STORAGE FULL: How To Back Up Your Phone & Laptop

Have you ever wanted to snap a photo only to have your phone to flicker that it’s storage was full? Or been unable to download a work file you need ASAP because your computer was at capacity? Yep. Me too. And all because I didn’t regularly back up my devices. If your phone or laptop needs more storage space, here are 3 space-making methods you can use to keep your electronics happy and humming.

USB

With a simple drag and drop, you can store up to two terabytes (TB), or 2,000 gigabyte (GB) of data on a thumb drive. That’s pretty impressive for a piece of hardware you can tuck into your Golden Coil notebook! For context, most phones are between 16GB and 64GB. (I purchased 512GB USB for around $60, which backed up the entirety of my phone, laptop, and then some.)

PROS: Thumb drives are great because they’re small, portable, durable, easy to use, and relatively inexpensive. They’re also compatible with any USB drive on your laptop, desktop, or digital camera.

CONS: These drives are small which also means they can be lost easily. (I keep mine attached to me keys alongside a tracking fob.) Some drives have external passcodes. If your drive contains sensitive data, invest in one of these that’s privacy protected. Also, USBs are generally less durable than an external hard drive and can degrade over time.

External Hard Drive

Not long ago, external hard drives were the go to if you had storage needs beyond a few gigs. With the now impressive capacity of USBs, defaulting to an external hard drive isn’t necessarily the norm. That said, external hard drives will still out max USBs and can generally write data faster, especially with large data transfers. (USBs may still be faster for smaller file transfers). External hard drives used to be massive, you can now get 14TB hard drive that fits in the palm of your hand.

PROS: Fast transfer speeds (especially for bulk data transfers), longer lifespan

CONS: Larger than other options, some require an external power source, a little more expensive due to their increased storage capacity.

Cloud

Cloud is another backup solution. Google and Apple offer free cloud services, but even Google has it’s limits. (I was surprised to be prompted to buy more data as I reaching my 15GB storage limit!) With the cloud, you’re trusting a third party to keep your data secure and private, and security breaches aren’t unfamiliar. Other freemium cloud services, like Box and Dropbox are widely regarded alternatives as well.

PROS: Easy to access, you can often schedule an automated backup, and you don’t have to rely an external piece of hardware

CONS: security, can be pricey since most rely on a monthly subscription model

One final note: Keeping your devices organized can streamline your back up processes. It makes it easier to determine what you can move off of your device into storage and when. Here are a few space saving tips for your digital devices:

  • For most of us, photos take up a large portion of our device space. Every few months, try moving all of your photos into an archive album and then moving them off of your device (onto external storage, or into the cloud).

  • Empty the trash! Moving things into the trash doesn’t immediately translate into more space. You won’t free your device until the trash is emptied.

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