[GUIDE] How to easily Backup and Restore data using Titanium Backup

DISCLAIMER : This guide assumes that you already know how to flash a custom ROM. Also, these instructions work well on my Desire HD running ICS. They should ideally work on any device/ROM/Recovery combination, just that you may have to figure out the system settings/apps that correspond to the ones that I'm referring to. But remember that if you choose to follow these steps, you are doing it at your own risk, and you assume any and all potential consequences, including (but not limited to) loss of data, corrupting your sdcard, bricking your device, physical damage to your phone or self, and/or loss of bladder control.

WARNING : Following this guide may lead to ORD, or worsen your condition of ORD.

When you flash a custom ROM, a full wipe is always recommended. And it definitely is a stressful process, especially if you like to try out a lot of different ROMs. I now follow a method which I find is quite reliable, not as stressful and is fast, so I thought i should share it. I must warn you though, that this is quite an organized approach, so it will require patience from your part to set it up. But I assure you, once you've done it, your ROM wiping and flashing process becomes much easier

I'm going to detail this out in both offline and online methods. With the "Offline(OFF)" method, you will not require an Internet connection to restore all your data. Everything is backed up using Titanium Backup. With the "Online(ON)" method, part of your data will be restored from the amazing "Cloud"

Most of this guide is common to both methods, so I've highlighted the specific methods accordingly. If you're following the offline(OFF) steps, then you dont need to follow the online(ON) steps, and vice versa

APPS YOU'LL NEED
1) Titanium Backup - The free version will serve the purposes of this guide, but its just easier and faster to restore using the Pro version. The Pro version doesnt ask you to tap "Install" every time you restore an app. And if you forget to backup something, you can retrieve it from your Nandroid Backup(provided you remembered to do that ).
2) ES File Explorer - This app allows you to backup an app to the sdcard. Any other file manager/app that can do the same thing will work too..
(ON) 3) SMS Backup+ - This app allows you to backup all your call logs and sms/mms to your Gmail account.

INITIAL SETUP
1) Open Titanium Backup
2) Choose Menu->Filters
3) Tap the "Create Label" button, name your label, and then tap the "Add/Remove elements" button to pick which apps this label will be assigned to.
I have an "Important" label - for apps that I absolutely need on every flash, an "Extras" label - for more occasionally used apps, and a "Games" label. Make sure you dont add any system settings like Accounts, Application widgets, Bluetooth Pairings etc. to any of these labels. We will be handling them separately.
4) Choose Menu->Preferences and enable Auto-sync TB settings
(ON) 5) Now open SMS Backup+
(ON) 6) Set it up to backup your call logs, sms and mms to your Gmail account. You can assign labels to each of them so that they are neatly categorized in your GMail. You can also setup auto-backup for convenience.

1ST BACKUP
1) Open Titanium Backup
2) Choose Menu->Filters, scroll down, select all your labels and tap Apply.
3) Choose Menu->Batch->Backup all user apps + system data.

You'll need to backup system settings separately -
4) Choose Menu->Filters, and in Filter by type, choose System
5) Scroll down and make sure none of your custom labels are selected and then tap Apply.
6) Backup the following, these are the ones important to me, you may want to add more to this -
i) Accounts
ii) Application Widgets - Widgets placed on the homescreen of your favorite launcher.
(OFF) iii) Calendar Storage
(OFF) iv) Contacts Storage - Your contacts and call logs.
(OFF) v) Phone/Messaging Storage - Your sms/mms
vi) Settings Storage - Be careful when you restore this. For eg: its not a good idea to restore CM9 settings to an AOKP ROM or vice versa. This is best used when you know exactly what you are doing. Also, a lot of differences between ROMs will probably be the fact that it provides some new customization options in the settings. So restoring this doesnt make sense unless you know for sure that they are the same. Handle with care.
vii) User Dictionary
viii) Wi Fi Access Points

(OFF) Now you need to backup Titanium Backup itself, since thats the first app you will want to install, after a ROM flash.
(OFF) 8) Open ES File Explorer,
(OFF) 9) Choose Menu->Manager->App Manager.
(OFF) 10) Press and hold Titanium Backup and then choose Backup(the apk will be saved in /sdcard/backups/apps)
(ON) 11) Now open SMS Backup+ and tap Backup

Thats it !! You're all set now !

See post #2 for info on how to easily backup and restore your data.

Hope this helps in making ROM flashing an easier task
If you thought this was helpful, hit "Thanks" !
If you have any suggestion that might make this an even easier process for everyone, please do share !

And Happy Flashing !

Now before you flash any new ROM, just follow these steps.

BACKUP
1) Open Titanium Backup, make sure none of your filters are selected, then choose Menu->Batch->Redo backups for modified data
(OFF) 2) You can optionally backup Titanium Backup's apk again using ES File Explorer. This is only to ensure that when you install it in the new ROM, you have the latest version
3) Take a Nandroid Backup if you wish to(recommended).

Perform a full wipe, flash the new ROM, and reboot.
When the startup wizard pops up -
(OFF) Skip the sign in to Google part, but complete the wizard.
(ON) Sign in using your Google account, and complete the wizard.

RESTORE
(OFF) 1) Open the File Manager that came with the ROM, and go into backups/apps(or wherever you saved your apk) and tap on the Titanium Backup apk to install it
(ON) 1) Open Play Store, and download Titanium Backup
2) Open Titanium Backup, and go to Backup/Restore
3) Choose Menu->Filters, scroll down, select your label("Important") and hit Apply.
4) If any of your "Important" apps are already installed, tap it and choose Restore->Data Only.
5) After that Menu->Batch->Restore missing apps with data
6) Deselect the apps that you dont need and tap "Run the batch operation"
7) You can repeat steps 3,4,5 and 6 for all your labels now or at a later time.

(OFF) Before proceeding, you need to make sure that all the apps that were added to the Accounts & Sync section in the previous ROM, are now installed in the current ROM. Apps like Google+, Facebook, HaxSync, LinkedIn, Twitter, Whatsapp etc. This is because we are about to restore the Accounts, and these apps need to be there if you want their "Accounts" to get restored correctly. Also, when we eventually restore Contacts, the restoration will be more complete if the accounts related to those contacts already exist. So we need to set this up beforehand.

This is where you start restoring System data. Now you need to be careful with this. ROMs that are completely different from each other may start acting buggy if you restore this data. I would suggest not doing this across different versions of Android. And if you know that the 2 ROMs are from different bases then you should definitely pick what you're restoring here.
8) Choose Menu->Filters.
9) In Filter by status, choose Backed up
10) In Filter by Type, choose System and hit Apply
11) And then Menu->Batch->Restore all system data. Now before you run the operation, deselect Contacts Storage. If your new ROM is very different from your old one, then deselect Settings Storage too. If you see anything else that you feel may not be compatible, deselect those too.
12) Tap "Run the batch operation"
13) Reboot(or Hot Reboot)
(OFF) 14) Now open Titanium Backup, Backup/Restore, tap Contacts Storage and restore Data Only
(OFF) 15) Reboot(or Hot Reboot)
(ON) 14) By now, your Calendar and contacts should have gotten sync'ed automatically. Just add other accounts to your Settings->Accounts&Sync section, and the rest of your data should get sync'ed up
(ON) 15) Open SMS Backup+ and Restore your call logs and sms/mms.

wow. after posting it feels like a really really long process !

but trust me, its just how i've explained it. Once you set it up, its a piece of cake

Restoring Accounts has worked for me on ICS. There are 2 things you need to do.

1)Before restoring, make sure all the apps needed for those sync accounts are already installed/restored. For eg: Facebook, Google+, Whatsapp, HaxSync, etc...
2) After restoring Accounts, reboot/hot reboot your phone.

Strange. Not sure why it is not working for you.

I got a chance to test this out today, and it worked.

1) Restore Accounts. reboot
2) Restore Email app - Data only.

Assuming exchange accounts would work the same way.

rootingdestroyer said:

This can't be the first guide for how to backup before flashing can it?

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

I'm sure you'll find other "how to backup" topics, but I've not found one as in-depth as this one. This is just the way I feel is the easiest to do it, specially because I like to flash ROMs a lot, and am very particular about my data. If that is the case, this is a really good way to do it.

Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA

I'm not sure I understand the question. Are you asking about the app defaults? Like say of you have 2 browser apps and you set one of them as the default, you want that to be restored? I'm not sure how :-(


Sent from my Desire HD using XDA

That's a good point. I'm not sure where the "start at boot" data is stored. SystemUI maybe? Something to try for my next ROM flash

Sent from my A500 using XDA

Sorry i havent tested this out yet, but if it is in the system settings or SystemUI, I wouldn't recommend restoring it, since most ROMs differ from each other in these areas. It might just screw things up.

Will let you know once I find out.

Sent from my A500 using XDA

Tested it out.
1) Restore the app.
2) Restore settings storage
3) Reboot twice.

I dont know the reason. But when you reboot the second time, the app automatically starts.
Try it out and let me know.

Sent from my A500 using XDA