Devices that have Android 4.0 and above can be backed up from the Android SDK and saved to a file on your PC. This process will allow you to have all of the data from your phone placed into a backup file on your computer.
Backup to File on Windows PC
- Install the latest version of the Android SDK Tools. If you already have Android Studio, open Android Studio and select “SDK Manager“. Check “Android SDK Platform-tools” and install the package.
- Launch SDK Manager, check the “Android SDK Platform-tools” option, then select “Install x packages…“.
- On your Android device, go to “Settings” > “About phone/tablet“.
- Tap “Build number” 7 times until it says “You are now a developer“.
- Under “Settings” > “Developer options“, set “USB debugging” to “On“.
- Connect your Android device to your computer using a USB cable.
- Open a command as an administrator or terminal prompt and navigate to where ADB is located. It is normally located under “C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\platform-tools\“
- You can type one of these commands depending the type of information you’d like to backup.
- adb backup -all – System data, app data but not the apps themselves. By default saves device data to the platform-tools folder as backup.ab.
- adb backup -all -f C:\filenameichoose.ab – Same as above only you can set your own location for saving the backup file.
Here are some other switches you can use with the command:
- -apk – Backs up your apps.
- -noapk – Does not backup apps.
- -shared – Backs up data on the SD card.
- -noshared – Does not backup data on the SD card.
For more information on the usage of this command, visit the XDA guide.
- Once you type a desired command and press Enter, the following screen should appear on your device.
- Provide a password for your backup. You will have to use this password if you have to perform a restore in the future. Tap Back up my data and the data should start transferring.
Here are some other switches you can use with the command:
Restoring From Backup File
If a day shall come when you need to restore from the backup file, you can simply use the adb restore command. Example: adb restore C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\platform-tools\
You will then be prompted on the device for your password.
mike says
Start adb in root mode. adb root.
ws says
@Jan have u fixed the issue yet? I’ve ran into the same issue as well…
Jan Tomcala says
Hi All, I have a problem with backuping my phone Samsung S3. The backup ends in one second and the backup file has only 549 B. Could you help me?
Thx,
Jan
Lawrence W. Daly says
I went to Google and searched for an answer on Auto Reject. Your website was the only company that had the answer. Thank you so much.
Fred says
I also got the same error message that says “adb: Unable to connect for backup: closed”. How do I fix the error message to open rather than closed?
john says
Hello everybody,
just for being sure: does the backup really a full system backup (ie. inclusively the OS, such allowing for an OS version update & rollback)?
Rafzy says
Hey.. Can I folloow the same steps to get the backup from my samsung galaxy A5 and then restore it to Oneplus One (running Cyanogenmod)?
Conny says
I opened command prompt as an administrator and tried again. and I did not get up “unable to open file” error, but instead I got another error text “adb: Unable to connect for Backup: closed”
How do I fix this error?
Mitch Bartlett says
I think I got it. You have to open the command prompt as an administrator otherwise you will get the “unable to open file” error.
Start > All Programs > Accessories, then right-click Command prompt and select “Run as administrator”
Conny says
I tried a different folder, I try even another hard drive, but still get the same error text?
I do not understand why it does not work?
vatoman says
The instructions are a bit misleading, if you have already browsed to the directory location from the command prompt do the following command “adb restore backup.ab”
should look like this below:
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\platform-tools>adb restore backup.ab
HarryBurgers says
Actually, previous versions allowed a space between the -f parameter and the filename. The latest version does not.
HarryBurgers says
Yikes! For a washed-up developer with a couple of decades experience, you would figure I would have solved this much quicker.
1. First, make sure you update your platform-tools through SDK Manager.
2. Go to the directory where you installed the SDK (it will tell you where at the top of the SDK Manager.
3. Run the adb backup command.
4. If it works, check your path. In my case, I had an old version that was getting called.
5. If it doesn’t work, double check your filename syntax.
6. If it still doesn’t work, back to the drawing board.
HarryBurgers says
I’ve had the same problem since the Marshmallow update to my Verizon N6. I get the same error message, and if I look in the directory where the file should have been created, a folder was created instead. This is on a Windows 7 box.
Still trying to get to the bottom of it, but I’m pretty sure it is something other than rights.
Mitch Bartlett says
@Conny – Seems like you may not have access to write to that directory. Maybe try another folder?
Conny says
I get a error text after I have entered the code above to make a backup.
but get the error text that says “adb: Unable to open file C:\Users\Conny\backup.ab” how do I fix this error so I can continue with the steps ???