Factory reset on Moto G - what will I lose?

ballyblack

Won't the photos be saved on the Google photo app anyway?

Yes, but just in case they are any on device left

DCFC79

noelphobic wrote: »

Most of them aren't stored on the phone, they're on Google photos. Even the ones on the phone are backed up on Google photos.

According to Google the backup option backs up contacts anyway.

Nebulous2

My experience has been that pretty much everything is backed up to google drive except text messages. If you go into settings and ask to do a factory reset I think it asks you if you want to do a back-up first. That is worth doing to make sure you have captured everything.

Text messages can be backed up with a separate app.

noelphobic

Nebulous2 wrote: »

My experience has been that pretty much everything is backed up to google drive except text messages. If you go into settings and ask to do a factory reset I think it asks you if you want to do a back-up first. That is worth doing to make sure you have captured everything.

Text messages can be backed up with a separate app.

It doesn't ask me that, just tells me everything will be deleted.

grell72

All the data will be deleted , including contacts, messages, photos , etc... you need to back up them before factory reset.

Tech_Brij

Let me give you steps to follow, because i have the same phone and i have been through it several times...

Things to do before resetting device -

First of all open contacts, go to contacts settings, tap on export contacts and then select sd card in it.
This will save all your contacts in your sd card. You can confirm same by checking 'contacts.vcf' file in root of your sd card.
Now we have completely backed up your contacts. Now move all data from phone to sd card or to your computer via USB cable.

Once you complete backing up your data, remove sd card and then reset your phone.

After Reseting device -

Setup the phone and once you reach the homescreen of your device, insert microSD card (restart if required). After that go to contacts and in contacts settings, tap on import from SD card. Select contacts.vcf file present in your SD card and your contacts will be imported back to your contacts app.

After that you can move your data back to your phone from sd card or your computer.

This process is similar in most of the Android devices...

noelphobic

Tech_Brij wrote: »

Let me give you steps to follow, because i have the same phone and i have been through it several times...

Things to do before resetting device -

First of all open contacts, go to contacts settings, tap on export contacts and then select sd card in it.
This will save all your contacts in your sd card. You can confirm same by checking 'contacts.vcf' file in root of your sd card.
Now we have completely backed up your contacts. Now move all data from phone to sd card or to your computer via USB cable.

Once you complete backing up your data, remove sd card and then reset your phone.

After Reseting device -

Setup the phone and once you reach the homescreen of your device, insert microSD card (restart if required). After that go to contacts and in contacts settings, tap on import from SD card. Select contacts.vcf file present in your SD card and your contacts will be imported back to your contacts app.

After that you can move your data back to your phone from sd card or your computer.

This process is similar in most of the Android devices...

When I go to Contacts and press on the three dots on the top right it gives me options of contacts to display, import/export, Accounts or Settings. If I go into Settings it gives the options of Sort by (first name or surname) or name format (first name first or surname first). If I go into Import/Export it gives me options to import from .vcf file, import from SIM card, export to .vcf file or share visible contacts.

It doesn't give me options to export to SD card. I have recently set the SD card up as internal storage, following this process:-

https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/prod_answer_detail/a_id/109134/p/1449,9582

I did this because I was having trouble with insufficient storage, so this has helped.

Is this why I can't copy my contacts to the SD card?

mac.d

Nebulous2 wrote: »

Text messages can be backed up with a separate app.

For future use, and using the standard messenger app, what app would be used for backing up and restoring texts?

noelphobic wrote: »

If I go into Import/Export it gives me options to import from .vcf file, import from SIM card, export to .vcf file or share visible contacts.

It doesn't give me options to export to SD card.

I'd presume that when you choose to export to .vcf file it will then give you the choice of where to save that .vcf file and you can then choose to save it onto your SD card. If it just automatically saves it to 'downloads' you can just copy the file across to your SD card.

noelphobic

mac.d wrote: »

For future use, and using the standard messenger app, what app would be used for backing up and restoring texts?


I'd presume that when you choose to export to .vcf file it will then give you the choice of where to save that .vcf file and you can then choose to save it onto your SD card. If it just automatically saves it to 'downloads' you can just copy the file across to your SD card.

Because the SD card is set for internal storage I think everything on it would be deleted if I did a factory reset on my phone and/or removed it from the phone and/or reset it as portable storage

Nebulous2

mac.d wrote: »

For future use, and using the standard messenger app, what app would be used for backing up and restoring texts?

I used something called "SMS backup and restore." It needed an add-on called "Add-on SMS backup and restore" to save the backup to the cloud. I've no idea if it was one of the better ones or not but it did the job. I think there may be a paid version but I only used the free one.

I've also used Motorola Migrate to move stuff to a new Motorola phone. It worked very well and because we've bought several Moto Gs we've tested it a few times.