Transferring ALL data from old phone to new phone

Submitted ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨yaxir@lemdro.id⁩ to ⁨askandroid@lemdro.id⁩

Hey folks,

I’m currently in the market for a new Android phone and I want to make sure I can seamlessly transfer all of my data from my old phone to the new one. I’m open to the idea of cloning the old phone to the new one if that’s the most reliable way to ensure nothing gets left behind.

My current phone is Realme 5 running Android 13, and I’m still researching options for my new phone.

I’m particularly concerned about not missing any data - obscure files, contacts, photos, apps, messages, you name it. I’ve heard about methods like using Google’s backup, third-party apps, or even manual transfer, but I’m leaning towards cloning for peace of mind.

Do any of you have experience with cloning Android phones? What tools or methods would you recommend for ensuring a smooth and complete transfer of all data? Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated!

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rdyoung@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Android has gotten really good at transfering all data via a normal move to a new phone. What I would do is plug your phone into a pc and backup everything you can see via file browser, that way if it somehow doesn’t make it to the new phone you still have it. Plus you will still have the current phone to get things from if/when you need it.

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GenderNeutralBro@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
The short answer is that you can’t without rooting. If ALL your apps use Google cloud backup, then it’ll work great. But that’s not very likely.

Here’s what I do when I switch phones, without root:

Use Google cloud restore. This gets app data for supported apps.

Run the built-in backup and restore features for any apps that have them. A few examples of such apps off the top of my head are Lawnchair, Eternity for Lemmy, Relay for Reddit, and Signal.

Copy internal storage (like downloads, photos, etc.) using a USB cable with MTP or ADB. This gets non-app-specific files.

Your contacts app should have an export feature. If you’re using your Google account to store contacts, then you don’t need to bother with this.

That gets almost everything. Over the years I have mostly stopped using apps that lock data in protected locations with no way to export. The biggest problem is that there’s no easy way to see which apps use Google backup. IIRC there’s a way to check in your Google settings on the web but not directly on Android.

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sbv@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I use Google apps (including Photos), and I’ve found the standard new phone setup does the trick for me.

It didn’t seem to bring over random file downloads and (unbackedup) screenshots to the new device though, so it might not be what you want.

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Lojcs@lemm.ee ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Depending on what brand of phone you’re getting, using their own data transfer tool might be the best option. Samsung’s smart switch transfers pretty much everything, and I remember hearing about xiaomi’s being good too. Look up what the brand you’re getting offers

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