Most people only think about backups after losing a phone. A routine that runs by itself beats a perfect plan you forget.
What to back up
- Photos and videos
- Contacts and calendar
- Messages and app data where the app supports it
- Your authenticator app, using its own export or recovery option
Set it once
Turn on the built-in cloud backup for your phone (iCloud on iPhone, Google backup on Android). Choose Wi-Fi and charging as the conditions so it runs overnight without using mobile data.
Keep a second copy
Once a month, copy your photos to a computer or an external drive. One cloud copy is a good start, but a second copy that you control protects you if an account gets locked.
Test it
Every few months, check that the latest backup date is recent and that you can open a photo from the backup. A backup you have never checked is a guess.
