I'm trying to do this in case something ever happens to my phone. I used OneDrive, but that seems to have only duplicated some of my photo files again o my phone. My email alerted me that MyFiles are now connected to my Microsoft account but that did not pull photos from my phone to OneDrive on my PC. What am I doing wrong or should I just drop this project?
I don't use OneDrive I use Google Photos and Google Drive and Smartswitch to do full backups
Use Smartswitch on your PC it will do a Full Backup of your phone and it will be located on your PC hard drive I also manually copy my phone to a external HD as a 4th backup
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The problem with the OneDrive option is that it's not a backup, it's a sync, so if you delete photos from your gallery, it will delete from OneDrive. If you turn off the sync and manually copy important photos to your OneDrive, that's a backup.
The Google backup is a true backup. It retains your photos even if you delete them from your device. If you no longer want the photo at all (certain temporary photos - like the screenshots you may take for upload here), deleting them from Google's backup will delete them from the original location as well. Useful so you don't have to do it twice. If you run low on Google's free storage, you can move photos to a flash drive from the gallery and then delete them from the Google backup. Same if you are running out of space on your phone, move them to a flash drive and retain the Google backup (as long as you have space) for easy sharing and viewing.
As @GaryB82 said, using Smart Switch to do a full backup of your phone is prudent and you can do it to a computer or an external drive or a flash drive that is large enough to contain the file. You can do a selective backup with Smart Switch and only back up your personal data and photos, as the automated cloud backup retains your apps and settings.
The only problem with Google Photos is if you delete a file from Google Photos app or website it will be removed from your device. I've made the mistake a couple of times delete all of my items in Google photos and then they are gone from your device the Google Photos app will say they are items that need reviewed and after you view them they are gone.
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I said that in my comment. I always make it clear that deleting from Google photos also deletes it from the original location. I only delete from Google photos myself when I take screenshots to upload, as after the upload I do not need them anymore. Any other photos that are important to me, I have backed up in four other places - and usually at least one print.
