Hi all,
Friend of my accidentally cleared all his content on his Samsung Galaxy S8 (not rooted). From what I understood this was done remotely by erasing the phone using Android device manager. The phone has not been touched after the erase.
What I was hoping to achieve is to restore the content/phone as it was before the erase. If its not possible to restore the phone I would like to recover as much content as possible and export content, import back to phone using SD card or PC. As a minimum requirement I should be able to recover user data such as SMS, Caller log, images, video etc and if possible import option without too much hassle.
There are tons of recovery applications for Android online, any recommendations and methods preferred?
Looking forward to hear from you!
//seiern
Hi Everyone,
I am new to XDA, and I am really proud to be in this community.
I have created this thread to discuss about the current situation with backup of data in Android, as I did not find any thread which covers my specific concerns. This is meant to be part discussion, part rant, part guide, etc.
Now to the actual scenario. I have a Moto G (2014), which used to run stock unrooted 6.0, and I used a combination of Helium (free version), manual file backup, and import/export options from various apps to back up my data. I recently flashed the official 14.1 Lineage OS ROM with GApps Pico and Lineage OS su package to root. All went well, and I could restore the backups as planned. SMS restore did not work, but I did not bother much about that.
Now, if I try to use Helium to backup my apps, it shows me an error. No detail is provided about the error. On digging further into the ADB backup feature (which is the underlying technique for Helium), I found that I can not even backup the data to the .ab files everyone talks about. I came by a blog which advised creating the backup using .adb extension, and it worked for one or two apps. In all probability, .ab has been replaced by .adb files - experts can suggest, I can not find anything online.
Now came the second twist. I wanted to backup a game which does not support cloud save. And it apparently saves the app data in /data/app, which ADB backup probably does not support - again, experts can enlighten me on this. I noticed that apps saving in /data/data were getting backed up, while the /data/app one was not.
Now the question may arise that since I am rooted, I can easily access these backups through file system or Titanium, without the need for ADB backup. But I am really worried about a scenario when I have to buy a new phone (the current one is already running for 3+ years). I am really wary of rooting a new phone and losing the warranty in the process. In such cases, root based backups can not be restored to the new phone. To validate this, I tried to restore a specific save file to my unrooted tablet, but could not get in even using ADB shell (this may seem foolish, but I thought since ADB backup can access /data/data, may be ADB shell too can access the protected partitions).
So, after this long exercise, my finding is that, unless we are rooted, better forget the backup. It makes me very uneasy to know that I can not carry over my progress in a game to another phone because the developer does not support cloud save (even cloud saves are not full proof, but I will rant about that some other day).
Is there something I am missing? Or is this the scenario all over? And if it is, why can't a ten year old platform provide such a basic feature? And finally, if there is some tool/technique which lets me backup/restore data on an unrooted device, please point me to that.
I believe XDA is the only place I can put these questions/rants forward. Thanks for reading.
Please ask your question only in one place :good: I answered you here https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2717159&p=75474972
Hey All,
For our university we have a number of Mobile Devices that are used by staff and students for user research, data collection, that sort of stuff.
Usually all of the devices are send out for a single project, which means all of them should behave the same.
For a while we have been manually resetting all phones by hand (a pretty time consuming tasks).
I was hoping that anyone knows of a method to properly either Fully Back-Up & Replace or otherwise Duplicate a phone to multiple other devices (we have 10 at the moment).
I am not talking about a simple "These are the apps you installed list" or "These are the general phone system settings" option. I am talking about a full-exact copy, including the apps we develop for data-tracking within the university.
I am aware that we might be forced to Root the devices, this is probably not an issue.
All devices are Motorola Moto e5 phones with android 8.0.0
Thank you in advance for your help, even if it a non-optimal solution, or a straight up "No, Not Possible!", any help is appreciated.
wilcoboode said:
Hey All,
For our university we have a number of Mobile Devices that are used by staff and students for user research, data collection, that sort of stuff.
Usually all of the devices are send out for a single project, which means all of them should behave the same.
For a while we have been manually resetting all phones by hand (a pretty time consuming tasks).
I was hoping that anyone knows of a method to properly either Fully Back-Up & Replace or otherwise Duplicate a phone to multiple other devices (we have 10 at the moment).
I am not talking about a simple "These are the apps you installed list" or "These are the general phone system settings" option. I am talking about a full-exact copy, including the apps we develop for data-tracking within the university.
I am aware that we might be forced to Root the devices, this is probably not an issue.
All devices are Motorola Moto e5 phones with android 8.0.0
Thank you in advance for your help, even if it a non-optimal solution, or a straight up "No, Not Possible!", any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the devices are all exactly the same model number, you don't necessarily have to root the devices, you could achieve your goal just by installing TWRP custom recovery on all devices in question then use TWRP to create a nandroid backup then pull a copy of the nandroid, then use the restore feature in TWRP to restore that copy of the nandroid on each device. Kinda the same as cloning a drive on PC then applying that clone to multiple systems. The devices must have the same model number, the nandroid can't be used on devices that are a different model number, that is a potential brick waiting to happen.
Or, if the devices are different, you'll need to root all of the devices then use Titanium Backup to backup all of the user installed data, then use Titanium Backup to restore that backup on all of the devices, this only works for user data if the devices are different, you can't just backup or restore any system apps or data if the devices are different models, different devices can't use the same system related stuff due to partitioning and hardware differences. If the devices are all the same, you could also include system apps and data in the backup created via Titanium Backup, including system in the backup only works if the devices are the exact same.
You could also use Titanium Backup to create a zip file of all the data that you want then that zip file can be flashed via TWRP using the "install" feature in TWRP or it can be restored via Titanum Backup.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
Hello,
How to do backup of the entire phone? I mean entire system with data like passwords, apps etc?
What I wants to achieve something similar to VirtualBox on PC like Snapshot so I install basic version of android system with all aplication I need then I do my job and when something goes wrong I can go back to version I have saved/copied
You must have root access in android, or through TWRP. You didn't write the name of the device.
I have Huawei P20pro but soon I can buy new phone that will be easy to implement such solution
Hi there ! Greetings from France
I got a Samsung Galaxy S21 5G "classic" 128GB
I'm currently in dispute with my insurer, my automobile expert and my garage.
I'd like to access the Outlook cache because I viewed a photo of my car (taken by the expert), bodywork done, before painting, via the Edge browser integrated into Outlook, without being able to save it.
I didn't insist because I didn't think it would end up in litigation, serious mistake, because the expert deleted all the photos in the file (oddly)
They claim to have removed my quarter window, and not to have removed my front bumper, this photo would prove the opposite, if I manage to recover it
But I can't.
I tried via samsung explorer, also on windows, it's impossible without root, but root will wipe all my data...
In the android "applications" section, when I click on Outlook (4.2247.1), there's written :
App 236MB
Data 1.45GB
Cache 181MB
Total 1.87GB of inaccessible data
What do you guys think ?
I'd really like to recover this photo, to shut them up, although it's provable even without a photo, there would be no further discussion if I managed to get it back.
Thanks
gr3g68 said:
Hi there ! Greetings from France
I got a Samsung Galaxy S21 5G "classic" 128GB
I'm currently in dispute with my insurer, my automobile expert and my garage.
I'd like to access the Outlook cache because I viewed a photo of my car (taken by the expert), bodywork done, before painting, via the Edge browser integrated into Outlook, without being able to save it.
I didn't insist because I didn't think it would end up in litigation, serious mistake, because the expert deleted all the photos in the file (oddly)
They claim to have removed my quarter window, and not to have removed my front bumper, this photo would prove the opposite, if I manage to recover it
But I can't.
I tried via samsung explorer, also on windows, it's impossible without root, but root will wipe all my data...
In the android "applications" section, when I click on Outlook (4.2247.1), there's written :
App 236MB
Data 1.45GB
Cache 181MB
Total 1.87GB of inaccessible data
What do you guys think ?
I'd really like to recover this photo, to shut them up, although it's provable even without a photo, there would be no further discussion if I managed to get it back.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, the only way to access the cache is either with root or by flashing TWRP then using TWRP to create a android backup of all data on your device and then extracting the data you are looking for from the nandroid backup. If your bootloader is locked, you would have to unlock the bootloader to install TWRP, which would wipe your data.
It is "possible" to unlock the bootloader(this will wipe your data) then root the device then recover the deleted data using one of the several different data recovery software on PC, this is commonly done to retrieve lost data from rooted devices. There is no guarantee that you will be able to retrieve your data intact.
outlook is email right? so why you don't just open the email again?
depending on app manifest you can copy app data (including cache files) to PC with adb backup.
this app will find cached pictures and thumbnails in emulated storage (existing only, impossible to recover deleted files)
FindMyPhoto – Recover Photos o - Apps on Google Play
A truely free app to recover deleted photos on Android devices.
play.google.com
beware of noobs advise! unlocking bootloader is just nonsense, it's simply impossible to recover just a single file from factory reset!
aIecxs said:
outlook is email right? so why you don't just open the email again?
depending on app manifest you can copy app data (including cache files) to PC with adb backup.
this app will find cached pictures and thumbnails in emulated storage (existing only, impossible to recover deleted files)
FindMyPhoto – Recover Photos o - Apps on Google Play
A truely free app to recover deleted photos on Android devices.
play.google.com
beware of noobs advise! unlocking bootloader is just nonsense, it's simply impossible to recover just a single file from factory reset!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The pictures were stored in my personal space of the expert's site, he sent me the link via email, and my client is Outlook.
So I opened it in Outlook, with the (s***ty) integrated lite version of Edge
Thank you very much, I'll try these two solutions !
OK I'll not unlock my BL
link only pictures might stored in browser cache. check for each app manifest if backup is allowed.
I tried "Findmyphotos" without success
Now I'll install DevToolsPro and I'll tell you
android:allowBackup="false" =[
I think that I have also opened it in Samsung Internet browser, but backup is also not allowed
as that flag should be ignored for apps targeting API level 30+ you can try anyway (leave password blank)
Code:
adb backup [-f <file>] [-apk|-noapk] [-obb|-noobb] [-shared|-noshared] [-all] [-system|nosystem] [-keyvalue|-nokeyvalue] [<packages...>]
Android 11 forces apps to support local backups but not cloud backups
It's no secret that backing up and restoring apps and data sucks on Android, especially when switching devices. Android 11 is slightly making things better.
www.xda-developers.com
if no app data is backed up it should at least work with D2D transfer software like Samsung Smart Switch (not sure it can decrypted though)
How to decode Samsung Smart Switch .enc files
Made a backup of my Galaxy S9 to the desktop with Samsung Smart Switch. Inside the folder APKFILE there is say org.mozilla.firefox.enc so how can I decode it to see its contents?
forum.xda-developers.com
My SGS 21 is running android 13
What does the code mean ?
"adb backup [-f <file>] [-apk|-noapk] [-obb|-noobb] [-shared|-noshared] [-all] [-system|nosystem] [-keyvalue|-nokeyvalue] [<packages...>]"
First, on Smartphone, enable hidden menu Developer options. this is done by tapping buildno (7x) seven times (settings - about phone).
In settings - developer options - enable usb-debugging.
you need computer for adb backup. I will describe for windows.
download platform-tools then connect device with usb-debugging enabled and install usb drivers. now add platform-tools directory to path (or navigate to directory with 'cd') in cmd.exe
if adb is available you should see device serialno when typing 'adb devices' (requires confirmation on phone).
then get the package name of the app and create backup (requires confirmation on phone)
Code:
adb devices
adb backup com.android.chrome
you can unpack backup.ab with abe.jar + 7-zip.
https://nelenkov.blogspot.com/2012/06/unpacking-android-backups.html
Code:
java.exe -jar abe.jar unpack backup.ab backup.tar [password]
[GUIDE] How to extract, create or edit android adb backups
What is an android adb backup? An adb backup is a file with ab extension, generated by android's backup manager when we request it via adb shell. This allows you to backup some data of the phone, but is not a replacement of a clockworkmod backup...
forum.xda-developers.com
Thank you for the tutorial, I'll try this tomorrow after a good sleep
It seems to be a little bit tricky, although I studied electronics, I have not practiced for 10 years =D
try with app that allows backup, first. like Chrome (com.android.chrome)
OK, I have to move platform tools directory in C:\ (root)
Is that right ?
location doesn't matter. you can place it Program files (x86) or Desktop. I have it in C:\Android directory
Sorry I can't post here with my computer since my Last message, the forum shows "we ran into some problems, please try again later..."
So I don't understand this :
now add platform-tools directory to path (or navigate to directory with 'cd') in cmd.exe
maybe that helps
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=How+to+set+the+path+and+environment+variables+in+Windows
Thank you for your help alecxs, my insurance sent me the pictures !
So I don't need to tweak my phone