Backup and Transfer

Backing up an Android 8 or 9 phone

On HTC phones running Android 8 or 9, here's what can be backed up to Google Drive using your Google Account.
Home screen Wallpaper
App list
  • Apps installed through Google Play Store.
  • App screen's grid size, sort order, and app folders you created in Custom view.
App data
  • SMS text messages.
  • Call history.
  • Data that's synced to your Google Account such as Contacts, Calendar, Gmail, and more.

    Tip: To see and choose the types of data to sync, go to Settings > Accounts & sync or Settings > Users & accounts. Tap your Google Account, and then tap Account sync.

  • In-app actions you recorded in phones that support Edge Sense.
  • Data in certain preinstalled apps such as HTC Clock and Weather.
  • Data in third-party apps you installed, depending on whether these apps allow this.
Device settings Ringtones, Wi‍-Fi networks and their passwords, and certain device settings.

Note: To back up SMS messages on a phone, such as HTC 10, that was updated from Android 6 to 7 and then to Android 8, you need to remove your Google Account—the one that you use as your backup account—and sign in to this account again.

Follow the steps below to back up an HTC phone that runs Android 8 or 9.

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Depending on the phone model, do one of the following:
    • Tap System > Backup.
    • Tap Backup & reset > Google Account.
  3. Make sure Back up to Google Drive is turned on.
  4. Use the primary Google Account that you signed into on your phone as your backup account.

    Or tap Account to add or select another Google Account and use it for backing up.

  5. Tap App data, and then check that Automatic restore is turned on.

    This allows an app's data and settings to be restored when you reinstall the app on another phone.

The auto backup feature will periodically back up your phone to a private folder in Google Drive. Backup data will not count towards your Google Drive storage quota. Large files or files that app developers have chosen to exclude will not be backed up.

You can also tap Back up now to manually back up your phone anytime.