What Is Titanium Backup Pro?
Titanium Backup Pro is an extremely advanced backup utility that doesn’t just back up your photos and settings, but everything stored on your phone, right down to the smallest setting and call log. On the pro level, it can create what amounts to a near perfect duplicate of your phone that you can store on your device and use to replace it if something goes wrong.
Do I Need Titanium Backup Pro?
Most users probably don’t need a backup tool this powerful, especially as it requires some fairly strong technical knowledge to install and run. As consumer backup tools, such as Google’s own backups, have improved, they’ve become less and less necessary for anybody outside Android developers and other professionals.
That said, if you don’t trust Google, have an older phone you want to keep in good shape or clone onto a new device, or simply want to learn more about your phone and how it works, installing Titanium Backup Pro is a good project, especially if you’ve got a spare phone or tablet handy that you don’t mind potentially losing.
Titanium Backup Pro’s Big Drawback
To use Titanium Backup Pro properly, you’ll need to root your Android device, which has its benefits and drawbacks. Even when you know what you’re doing, you’re taking a risk and may “brick” your device. Proceed with caution before you install Titanium Backup Pro.
Additionally, you’ll need a device that supports SD cards, as well as an SD card with at least as much storage as your phone. Be sure to download both the free version of Titanium Backup and to buy a key from the Google Play Store, and to back them up on your SD card.
Back Up and Root Your Phone Before Using Titanium Backup
First, you should do a full backup of your device before you root it, since rooting it will wipe all current data. This is particularly important if you decide to remove Titanium Backup Pro and restore your device to Android.
Enable backup on Google Drive. This will back up your Google Contacts, Calendar events and settings, Wi-Fi networks, phone settings, apps, and more. Go to Settings > System > Backup > Google Backup. On Samsung, you’ll need to tap Settings > Accounts and backup > Backup and restore > Google Account to get to the same spot. You can also use your Samsung account to back up your phone. Back up your photos and other documentation using Google Photos or a similar back-up app. Back up your text messages using SMS Backup or a similar tool. Connect an SD card and run your device’s SD backup tool, also found under Settings > Backup > Backup & Restore. Make sure any apps you want to keep, and their data, are backed up on the SD card. Next, you’ll need to root your Android device. If this is your first time rooting a device, we recommend using an older device for practice. Once that’s done, restore your backups by activating the app or using a file explorer app to bring over information from the SD card.
Install Titanium Backup and Titanium Backup Pro
Use a file explorer tool, which should be included with your rooted device, to transfer Titanium Backup and your key to the device. Leave them on the SD card in case you need to reinstall.
How to Back Up Your Android on Titanium Backup Pro
Here’s where the power of Titanium Backup Pro comes into play. Backing up and restoring data is extremely simple after you’ve done all this work.
Open Titanium Backup and tap the Backup/Restore tab. Tap Menu > Batch. Tap Backup All User Apps and the app will run this backup function. Then, tap Back. Backup anything else you might want. The green-colored items are recommended backups. These will be saved to your SD card, so be sure you have enough room.
How to Restore From an Android Backup
Once you have a backup, you’ll have a copy of all your data you can restore. Use these simple steps to restore from a Titanium Backup Pro backup:
Open Titanium Backup and tap the Backup/Restore tab. Tap Menu > Batch > Restore All Missing Apps and System Data. Reboot your Android phone.
