Weary of rooting your device? Maybe you just want to try that new experimental ROM? There can be many reason to be worry about messing with your phone, but with all the built in back up features rooting provides you, its never been easier to just hit “restart” and try again. So here’s how to backup and restore your Android phone so you can take full advantage of it fearlessly.
I. Before You Begin
1. If you have not already rooted, you need to do that and flash a custom recovery image. So if you have Donut on your phone you need to follow this procedure (just do the How To Downgrade/Unroot procedure and the How To Root procedure so that you have a custom recovery image, don’t load a ROM, Radio, or SPL yet).
If you have a Nexus One, do this procedure to gain root, then do the next procedure but STOP after Section II.
2. Once you have a custom recovery image then you can proceed.
II. Boot into Recovery
1. Depending on your phone it is a different button combo to get into recovery mode, but simply turn off your phone then turn it back on by holding down Power and [whatever your button is listed below] until you get to your custom recovery screen. (If you get to an ! screen, that is the original recovery screen that came with Android and means you did not flash a custom one, go back to Section I and do the unroot and root procedures then come back):
G1, Dream, MyTouch, Magic, Hero – Hold HOME and Power while the phone is off to get to recovery.
Nexus One – Hold Volume Down and Power to get to bootloader mode, then use the volume keys to get to the Recovery option and press the power button to reboot into recovery.
2. Once you are in recovery mode, you can go to the next step.
III. Performing a Nandroid Backup
1. Once in recovery mode, simply use the trackball to select the option that says Backup (on different recovery images it says different things but it will say something like backup or Nand backup or Nandroid backup).
2. Once you push that it will backup your entire phone to your SD card. Now that you have that (I would recommend copying the entire nandroid folder to your computer so you never delete it off the card on accident), you can now load ROMs, Radios, etc. and know you can always get right back to this point by putting that Nandroid backup on the root of you SD card and get it back.
IV. Restoring a Nandroid Backup
1. Simply put the nandroid folder back onto your sd card (if you removed it).
2. Boot into recovery mode.
3. Select Restore (may be called Nand or Nandroid restore as well) and wait for it to finish.
4. Once done, click reboot phone and you’re back to the way things used to be.
NEED SOME HELP?
I. Type Your Issue into the Custom Search Below!
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II. Look for the Solution or Ask for Help in the Forums!
Find your phone's Technical Support Forum in the Forums.III. Comment(s) Section below
In an effort to minimize cluttering up the Comment(s) section below with back and forth technical support, I ask that you please refrain from posting technical support questions in the Comment(s) below. Instead, please find your phone's Technical Support Forum in the Forums.
February 6th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
@unlockr i think u forgot a step when restoring nano backup. when restoring u have to do a wipe-data first then restore, cuz otherwise it wont come out right. ull end up having alot of f/c msgs. Good work guys for helping everybody out.
February 6th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Apart from Nandroid which is (of course) a godsend, I have developed an app that can backup all apps (+ their data + their market link) and the phone settings individually and without a reboot. It’s called Titanium Backup.
February 6th, 2010 at 11:39 pm
Gilbert,
Wow, totally forgot about that. Thanks! Will add it now.
February 7th, 2010 at 4:41 am
FYI for nandroid to work without getting a error the battery need to be higher the 30%.
February 7th, 2010 at 5:58 am
Fantastic, Thank you theunlockr, you’re really doing a great job, thank you Mr gilber 2
February 11th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Unlockr
I backed up my phone and then put the updated Cyanogen ROM over the older Modaco ROM with the Nexus update. I now cannot shut off my wifi. I was going to do a wipe and reinstall Cyanogen ROM, but the wipe function in recovery gives 4 or 5 choices. Which one do I do? Help.
Thanks, Dennis
February 11th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Dennis,
The first option, but it doesn’t hurt to do all 5 one at a time.
February 11th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Dennis did you put beta 5 on? if so just put beta 4 back on that fixed the not being able to turn wifi off..
February 12th, 2010 at 6:59 am
To All;
I did the full wipe and then put the cyanogen beta5 and android add-ons back on. That fixed the wifi problem. Unlockr, thanks for the help. Now, the 3g problem seems to be a design issue. Will that be the same on all or some HTC phones? I have a Nexus One.
Take care, Dennis
February 12th, 2010 at 11:45 am
Unlockr:
I stand corrected. I activated my Wifi and now I cannot shut it off. I removed the wifi network and then tried to turn off the power in settings and/or the power widget. It tries to turn off and then comes back on. Any suggestions? I guess it is a problem with the Cyanogen beta5 ROM.
Thanks, Dennis
February 12th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
Dennis,
I have the same issue, did a Wipe and reinstalled the ROM and it fixed it for now. It seems to be an issue for Cyanogen.
February 12th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Thanks. I wiped it and restored my old ROM. Wait for an update.
Take care, Dennis
February 15th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
just a quick question: will restoring the nandroid backup also restore back the Radio and everything?
THANKS
alpha124
February 18th, 2010 at 3:51 am
I’m guessing this doesn’t happen but when you backup and restore the phone does it keep all the text messages?
February 19th, 2010 at 11:35 pm
i stupidly installed apps2sd from a package of apps not knowing what it was it stopped anything from working on my 32a magic, i uninstalled and rebooted hoping for cure but now my phone hangs at the hami start up screen i can get into the recovery console and stuff and i have factory wiped my phone repetedly i have also tried different sd cards and booting with no sim etc but to no avail please HELP
February 26th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Demond,
It will restore to whatever you backed up, whatever OS, Recovery, etc you had when you backed up. That is what you will get back to.
February 27th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Tried some ROMS out and now I want to get back to Android 1.6 for MyTouch 3G. How on earth do I do this?
February 27th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Crklyndodger,
Goto our How To Unroot the MyTouch procedure…
February 28th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Dude i installed the apk onto my phone and teh recovery image but when i click backup it says “Backup FAILED: Could not run commmand. HElp me? =)
February 28th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
Jeton,
What APK? Follow the procedure and it will work.
March 8th, 2010 at 1:14 am
hey guys….i did a root on my nexus 1 and insatlled the latest cyanogen rom….but now tghe market icon is gone…how and where do i get it back on my phone so i can access the market??
March 8th, 2010 at 7:50 am
Mr. Shickadance,
After you load his ROM you need to load the Google Addon he provides as well after. It will give you your Google apps back (Market, Gmail, Gtalk, Maps). Read his instructions for flashing his ROM on the page for more information.
March 12th, 2010 at 4:04 pm