How often do I need to back up?

If you switch on automatic backup, the phone handles it every night while it charges on Wi-Fi. You then need do nothing at all, apart from glancing at the date once every six months to confirm it is still running.

Is the free 5 GB of iCloud enough?

Rarely, if you take photos. When the space runs out the backup quietly stops. You can either upgrade to iCloud+, where 50 GB costs a small amount per month, or back up to a computer instead.

Are photos included in the Android backup?

Photos are handled separately by Google Photos, not by the phone's system backup. Open Google Photos, tap your profile picture and check that backup is switched on and finished, otherwise your photos in particular are not protected.

What happens if I forget the account password?

The backup is tied to your Apple account or Google account, so without the password you cannot reach it on the day you need it. Write the password on paper and keep it with your important documents.

How to back up your phone so the photos survive

A backup is a copy of what is on your phone, kept somewhere other than the phone. It is the only thing left the day the phone is lost, breaks or is stolen. Switching it on takes five minutes, and after that the phone does the rest by itself every night.

Do it before you need it. Almost everyone who contacts us about lost photos still has the phone but never switched backup on. iPhone comes first below, with Android in its own section further down.

Try this first

Connect the phone to Wi-Fi and put it on the charger. Backups only run when both of those are true.
On iPhone, open Settings and tap your name at the top. Choose iCloud > iCloud Backup.
Switch on Back Up This iPhone. The phone then copies itself automatically every night.
Tap Back Up Now to do it straight away. The first copy can take an hour or more, so leave the phone alone while it runs.
Read the date under the button once it finishes. It should show today's date and a time.
If the date is old, iCloud is usually full. Check how much room you have under Settings > your name > iCloud.

On Android

Open Settings > Google > Backup. On Samsung you will also find it under Settings > Accounts and backup.
Switch on Backup by Google One and tap Back up now.
Open Google Photos and tap your profile picture at the top right. Photos are backed up separately and are not included in the step above.
Make sure Backup is on, and wait until it says everything is backed up. That can take several hours the first time.
Check which account is being used. If it shows an email address you do not recognise, the photos are going to the wrong account and you will not find them on your next phone.
On a Samsung you can also switch on Samsung Cloud under Settings > Accounts and backup. It does not replace Google Photos, but it gives you a second copy of contacts and settings.

If that did not help

Back the iPhone up to a computer instead. Connect the phone with a cable. On a Mac, open Finder and select the phone in the sidebar. On Windows, open the Apple Devices app from the Microsoft Store.
Choose to back up all the data to this computer, and tick Encrypt local backup. The encryption is what allows passwords and health data to come along.
Pick a password for the encryption and write it down on paper. Without it the copy cannot be used, and nobody can recover it for you.
Check that the copy exists. Open icloud.com or photos.google.com in a browser on a computer and confirm your most recent photos are there. A backup you have never checked is not a backup.

If you are about to change phones, or the backup keeps failing, write to us before you do anything with the old phone. Rescuing the contents is much easier while both phones are still in your hands. Never give your password or a verification code to anyone, including us.