
You should see an active toggle next to "Back up to Google Drive" (or "Back up my data," on Samsung phones) at the top of that screen, and below that, you'll see the Google account that's associated with all of your system backups. Disregarding that and going with the standard, Google-associated setup is the most advisable option, as that'll allow you to restore your data to any phone you might use in the future, whereas Samsung's superfluous setup will work only with other Samsung-made phones. Samsung confusingly offers the option to back up your data to its own service - via your Samsung account - in addition to backing it up with the standard Android backup system. On Samsung phones, you'll instead tap the Accounts and Backup section and then select "Backup and restore" and look for the "Google account" area of the screen. You can confirm all of that's being backed up by going into the System section of your phone's settings, tapping "Advanced," and then tapping "Backup."

On the system level, that includes most of your Android settings and preferences - everything from approved Wi-Fi networks and passwords to your language and input settings, date and time settings, and display preferences. This is critical - because that same account is your key to the vast majority of your automatically backed up data. When you powered up your Android device for the first time, you probably signed in with your primary Google account. Here's a section-by-section breakdown of Android's backup systems and how they operate. That way, you can understand what's happening and confirm it's all functioning as intended - and the next time you need to move to a new device, you can rest easy knowing your data will be there and ready. With all the stuff we tend to have on our phones (or at least accessible from our phones), it's worthwhile to know where and how everything's being saved.


Still, your data is important, especially if you use your phone for business.
