How-to: HTC Desire 816: Back Up / Restore Personal Data, Messages and More, Locally or via HTC Backup

The "HTC Backup" application can be used to create (daily) backups in the cloud. The backups can be easily restored after resetting your smartphone, or even after buying a new device.

NOTE: the HTC Backup app uses Google Drive cloud storage for storing data, and can be used to store accounts, passwords, apps, settings and more.

Backing Up the HTC Desire 816 to Google Drive:

1. From the home screen, swipe the "Status" bar down using two fingers
2. Tap "Settings" > "Backup & reset"
3. Tap "Backup account" and select "HTC Account"
4. Sign in with your HTC Account (You can also use a Facebook or Google account)
5. From the "Cloud storage" screen, select "Google Drive". NOTE: select the option that is associated with your Google account's name
6. Tap "OK"
7. Assuming that you're using an HTC or Facebook account, sign in with your Google Account in order to access "Google Drive"
8. When / if prompted, tap "OK" and allow HTC Backup to access Google Drive
9. To perform an automatic backup, set the "Automatic backup" switch to "ON"
10. To perform a manual backup, tap "Back up now"

NOTE: You can set HTC Backup to perform daily backups of your smartphone over a Wi-Fi network. To enable this feature, go to the "Settings" menu and select "Back up phone daily over Wi-Fi"

Restoring Data from a Google Drive Backup after a Factory Reset:

1. When you turn on your Desire 816 for the first time after the reset, select to restore data and then tap "Restore from HTC Backup"
2. Sign in with the account that have been used to create the backup file
3. From the backup history screen, select the backup file and tap "Next"
4. If you've used an HTC or Facebook account to backup the data, sign in with your Google Account to access Google Drive
5. When prompted, allow "HTC Backup" to access Google Drive
6. Once the data has been restored, tap "Next"

Create Backups Locally and Restoring Data

Backing Up Contacts

1. While viewing the home screen, tap the "People" icon
2. Access the "People" tab
3. Tap the "menu" icon depicting three vertical dots
4. Tap "Manage contacts" > "Import / Export contacts"
5. Select "Export to SD card" or "Export to phone storage"
6. Choose an account type
7. To protect your backup file with a password, tap "Yes" and enter the password
8. Tap "OK" to complete the backup

Restoring Contacts:

1. Open the "People" application
2. Access the "People" tab
3. Tap the "Menu" icon and select "Manage contacts"
4. Tap "Import / Export contacts"
5. Select to "Import from SD card" or "Import from phone storage"
6. Assuming that you have more than one account, select the desired account type to import contacts on it
7. If there are multiple backup files available, choose the desired one and tap "OK"
8. If the backup file is password protected, type in the password and press "OK"

Backing Up Text Messages:

1. Launch the "Messages" application
2. Press "Menu" > "Back up / Restore SMS"
3. Tap "Back up" > "Back up SMS"
4. If desired, set a password for the backup or tap "Do not password protect this backup"
5. Enter the name for the backup file and tap "OK"

Backing Up Text Messages via Email:

1. Open the "Messages" application
2. Tap "Menu" > "Back up / Restore SMS"
3. Tap "Back up" and select "Back up SMS via mail"
4. Create a password for the backup file, or tap "Do not password protect this backup"
5. Enter your email address, and send the email

Restoring Text Messages:

1. Launch the "Messages" application
2. Press "Menu" > "Back up / Restore SMS"
3. Select "Restore"
4. Choose the method of restoring the messages and tap "Next"
5. Select the desired backup file
6. If necessary, type in the password for the backup. If the file is not protected by a password, tap "This backup file is not password protected"
7. Tap "OK" to complete the operation

NOTE: If you wish to restore messages that have been backed up via the email app, open the email containing the attachment, download it and import it through the "Messages" app

Backing Up the Personal Dictionary:

1. From the home screen, swipe the "notification" bar using two fingers
2. Tap "Language & keyboard"
3. Tap "HTC Sense Input" > "Personal dictionary"
4. Press "Menu" and tap "Back up to storage" > "Back up to email"
5. Tap "Ok"

Importing (Restoring) the Personal Dictionary:

1. Go to the phone's "Settings" menu
2. Tap "Language & Keyboard"
3. Tap "HTC Sense Input" > "Personal dictionary"
4. Press "Menu" > "Restore from storage"
5. When prompted, tap "OK"

Backing Up and Restoring Tasks:

1. Open the "Tasks" app and access the task list that you wish to back up
2. Press "Menu" > "Import / Export"
3. To export your tasks, tap "Export to SD card"
4. To import / restore the tasks, tap "Import from SD card"

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