The Ultimate Guide to Effortless Android Backups and Restores with Google One

Moving from one phone to another can be as distressing as switching schools or relocating to a different city. To alleviate some of the stress, Google One offers a solution for backing up and restoring Android devices.

What is Google One?

Each Google account comes with a shared storage of 15 GB that is used for Gmail, Google Drive, and Photos. According to Google, the only files that do not take up your free space are items "Shared with Me" and photos or videos that have been backed up in Storage saver quality or Express quality prior to June 1, 2021. Additionally, any media that you purchase on Google Play does not utilize your free space.

If you choose to pay a monthly or annual fee, you have the option to obtain additional storage through Google One. Starting from 2023, you can increase your storage capacity all the way up to 30 TB, starting from a minimum of 100 GB. Along with extra storage, other benefits of Google One include customer support, family sharing for up to six people, Google Store benefits, hotel discounts, and access to Google's VPN.

You can conveniently obtain the Google One app for no cost by downloading it from Google Play. However, upon launching the app, you will encounter a prompt to choose a subscription. It is important to note that if you intend to adhere to the free 15 GB plan, you will not be able to utilize this app.

How to Back Up Your Android Device Using Google One

After installing the app, when you launch Google One for the first time, you will be prompted with three toggles. These toggles allow you to back up your "Device Data," "Multimedia Messages," and "Photos and Videos." Additionally, there is an option to "Back Up Using Cellular Data." You can enable or disable these toggles according to your preferences. It is important to note that the "Device Data" option is enabled by default.

The app loads with the Home tab open by default. Let's go to the "Backup" card.

Here, you'll see all the things that will be backed up. If you're ready to save your phone's media in its current state, go to "Manage Backup" and select "Back Up Now."

Google One does not automatically back up any media sent through the phone manufacturer's texting app. It is necessary to manually save any attached media to Google Photos if you enable the "Photos and Videos" backup option.

Nevertheless, if you utilize Google's Messages app as your default messaging client, Google One will automatically back up all content.

Restore Your Device Using Google One

Moving from an old phone or replacing a damaged unit? Android's setup process has got you covered with a convenient restore option. Simply connect your old device via USB cable or restore from an automatic backup, and you'll be good to go.

Unfortunately, this is currently the sole available option for restoring an Android device. In previous versions of this guide, we provided steps on utilizing the "Restore From Your Backup" feature. Regrettably, this feature has been removed from Google One. Nonetheless, there are alternative methods to restore apps and games, transfer contacts, and copy music to new devices.