How do I transfer everything from my broken phone to my new phone?

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How do I transfer everything from my broken phone to my new phone

Transferring all your data from an old phone to a new one can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. With a bit of preparation and the right tools, you can easily move your contacts, photos, apps and more to your new device.

Back Up Your Old Phone

The first step is to back up your old phone. This creates a save point you can return to if anything goes wrong during the transfer process. Here are a few ways to back up your phone:

  • Use your old phone’s built-in backup tools. On iOS, this is done through iCloud or iTunes. On Android, use Google Backup.
  • Back up data manually by connecting your phone to a computer and copying files over. Be sure to grab photos, video, contacts, text messages and more.
  • Use a cloud backup service like Dropbox or Google Drive to upload your phone data online.

Backing up gives you the peace of mind that your data is safe no matter what happens during the transfer.

Prep Your New Phone

Now it’s time to start setting up your new phone:

  1. Charge up the battery on your new phone fully. You don’t want the power running out halfway through the transfer.
  2. Connect to WiFi on the new phone. You’ll likely need an internet connection during the transfer.
  3. Log into the same accounts you were using on your old device – Google, Apple ID, Samsung, etc. This will make the transfer much smoother.
  4. Download any apps you were using on the old device that you’ll want on your new phone. This gives them time to finish installing.

Transfer Your Data

Once your new phone is prepped, it’s time for the data transfer:

Photos and Videos

Your photos and videos can be transferred in a few ways:

  • Connect your old phone to your computer and copy the photo folders over to your new phone.
  • Upload photos to a cloud service like Google Photos or iCloud, then download them to your new device.
  • Use a special transfer cable or adapter that comes with your new phone. This allows you to transfer data directly between devices.

Contacts

Moving your contacts is fairly straightforward:

  1. Export your contacts from your old phone as a CSV file and email it to yourself.
  2. Open the CSV file on your new phone and import the contacts.
  3. Sync your contacts to your Google or iCloud account. They’ll automatically transfer to your new phone.

Calendars and Reminders

Calendars and reminders can be transferred a couple ways:

  • Sync your Google and iCloud calendars to your new device – any events should transfer over.
  • Export events from your old phone and import them into your new phone’s calendar app.

Messages

SMS text messages can be a bit tricky to transfer. A few options:

  • Use cloud syncing if available. For example, sync iMessage between iPhones via iCloud.
  • Use specialized software to transfer SMS/MMS messages between devices.
  • Manually forward conversations from your old phone to your new phone.

Apps

Reinstalling apps on your new phone is pretty straightforward:

  • Any apps associated with your Google Play or App Store accounts can simply be downloaded again on your new phone from the store.
  • Sign back into subscription services like Spotify, Netflix, etc to regain access to them on your new device.
  • Transfer locally stored app data via your iCloud/Google Drive backup or a transfer tool.

Music & Videos

You have a few options for getting your media files to your new phone:

  • Use a USB cable to copy files directly from your old phone.
  • Upload to cloud storage and re-download on your new phone.
  • Use iTunes or Android File Transfer to manage and sync files.

eBooks

Transferring eBooks is fairly simple:

  • Download any eBook files stored locally on your old phone to your computer, then transfer them to the new phone
  • Re-download eBooks you purchased from services like Kindle, Nook, etc onto your new device.
  • Use calibration tools to copy eBooks from an old eReader to a new one.

Documents & Files

Important documents and other files can be copied in a few ways:

  • Copy files directly via USB cable from the old phone to a computer, then to the new phone.
  • Upload files to cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox, then access them again from the new phone.
  • Use file management apps like Documents by Readdle to sync folders between devices.

More Tips for Transferring Data

Follow these tips for a smooth and easy transfer between phones:

  • Do transfers over WiFi for faster speeds and increased stability.
  • Keep your old phone charged during the transfer in case you need to access it.
  • Double check that all data copied over correctly after the transfer.
  • Sign out of accounts on your old device if you won’t be using it anymore.
  • Perform a factory reset on your old phone to wipe data after it’s on your new device.

Conclusion

Transferring data from an old phone to a new one doesn’t have to be daunting if you take the right steps. Back up your old phone, prep the new one, and use the various transfer methods for each data type. With a bit of time and patience, you’ll have all your apps, photos, contacts and more on your new phone in no time!