrome account. For newer stock versions the browser will also sync bookmarks with Chrome as well.
Google Talk chat logs are stored in your Gmail account unless you have disabled chat login in Gmail.
Some system parameters
Apps and other purchased content that are associated with your Google account.
Google may also automatically back up some third-party app data if the apps are able to sync data with web services.

Google will not automatically back up SMS messages, game progress, login information, or app settings. Google will also automatically back up your Google Authenticator data for security reasons.

Part 2: How to Backup Android to Google

It's important to note that Google allows you to sync and backup Android to Google with most of the important data on your phone. You can sync all app data, calendar, browser data, contacts, photos, music and Gmail data and even password and Wi-Fi device settings

To back up most of your Google related data, go to Settings > Accounts > Google > and then check everything you want to sync.

To back up your device settings and other data such as Wi-Fi asswords, go to Settings > Backup & Reset. Check "Data Backup" and then Automatic Restore. This will ensure that all settings and passwords are stored on Google's servers.

You can easily access and restore data on Google servers.

Part 3: How to View Android Backup on Google

The files created by the backups are XML files that can be viewed in any web browser and also opened by MS Excel. You can view these files in three different ways, using Read Backup, open in a web browser or open it in MS Excel. Let's see how to view the backup in each of these three methods.

Using a backup reader (can only work with SMS backups)

XtNetwroks runs on Java based browsing which will allow backup files to be viewed on your computer. Currently this system works, featuring threaded conversations on Linux, OSX and Windows systems. It can also be used to export messages to text files.

You can find out more information

View backup data using a web browser

This method will not work on Chrome or Firefox for security reasons. In order to allow files to be viewed on a web browser, you need to ensure that the settings for "Add XSL Tag" and "Add Readable Date" in Settings are checked in the application before creating backup. Once you have done this, follow these simple steps.

Step 1 Copy the backup file to a folder on your computer and open the XML file in a browser.

The browser will now display it in HTML format.

Viewing a backup file using MS Excel

MS Excel can also be used to view backup files. Here's how to do it.

Step 1 Open Excel, select File > Open and select XML Files (*.xml) from the drop-down menu

Step 2 Select a file from the list and then open it. Select "Open without applying a style sheet"

Step 3 When asked to choose how you want to open the file, select "as XML table"

You should be able to view the file in MS Excel, although if you change the file in this column, the program may not allow you to export it back to XML.

It is important to note that the above methods may not work for all types of backup files. In most cases, you cannot view backup files, except for sms backup files and call logs. Therefore, the methods described above are for backup files that contain SMS messages, call logs, and contacts.

The importance of backup cannot be overstated. A backup gives you peace of mind when you know that your data will be in a safe place to access and restore if necessary. As we have already seen that Google makes it very easy for Android users to create backups for various types of data on devices by automatically creating backups. These types of data that Google will not automatically back up can be easily synced to your Google account. Recovering files from your Google account is also easy. The hard part comes in when you want to view the contents of your backup file. This cannot be done for some files, although there are ways, as we saw in Part 3 above, to view backups of files containing call and SMS logs.

How to Backup Android Google Contacts

Step 1 Launch Wondershare TunesGo and connect your phone or tablet to your computer.

Step 2 Select information click. In the contact management window, select the group from which you want to export and back up contacts, including your phone contacts, SIM contacts and Accont contacts.

Step 3 Select all or selected contacts you want to export. Click the Export button and select one of 4 options: vCard file, CSV file, Windows Address Book and Outlook 2010/2013/2016. You can import contacts into Google directly from csv and vcard files on your computer.

Step 4 Import contacts from computer to Gmail.

Attention: Google recently updated its security policy and Handy Backup is currently undergoing certification. Therefore, the Google Drive plugin is not available, but you can use it to create backups. We apologize for the inconvenience!

To create an automatic backup task on Google Drive, please use these instructions:

Open Handy Backup. Create a new task and select backup task in Step 1.
In the next step, select the data you want to back up to Google Drive.
In Step 3, specify Google Drive as a repository of information.

To connect a task to Google Drive, click on " Create a connection".
In the dialog box that appears, click on the " Connect to Drive".

The program will open a browser window to configure Google Drive.
Sign in to your Google Drive account. Allow Handy Backup access to Google Drive.
If the connection to Google Drive is successful, proceed to the next step.
Next, configure all other task parameters as described in the User Guide.
In the last step, give your task a name and complete the task wizard.

Google Drive backup

To back up Google Drive, select when creating a new backup task Google Drive plugin in the Clouds group on Step 2(selecting data sources for backup).

Video tutorial on creating backups on Goole Drive

Learn more about how to create backups to Google Drive and how to copy Google Drive data using Handy Backup by watching this video tutorial.

This video is based on the assumption that you already have Handy Backup software installed on your computer. If this is not the case, please download and install Handy Backup before watching this video.

Key Benefits of Creating a Google Drive Backup with Handy Backup

Recover the files you need at any time!

Handy Backup allows you to automatically restore backups from Google Drive.

You can work with data in the Google Drive cloud directly (without restoring), since Handy Backup stores backups in their original format by default.

Much of the data on your Android phone or tablet is automatically saved by Google (or individual apps) as a backup. But what about the security issue in this case?

In this article, we want to explain which data is backed up automatically and which is not, so that you can rest assured about its confidentiality, and also decide which data to “back up” yourself.

What Google Copies Automatically

Google has a feature built into Android called Android Backup Service. By default, this service backs up most types of important data and associates it with the corresponding Google service, which is accessible over the Internet. You can view your sync settings by going to Settings > Accounts > Google and then selecting your Gmail address.

Contacts, email, documents and calendars. Your Android device's contacts sync with your Google contacts on the web, and you can access them from Gmail or special page. Also, your mail is stored securely in your Gmail account, and calendar events are synced with Google Calendar.

Some system settings. Android also syncs, for example, saved passwords for Wi-Fi networks so you can use them on any device with your account. In addition, the system can backup some display settings, such as brightness and screen timeout.

Chrome browser data. If you use the Chrome browser, your bookmarks are synchronized so that you can work with them, for example, on your home computer.

Hangouts chats. Hangouts chats are also stored in your Gmail account unless you have disabled this in your settings.

Applications and other purchased content. All installed applications are associated with your Google account. When you connect a new Android device to your account (or restore your old one after a factory reset), Android will automatically offer to download the apps you previously used. The same applies to other content from Google Play.

Some third party application data. Third-party applications often (but not always) synchronize their data with web services. If you have an application containing data that is important to you, it is advisable to check whether it has synchronization for backup.

Smart Lock Data. If you use Chrome on your computer and have Smart Lock enabled, your saved passwords will sync not only with Chrome on mobile devices, but also with some apps. For example, if your Netflix password is saved in Smart Lock, it will be automatically available in the application on your Android devices.

Photos. If you use Google Photos, you can also back up your photos to Google's servers. Unlike most of the other features on this list, this option must be enabled by you. Additionally, on Android Nougat, the Backup & Reset menu also has a photo backup feature.

This is not an exhaustive list, but it's probably clear what Android syncs automatically.

What Google doesn't backup

Now let's look at what Google doesn't automatically sync with your account.

SMS messages. Android doesn't back up text messages by default. If necessary, this can be configured using some applications.

Google Authenticator data. For security reasons, Google does not sync your Google Authenticator codes. If you reset your Android device to factory settings, you may lose the ability to perform two-factor authentication (although you will still be able to authenticate via SMS).

User settings, Bluetooth pairings and security data. When you reset or change devices, you will have to reconnect all your Bluetooth accessories. You will also need to set up your device again and set up security settings (such as an unlock password and fingerprints).

The issue of synchronizing individual elements

There are things that can be backed up depending on other variables. Let's take a closer look.

Game progress. Android Backup Service allows game and app developers to back up data to restore it in the future. However, not all developers implement this feature, so achievements in some games may be lost.

Application data. The situation is about the same as with games. Many apps don't create backups (for example, a copy of alarms in the clock app), but some third-party apps may support this feature.

Again, if there is something important that you want to save in your applications, check the settings or functionality of the application to determine how and where it creates a backup copy, if at all?

Full device backup

Basically, automatic copying is enough to avoid losing important data. But if you want to make a full backup manually, this function is provided in the settings.

To summarize, Android already supports backup of important data by default, and users should set up photo backup. Advanced users can perform a full backup through the settings, but most people are unlikely to need this.

It is a well-known fact: in order to implement a truly reliable backup strategy, it is necessary in one way or another to ensure extraterritorial storage of backup copies. Indeed, a separate backup drive can help in case of damage to the main media, but in the event of theft, fire or other natural disaster it can just as easily be lost.

Until recently, remote storage of backups required significant additional effort and/or was associated with significant additional costs, so it was used when backing up only critical data. However, recently the situation has changed due to the massive emergence of various cloud storages.

Now remote backup is available to everyone at minimal or no cost. A typical cloud storage provides the user with 5-15 GB of disk space free of charge, which may be enough to back up important data. If the free volume is not enough, you can rent additional volume for little money. For example, Google Drive offers to rent 100 GB for $2 per month, and 1 TB for $10 per month.

The backup process itself can be carried out using special programs that provide cloud services. This is the simplest method, but it is not without a number of disadvantages. Firstly, since the main purpose of cloud services is to synchronize files between devices, the client program strives to transfer changed files to the server as soon as possible. For backup purposes, this behavior is not entirely justified and leads to excessive load on the Internet channel. It is much more correct to make backup copies of changed files at a specified frequency, for example, once at night. Secondly, and this is the main problem, files are copied to the cloud as is, without explicit encryption, and therefore there is always a risk of unauthorized access to them by third parties. For many people, this situation is fundamentally unacceptable. In addition, usually cloud storage programs require that all synchronized data be in one root folder (or its subfolders), which is actually synchronized with the cloud. This is often inconvenient for the user, since they have to change the usual storage locations for work files.

Therefore, we suggest using a special program for cloud backup purposes @MAX SyncUp, which will allow you to avoid the problems described above. You will be able to back up to Google Drive or to any cloud storage that supports access via the protocol WebDAV(For example, Box.com , OpenDrive.com , Disk.Yandex.com etc.), and you do not need to install native client programs for these services.

You don't use Google Drive? Great! Get yourself a Google account and use storage Google Drive for secure free backup. If you are already using Google Drive, then you can create another account for backup purposes, or in your main account, select a folder for backups, for which you can prohibit synchronization by the standard client.

Here's a brief summary of how the proposed backup mode works. When you first launch it, an encrypted archive (either native format or standard Zip) is created in the cloud storage, which contains all the files that you have selected for backup. This is the so-called full backup. It can be created once or re-created at specified intervals.

With each subsequent launch, an encrypted archive is created in the cloud storage, which contains all the files that have changed since the previous launch. These are so-called incremental backups, which are stored for a certain (configurable) period of time and are deleted after its expiration. The program allows you to transparently restore the latest versions of files or versions of files as of a specific date within the storage period of incremental backups.

The backup process starts according to the schedule you specify. This way, you can set the most convenient time for backups and control the frequency of backups. Due to the fact that the archives hosted in the cloud are encrypted, you can be sure that your data will not leak to third parties. And, of course, you can configure the backup of any of your folders and files, regardless of their location.

First you need to understand what backup is?

Backup is directly copying some specific information, some data on a medium, be it a program or a hard drive.

There are different types of backups:

There are many other types, but it is the above types that are most often used in the “native” filling of programs and systems. Other copying methods can only be obtained with the installation of additional utilities and programs. But this is no longer in our case - we will not need them.

Purpose and reasons for using backup

The common reason for backup is the ability to quickly and easily restore information (documents, programs, settings, etc.) if information is lost for any reason.

The reasons can be completely different:

Malicious programs (viruses, computer worms (these are viruses, not creatures), Trojan horses);
Human factor;
Natural and man-made disasters;
And many other reasons that can damage information and its media.

There are a number of reasons for a backup:

Transferring bookmarks to another computer;
Reinstalling the operating system;
Transferring bookmarks to another browser;
Updating your hardware so you don't have to start looking for passwords and bookmarks in your browser all over again.

We make a copy of browser information on your computer without third-party programs

Backup procedure:

It is important that Google Chrome must be closed when performing the steps above!

If everything is done correctly, when opening Chrome, we will be able to see all the transferred bookmarks, passwords, etc. In order to view whether passwords are saved or not, you need to go to settings, then additional settings, managing saved passwords and on the sites that interest you, click “Show”. You will see all the passwords you need and what sites they were on.

Google Chrome Backup utility and its benefits

This utility is an official product of Google Chrome and is available for free download from the official website of the browser. Google Chrome Backup is an alternative way to backup data from Google Chrome.

We won’t describe how to work with it, because the interface is clear and any actions can be done in two or three clicks. The picture shows the possibilities of working with one of the profiles.

The principle of its operation is based on the type of personal assistant that complements backups in just three clicks, or manually, when the user himself selects what he needs for backup. Backup is a very useful feature that will save the web pages you need.