For most us, having SMS is an important part of our lives. Sometimes when we update our phone to a newer version or when we try to flash a custom rom, we might need to have backup copies of our SMS. In this tutorial, I’ll be explaining the easiest method to backup your SMS, and root isn’t required to do this.
Note:
> This Method Does NOT require a Rooted Phone.
BACKUP:
> Install SMS Backup & Restore app from Play Store (Link).
> This is the Main UI of the app.
> Tap on ” Backup ” Button to Start Backup Process of SMS.
> A Screen will open up as shown in below screenshot:
> As you can see the app gives us the choice of choosing between either ”Internal SD Card” or a Custom Folder. In this case, we’ll choose “Default/Internal Storage Card” and tap on ” OK”.
> Then, below Screen will open up.
> We can rename the backup file to any name, and backup all conversation or only conversations that you select.
> We can also choose between “Local Backup” or “Local Backup and Upload”. The latter choice will backup SMS and then give us the choice of uploading it to cloud.
> Tap OK to start backup process.
> When the backup finishes, the following Screen will show up:
Note:
– By default the SMS messages will be kept inside internal Memory card even if you have external SD Card inside the phone. so either copy the backup file to your computer or to the cloud by choosing ” Local backup and upload ” in the above step.
Restore:
Note:
– If for some reason you formatted your phone or installed a new custom ROM and erased the SMS backup & Restore app, you can re-install the app, and copy the backup file (.xml) that we had in the above process to start the restore process.
> Open the “SMS Backup & Restore” app.
> Tap on “Restore” Button.
Note:
– if your phone is running on Android 4.4.2 Kitkat or Higher, you need to “temporarily” make SMS backup & Restore app your DEFAULT Messaging app in order to be able to restore SMS.
> Next, we choose the backup location and then the backup file.
> You can either restore all messages or only restore messages within specific timeline.
> Then we tap on OK to start the restore process.
> That’s it! We have successfully restored SMS on our phone.
As a site note, you may want to regularly backup your SMS messages and store the backup files on another device like your computer or a micro-SD card. I know some people actually use SMS for important business communication so you may want to consider having this app handy with you at all times.
Also, most Samsung phones have the ability to also backup SMS messages via Kies program. However, some custom ROMs (like AOSP ROMS/CM12) don’t support Samsung Kies and you can follow this tutorial to backup/restore your SMS.
Have a better way to backup SMS? Don’t forget to share your best methods with others below in the comments box!