It’s funny to think how just a couple decades ago hardly anyone had cell phones, and now we can’t imagine life without our mobile devices. Whether it’s to check your calendar, stream music, take photos, or look at memes, you rely on your smartphone for most of your favorite everyday activities.
The more you use your phone, the more data you accumulate. Everything from cherished photos to basic phone numbers are kept on your mobile device. But what would happen if your phone broke, or your data was accidentally deleted from your device?
In the case of an emergency, you can always consult your backed up data – that is, if you back up your phone regularly. Chances are, you don’t remember when you last backed up your phone. But storing your data in an external location is incredibly important, since most of your valuable information is stored nowadays on our smartphones. By backing up, you will be safeguarding your information so that if anything were to happen, your data would be stored in an accessible secondary location. Here are five reasons to make regular backing up your phone’s data part of your routine.
- Back Ups Protect Your Valuable, Unique Data
Luckily, some of the content on your phone can be easily replaced. For example, if you download a song you like and accidentally delete it, you can easily redownload it. In the case of other, more important files, the same cannot be guaranteed.
Everything from work documents to personal files are nearly impossible to retrieve if they were uniquely produced by you. Everything from selfies to notes you’ve left yourself to the data in your physical activity tracker needs to be backed up on a regular basis. If you don’t choose to backup your files, you risk losing everything of personal value permanently.
- It’s Easy To Break Or Lose Your Phone
Your smartphone can be both a blessing and a curse. For one, life would be unimaginable without it. On the other hand, these mobile devices are so easy to break or lose it’s almost a challenge to keep one intact. According to W3 Solutions, approximately 45% of smartphone owners accidentally damage their phones at some point. While there is protective gear available to conserve your device, no phone is truly safe from accidental destruction.
If your phone has only been slightly damaged in an accident, you’re off the hook: phones that are only vaguely damaged can still have their data retrieved. However, if you drop your phone in a body of water, you may be in for a rude awakening: electronics and water do not mix. However, with some luck, you might find that you are able to retrieve partial data if you had previously backed up your files into a storage network, which you can then download onto a new device. - Hardware Can Fail
From time to time, your smartphone can undergo a malfunction that isn’t your fault. Although rare, a smartphone’s hardware can crash and fail, rendering all the phone’s data suddenly irretrievable.
Similar to a computer hard drive crash, it’s possible that the phone you rely on can stop working one day. This is the most fatal of phone failures; not even a professional phone repair technician will be able to bring that device back to life if such a fate occurs.
If such an incident happens to you, you best believe you will rely on your backed up data. If you hadn’t backed up anything and your phone undergoes hardware malfunction, you are straight out of luck. - Data Can Delete Without Warning
Mistakes happen, and unanticipated problems can arise. For example, you might permanently delete a file by accident. Even if you are used to your device, certain programs can act unpredictably, possibly resulting in a loss of data on your end.
Otherwise, during a system restart, it’s not unheard of for your photos or contact list to accidentally get wiped from your device. This can be particularly frustrating, especially when you don’t have backup of your files. Generally, we don’t keep a physical phone book with our friends’ phone numbers anymore, so if you lose your contacts for good, it’ll be a pain to retrieve them. Backing up your phone can resolve these issues. - Backing Up Is Easy
One of the best reasons to back up your phone is that it’s a mindless, yet life-saving, task once you know how to do it.
To back up your phone’s data, simply connect it to a larger external hard drive, or send your data to a cloud storage center.
If you have a desktop, laptop, or an external hard drive, the backing up process is very simple. All you have to do is connect your phone to your computer via USB and complete a direct file transfer. Depending on your computer, your system may actually prompt you to perform the file transfer automatically – it syncs the files on your phone to your computer’s hard drive as soon as you connect your phone to your computer’s USB port.
Want to simply the process even further? There’s an app for that. There are several back up apps available for both Apple and Android devices. These apps range in levels of security and efficiency, but the more sophisticated ones can store complex data such as SMS and MMS texts, call logs, and sometimes, even system settings and passwords. All of your valuable information can be backed up into the cloud or to a local drive, providing a worry-free solution to losing any of your data.
Not Backing Up Your Data Is Irresponsible
If you choose to not back up your phone, it’ll be something you regret. If you’re intimidated by the back up process, ask someone a little more tech-savvy in your family for help.
Part of being a responsible smartphone user is ensuring that your valuable data is kept protected at all times. Backing up is a simple process that can be done by downloading, installing, and setting up an app, or even by just plugging your phone into your computer with a USB cord. It’s always better to be prepared for the worst case scenario than to not have a plan of action if you do lose all of your data. Conducting a smartphone back up will keep all of your phone numbers, photos, personal notes and files, and more safe. Do a back up now, relax later.
