How to restore Android from a Google backup

Restoring brings your apps, texts, call history, contacts and settings back onto a new phone or one you just reset. The key thing to know is that Android only offers a Google restore during the welcome screens. Miss it, and you have to reset the phone to get the option back. The steps below work on Samsung, Pixel, Motorola, OnePlus and other Android phones.

Before you start

• Check the backup exists and is recent. On another phone or a computer, go to one.google.com/storage, or on the old phone go to Settings › Google services › Backup (Settings › Google › Backup on some phones) and look at Backup details.
• Know your Google account password, and have your phone number or another device ready for the sign-in code.
• Charge the phone and use a stable Wi-Fi network. Hotel and café Wi-Fi often drops during large downloads.
• If the old phone still works, a direct copy by cable is faster and more complete than restoring from the cloud, since nothing needs to download.

What a Google backup includes

• Apps and app data, for apps that support backup.
• Call history and contacts saved to the phone.
• Device settings, such as Wi-Fi networks, wallpaper and display settings.
• SMS and MMS messages.
• Photos and videos only through Google Photos backup, which is separate and restores just by signing in.

How to restore Android from Google backup

If the old phone still works, choose the option to copy from it instead of Can’t use old device. You connect the two phones with a USB-C cable, or wirelessly on some models, and everything copies directly, including anything added since the last backup.

Asked for your old phone’s PIN?

Google encrypts parts of your backup, such as texts, with your old phone’s screen lock. During the restore, you may be asked to enter the PIN, pattern or password you used to unlock the old phone. Enter that one, not a new code. If you cannot remember it, the rest of the backup can still restore, but the encrypted parts may be skipped.

Restoring after a factory reset

After a reset, Android’s Factory Reset Protection asks you to sign in with the Google account that was on the phone before. This stops a thief from using a stolen phone. Use the same account you back up with, and the restore option appears as normal. If you bought the phone used and it asks for someone else’s account, the seller must remove it; see our guide to factory resetting an Android phone for how to do it properly before selling.

Restoring to a different brand

A Google backup restores across brands, for example from a Samsung Galaxy to a Pixel. Your apps, contacts, texts and call history come across. Brand-specific settings and apps, such as Samsung’s own apps, may not, and their data stays in that brand’s cloud. Use the brand’s own tool as well where you can, such as Smart Switch for Samsung, to bring those across too.

Several backups listed? Pick the right one

Each backup is named after the phone that made it, with the date of the last backup. Choose the phone you are replacing and check the date is recent. If you had an older phone that is also listed, do not pick it by mistake, or you will get old apps and messages. To recover something deleted, pick the most recent backup from before the deletion.

Samsung phones: Smart Switch and Samsung Cloud

Samsung phones offer Smart Switch during setup, which copies from an old phone of any brand by cable or Wi-Fi, and is usually the best choice between Galaxy phones. Samsung Cloud backups can also be restored at any time, not just during setup, from Settings › Accounts and backup › Restore data. See our guide to moving between Galaxy phones.

Coming from an iPhone?

An iPhone backup cannot be restored onto Android. Instead, during setup on the Android phone, choose to copy from an iPhone and follow the prompts, or install Google’s Switch to Android app on the iPhone. It moves contacts, photos, messages and calendars. Turn off iMessage on the iPhone afterward so texts from iPhone users reach your new phone.

What comes back separately

• Photos and videos: open Google Photos and sign in with the same account. Everything backed up there appears straight away, with full-quality copies downloading as you open them.
• WhatsApp: install it, verify your number and tap Restore when it finds the backup in your Google account. Check the backup date in WhatsApp on the old phone first; messages after that date are lost.
• App logins: most apps ask you to sign in again.
• Banking and payment apps: sign in again and add cards to Google Wallet again.
• Authenticator apps: move codes with the app’s own transfer or cloud backup before resetting the old phone.
• Apps no longer in the Play Store cannot be downloaded again, and paid apps reinstall free on the same Google account.

Common problems

• No backup listed: check you signed in with the account that made it. Backup may have been off on the old phone, or the backup may be too old and have been removed.
• Backup from a newer Android version: update the new phone in Settings › System › Software update, then reset it and restore again.
• Apps stuck downloading: open the Play Store, tap your profile picture, then Manage apps & device, and check for pending downloads. Keep the phone on Wi-Fi.
• Texts missing: make sure you selected Messages during setup, and that the default messaging app is the one you used before.

Already finished setup?

You have two options. Sign in to your Google account and let contacts, calendar, Google Photos and Gmail sync back by themselves, then install apps from the Play Store by hand. Or reset the phone in Settings › General management › Reset (Samsung) or Settings › System › Reset options (Pixel and others), and choose the backup when setup starts again. See our guide to factory resetting an Android phone.

Turn on backup now

If you had no backup this time, set it up so it never happens again. Go to Settings › Google services › Backup and turn on Backup by Google One. It runs automatically when the phone is charging, on Wi-Fi and idle. Turn on Google Photos backup separately in the Google Photos app. The free 15 GB is shared with Gmail and Drive, so a large photo library may need a Google One plan.

After the restore: check these

• Leave the phone on Wi-Fi and a charger until the Play Store finishes installing apps, ideally overnight.
• Next, open your most important apps and sign in, starting with email, banking and messaging, since some send a code to confirm the new phone.
• Check that backup is on for the new phone in Settings › Google services › Backup, so it is protected from now on, and tap Back up now once.
• Keep the old phone until you are sure nothing is missing, then remove your Google account and reset it before selling or trading it in.