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How to Back Up Your iPhone or Android Phone (So You Never Lose Your Photos)

5 min read · Updated 13 November 2026

Step-by-step guide to backing up photos, contacts and messages on iPhone and Android, using the cloud or your computer.

Phones get lost, stolen, dropped in the bath and broken. If your photos only exist on your phone, they're one accident away from disappearing. Setting up a backup takes ten minutes and then runs by itself.

Backing up an iPhone

Option 1: iCloud (automatic)

  1. Open Settings and tap your name at the top.
  2. Tap iCloud > iCloud Backup and switch on Back Up This iPhone.
  3. Go back to iCloud > Photos and turn on Sync this iPhone (or iCloud Photos).

Your iPhone then backs up automatically when it's charging, locked and on Wi-Fi. Apple gives a small amount of free iCloud storage, which fills quickly with photos, so many people pay a small monthly fee for more.

Option 2: your computer (free)

Connect your iPhone with a cable. On a Mac, open Finder and select your iPhone; on Windows, use the Apple Devices app. Choose Back up now. Tick Encrypt local backup to also save passwords and health data.

Backing up an Android phone

Google backup

  1. Open Settings and search for Backup.
  2. Turn on Backup by Google One (the wording varies by phone make).
  3. Open the Google Photos app, tap your profile picture and turn on Backup.

This saves your apps list, settings, contacts, call history and texts to your Google account. Samsung phones also offer Samsung Cloud and Smart Switch for backing up to a computer.

Follow the 3-2-1 rule for precious photos

For things you could never replace, such as family photos, IT professionals use the 3-2-1 rule: keep 3 copies, on 2 different types of storage, with 1 copy somewhere else. In practice: the photos on your phone, a cloud backup, and a copy on a computer or external drive at home.

Test it. A backup you've never checked is a hope, not a backup. Log in to iCloud.com or photos.google.com from a computer and make sure your recent photos are there.

Don't forget WhatsApp

WhatsApp chats are backed up separately. Open WhatsApp, go to Settings > Chats > Chat backup and set it to back up daily or weekly to iCloud (iPhone) or Google Drive (Android).

Not sure what "the cloud" actually is? Read our plain-English guide to cloud storage.

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