Remember when documents and photos were only distributed on paper? All you need to do is go to a copy shop, a stationery shop or have a photocopier to create a copy to keep safe and keep for the future. With digital, however, many things have changed and there are precise methods to create copies of documents to be kept safe. Obviously I am referring to the backup . How do you say? Have you heard about it often but are not sure what backup is ? Don’t worry, if you want, I’ll be here to help you. What is backup

The backup is used to have a copy of your files always available on a second external disk , on a NAS or network server , in the cloud or on a USB drive if, for one reason or another, there should be problems on the original device where they were saved: do not think only of physical problems (eg the real failure of the disk or of the entire device), because the backup copies can be useful in many other situations. Just to give some practical examples, backups can be useful even if an important file is deleted by mistake or, again, if the device on which the data is located were lost or stolen (the saved files would not be lost forever since they are safe in a backup copy).

The advice I give you, therefore, is to move as soon as possible – before any “disaster” happens – and to learn everything you need to do on the subject. Don’t worry, there is no need for advanced computer knowledge or to be a genius. All you have to do is sit down, take some free time and read carefully what I am about to offer you: by doing this you will know how to keep your data safe and avoid the risk of losing photos, documents, videos, etc. following the unexpected events mentioned above. Happy reading and good luck for everything!

Index

• Types of backups
• What is Android phone backup
  • What is Google One Backup
• What is iPhone backup
  • What is iCloud Backup
• What is WhatsApp backup
• What is computer data backup
• What is photo backup

Types of backups

The simplest method of making a backup of your files is to copy them, one by one, to any external device or cloud storage, so as to always have them available even in case of problems. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is a fairly long and complex operation, especially if it proves necessary to carry it out at regular intervals (eg if you create or modify numerous files in a limited time frame).

In this regard, you should know that there are programs and apps that can create copies of data completely automatically and that, by exploiting some specific technologies, they can decrease the size of the backup itself and increase the speed with which it is performed. The most popular types of backups are as follows.

• Full backup – this is the simplest type of backup. As the word itself implies, a full backup consists of a copy of the files and folders as they are. The files are taken and copied to the chosen device, without any exclusion. It is the easiest backup to create and manage.
• Incremental backup – stores the files created and modified since the last backup, leaving those that have not been modified intact. Before saving backups incrementally, at least one full backup must be created. It is much smaller in size than a full backup, but you need the latest full backup and all previous incremental backups to recover data from an incremental backup.
• Synthetic full backup – works exactly like incremental backup and only stores changes since the last full / incremental backup, except these changes are not stored in a separate file but merged with the most recent full backup. It combines the benefits of full and incremental backups, but takes longer to create than the latter.
• Differential backup – this is very similar to incremental backup, except that it stores the files created and modified since the last full backup made, leaving the ones that have not changed intact. Again, before saving via incremental backup, you need to create at least one full backup. It is slightly larger than the incremental backup, but you need the most recent full backup and only the latest differential backup to recover the data.

In the course of this guide I will show you the best strategies for making backup copies of data, information and chats, to be applied according to what your real needs are.

What is Android phone backup

There are many ways to copy the data of a phone (or tablet) animated by the Android operating system by actually creating a backup: for example, if you intend to save multimedia elements such as photos, videos and music, you can copy them by hand directly on the computer: just connect the device to the computer via USB cable and use the Windows File Explorer, or the official Android File Transfer program for macOS, to drag and drop the files to be saved in a folder of your choice on the computer, as well as I explained to you in my guide on how to connect Android to computer .

And if you have other needs (clone of the operating system, more detailed automatic backups and more), you can use apps like Titanium Backup or create a Nandroid of the whole system. Are you interested in all this but have you never heard of it? Don’t worry, I have explained to you in detail how to do it in the various cases in my guide on how to make an Android backup .

What is Google One Backup

If, on the other hand, your main need is to save the data of the installed apps, the Android settings, the photos and videos made via the camera and other data strictly connected to the phone (e.g. the list of Wi-Fi networks and of saved Bluetooth devices, SMS, alarms, wallpapers and so on) and on your device there are Google services, you can use the Google One app to automatically store photos, videos and other data directly in the cloud.

To activate Google One backups, you need to download the application of the same name from the Play Store (if it is not already present on the device) and provide all the necessary permissions; once configuration is complete, through the main screen of the app, it is possible to view the status of the backups made previously and, if necessary, also manage the available cloud space. To activate or deactivate automatic backups with Google One, simply press the ☰ button located at the top, select the Settings items and Manage backup settingsfrom the menus that appear later and activate / deactivate the storage of the backup of device data, multimedia messages and photos and videos (if the Google Photos app is present). To immediately make a backup copy of the chosen items, just click on the Back up now button .

If the cloud space is not enough, it is possible to subscribe to a subscription plan to Google One, in order to extend the 15 GB offered by Google for each Gmail account up to a maximum of 30 TB, with prices starting from € 1.99 / month or € 19.99 / year for 100 GB of additional space. To find out more, take a look at my tutorial on how Google One works, in which I have explained everything to you in great detail. For more information, read my tutorial on how Google One works .

What is iPhone backup

The iPhone (or iPad ) backup is the practice of creating a backup copy of the data and settings on the “iPhone by” directly on the computer, or on the cloud. In the first case, you can proceed using the iTunes software for Windows , which you can download following the instructions I have given you here , or the macOS Finder . After downloading (if necessary) and opening the program of your interest, connect the iPhone to the computer via USB cable and authorize the connection by following the instructions you receive on the screen.

At this point, tap on the “iPhone by” symbol that appears at the top or on the iPhone name visible in the left sidebar, go to the Summary tab and press the Back up now button , to immediately create a copy of the iPhone data on the computer. If you have any doubts or problems, you can take a look at my guides on how to transfer data from iPhone to computer and how to backup iPhone , in which I have explained everything to you in great detail.

What is iCloud Backup

The second built-in method to create iOS backups is to use iCloud , hence the online space offered by Apple. To activate this function, press the Settings icon of your device, tap on your name and then on the iCloud entry . Now touch the iCloud Backup item and move the switch corresponding to the iCloud Backup item to ON . Next, move from OFF to ONall the switches that refer to the various applications (eg. Photos, Contacts and so on), in such a way as to allow them to access the cloud space and store data. To create a backup copy of your data immediately, after activating the dedicated function, return to the Settings menu> [your name]> iCloud> iCloud Backup and tap the Back up now button .

Basically, each iCloud account has 5GB of free space; if that’s not enough, you can upgrade to iCloud + , with prices starting at € 0.99 / month for 50 GB of space. More info here .

How do you say? Do you need more clarifications on iTunes and iCloud or do you want to transfer the photos and videos of your device in a more “orderly” way? Don’t worry, I have a very detailed guide on how to create an iPhone backup ready for you . You can use it safely even if you own an iPad, because the procedures to follow are almost identical.

What is WhatsApp backup

As you can easily imagine, WhatsApp backup consists in storing all active conversations within the messaging app, together with the multimedia files contained in them, so as to be able to restore everything where it proves necessary to uninstall the app and reinstall it in below, or switch devices.

Mainly, WhatsApp allows you to make two types of backup: the local one , available only on Android, which is stored directly in the memory of the device on which the application is installed; and the one in the cloud , which resides on Google Drive (Android) or on iCloud .

Both backups can be restored at any time, but with one difference: the local backup is only useful if you uninstall the application and reinstall it later, without however formatting the smartphone; the cloud backup, on the other hand, can also be restored on a different device, as long as you log in with the same Gmail / iCloud account used to store the data. In both scenarios, however, WhatsApp must be associated with the same phone number in use previously.

To start the data backup on WhatsApp for Android , open the application, press the button (⋮) located at the top and select the items Settings> Chat> Backup of chats from the panels that appear later; to immediately make a local backup on the device, click on the Back up button ; if, on the other hand, you are interested in configuring the sending of backups to Google Drive, use the items Backup on Google Drive , Google Account , Backup via and Include videoto specify, respectively, how often to backup, the account to be used for saving data, whether or not to use the cellular data network and whether or not to include the videos. There is also the option to encrypt the backup (in this case it will not be possible to restore it if the relative password is lost).

On WhatsApp for iPhone , you can achieve the same result by pressing the Settings button located at the bottom left and then reaching the Chat and Chat Backup sections ; then use the items you see on the screen to specify how often to perform the automatic backup , whether or not to include the videos and whether to encrypt the backup or not. To make a copy of the data immediately, tap on Back up now .

To learn more about the subject, you can read my guide on how to backup WhatsApp , in which I explained to you in detail how to proceed, depending on your needs.

Note : WhatsApp cloud backups erode, often even significantly, the space available on Google Drive or iCloud. Take that into account.

What is computer data backup

Let’s now move on to backing up the computer, i.e. saving the data on the disk : the Windows operating system has already installed a program that allows the rapid creation of backups, which can be sent to other internal disks, to external drives or copied to a network path .

If you have Windows 10 or Windows 11 , you can use File History to back up your PC: the utility can be started by typing the words backup settings in the Start menu and selecting the first proposed result. On previous editions of Windows, you can get the same result by typing the words File History instead . You can learn more by taking a look at my tutorials on how to backup Windows 10 and how to make a Windows 7 backup .

On Macs , however, the system tool dedicated to backups is called Time Machine : to configure it, open System Preferences and select Time Machine from the window that opens. Now click on the Select backup disk button , then on the Add / Remove disk from the list button , select the disk you want to use and press the Use disk button . I showed you how Time Machine works in my specific tutorial dedicated to the subject.

There are also numerous third-party programs that allow you to create backups in a very simple way, using various strategies to optimize data transfer: I told you about it in detail in my in-depth study on the best backup programs .

What is photo backup

Speaking of photo backups means copying (or moving) them to a safe place, protected from any software or hardware damage that could affect the device on which they were originally stored.

The strategies that can be used in this regard are not very different from those seen so far: the photos can be copied to an external disk / USB key or stored on a cloud space (with the help of special programs or apps). If the images of your interest are on one of your social profiles, know that there are official procedures that allow you to request a copy of your data (photos included) and obtain it in a short time.

If you are interested in learning more about this topic, I advise you to read very carefully my guide on how to backup photos , in which I have indicated the steps to follow to succeed in the enterprise, depending on of the case in which you are: please, give it at least a look.