How to Set Up a New Android Phone and Transfer Your Data

Updated September 2026 · every app the move runs through now carries its own dated listing figures, one table orders the job, and the maker tools are described from their own listings

Our answer
  • Android Switch is our pick for the copy step at first boot because its listing, read 5 September 2026, says it is already installed and copies photos, videos and contacts during setup, with a Pixel 9 or newer able to run it afterwards, free with no ads label at 4.0 stars from 1,251,547 reviews.
  • Samsung Smart Switch is our pick on a Galaxy because its listing, read 5 September 2026, names contacts, calendar, messages, photos, music, videos, call logs and Wi-Fi, with app data and home layouts between Galaxy devices only, at 3.9 stars from 529,251 reviews.
  • Google Authenticator is our first stop before the old phone is wiped because its listing, read 5 September 2026, says codes can sync to your Google Account and move between devices by QR code, and neither happens on its own, at 3.9 stars from 678,205 reviews.
Data checked: 5 September 2026. Verified against the Play Store listings on 5 September 2026 · full breakdown below.
How we verify. The eight apps with fact lines on this page are checked against their own Google Play listings: rating and review count, the install band, the price, the in-app purchase range, the Contains ads label, the data safety card and the store update date. What each transfer carries is quoted from the listing's own description, and where a listing contradicted this page, the listing won and the correction is named in the changelog. Google One is linked and its in-app purchase reality was read the same day, without a card. Nothing here rests on a move of our own. Last full pass: 5 September 2026, repeated quarterly.

A new phone is easy to unbox and less easy to move into. Most of the job is automatic: the setup wizard copies your apps, contacts and settings in one pass, and your Google account brings back the rest. What is not automatic is what locks you out. Here is the move in order, from first boot to wiping the old phone.

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Before you put the old phone down

The expensive mistake is selling or resetting the old phone before the new one is finished. While both are on and unlocked every option is open; after a wipe, most are gone. Keep the old phone above half charge and on Wi-Fi, then work through this:

  1. Note the Google account signed in under Settings, Accounts. The new phone asks for it by name, with the password.
  2. Run a fresh backup under Settings, Google, Backup and wait for the timestamp to read seconds ago. More in backing up an Android phone.
  3. Check Google Photos has finished uploading rather than sitting paused: how to back up photos on Android.
  4. Export your authenticator accounts, back up WhatsApp separately, list every app with its own login.

The setup flow and Copy apps and data

First boot runs a wizard: language, Wi-Fi, then the question that matters, whether to copy apps and data from another device. Say yes. Doing the work is Android Switch from Google LLC, preinstalled, on a Google Play listing read 5 September 2026. Its listing states it copies photos, videos and contacts during setup, and that a Pixel 9 or newer can run it later. Elsewhere it is offered once.

  • Cable. Join the phones with a USB-C cable, adding a cheap adapter if the old phone uses micro USB or Lightning. Few boxes still include one. Faster and steadier.
  • Wireless. Take the no cable option and the two phones talk to each other over Wi-Fi instead. Both have to stay on and connected until it finishes. Reliable, just slower.

The cable is worth more than the speed: it moves the real files off the old device, so nothing depends on what finished uploading and nothing is capped by your Google storage. Apps reinstall from Play afterwards, so grey icons for half an hour are normal.

Android Switch · the copy step at first boot

Photos, videos and contacts at first boot, on any Android phone

4.0 stars from 1,251,547 reviews · 10,000,000,000+ installs · free · no in-app purchases · listing updated 27 August 2026 · by Google LLC · Contains ads: No · checked 5 September 2026

Google Play listing · 4.0 (1,251,547) · read 5 September 2026

The app behind the copy step at first boot. Its listing, read 5 September 2026, says it is already installed on your Android device and copies photos, videos, contacts and more from another phone or tablet during setup, and that a Pixel 9 or newer can run it any time after setup. Free, no in-app purchases, no Contains ads label. The blunt part is the score: 4.0 stars from 1,251,547 reviews, on a data safety card that says no data is shared with third parties and lists an independent security review.

  • Good: Already installed, per its listing, so there is nothing to find before the copy step
  • Good: Free with no in-app purchases and no ads label
  • Good: Its data safety card says no data is shared with third parties and lists an independent security review
  • Con: 4.0 stars from 1,251,547 reviews
  • Con: Only a Pixel 9 or newer can run it after setup, per its listing
  • Con: The listing names photos, videos, contacts and more, so what else crosses is not stated there

Back to the table

What your Google account restores, and what it does not

Two things hide behind the word backup. The device backup covers apps, app data, call history, texts and settings including saved Wi-Fi networks. Synced content is contacts, calendar and Google Photos, which reappear once you sign in.

Photos are the usual casualty: Google Photos from Google LLC restores what it uploaded and nothing else. If the upload never finished, take them over the cable. Local music files are the same, covered in moving a music library to Android.

The free Google allowance is 15 GB shared across Drive, Gmail and Photos. App data and settings fit easily, several thousand photos do not. Google One sells more space, its Play listing, read 5 September 2026, carrying in-app purchases. Otherwise start with freeing up Google storage, or park the big folders on a computer with file transfer between Android and a PC.

Google Photos · where synced photos land, and where 15 GB runs out

The photo library, but only what finished uploading

4.4 stars from 53,929,630 reviews · 10,000,000,000+ installs · free · no in-app purchases · listing updated 1 September 2026 · by Google LLC · Contains ads: No · checked 5 September 2026

Google Play listing · 4.4 (53,929,630) · read 5 September 2026

Where synced photos reappear after sign-in, and where the free allowance runs out first. Its listing, read 5 September 2026, says every Google account gets up to 15 GB of storage shared across Google Photos, Gmail and Google Drive, and that in some countries the base is 5 GB with a further 10 GB unlocked by adding a phone number. Free, no in-app purchases, no Contains ads label, at 4.4 stars from 53,929,630 reviews. The catch is not the app: it brings back what finished uploading, and nothing else.

  • Good: Its listing says backed up photos are kept safe automatically on all of your devices
  • Good: Free with no in-app purchases and no ads label, and its data safety card lists an independent security review
  • Good: 4.4 stars from 53,929,630 reviews
  • Con: The 15 GB is shared with Gmail and Drive, per its own listing, so a large library fills it
  • Con: Only what finished uploading before the old phone is wiped comes back
  • Con: More space means Google One, whose listing sells in-app purchases

Back to the table

Manufacturer tools, starting with Samsung Smart Switch

Most manufacturers ship their own transfer app. These carry a little more, home screen layout and ringtones for instance, over a direct link.

  • Samsung Smart Switch Mobile from Samsung Electronics is preinstalled on Galaxy devices, under Settings, Accounts and backup, Bring data from old device. Its Play listing, read 5 September 2026, names contacts, calendar, messages, photos, music, videos, call logs and Wi-Fi, adding app data and home screen layouts when both are Galaxy.
  • Mi Mover from Xiaomi, Clone Phone from OnePlus and OPPO Clone Phone, published under the ColorOS name, are the same idea with three different listings, all read 5 September 2026: Mi Mover describes wireless transfers over a direct hotspot link, Clone Phone a move from Android devices with no network connection, and OPPO Clone Phone a QR code link between the two phones over Wi-Fi.

None is a superset of the Google route: Samsung's listing states music and video cover DRM free content only, and app data and home layouts move between Galaxy devices only. Pick one as the main route.

Samsung Smart Switch · the Galaxy route, iCloud and iTunes included

The widest list on this page, onto a Galaxy, from Android, iCloud or iTunes

3.9 stars from 529,251 reviews · 1,000,000,000+ installs · free · no in-app purchases · listing updated 16 July 2026 · by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. · Contains ads: No · checked 5 September 2026

Google Play listing · 3.9 (529,251) · read 5 September 2026

Preinstalled on Galaxy phones under Settings, Accounts and backup, and the widest route on this page by its own listing, read 5 September 2026: contacts, calendar, messages, photos, music, videos, call logs, memos, alarms, Wi-Fi, wallpapers and documents, with app data and home layouts between Galaxy devices only. Free, no in-app purchases, no Contains ads label. Two blunt lines sit on its data safety card, data is not encrypted and data cannot be deleted, and the rating is 3.9 stars from 529,251 reviews.

  • Good: The longest list of transferable content on this page, by its own listing
  • Good: Reads from iCloud and from iTunes on a PC or Mac as well as over a cable, per its listing
  • Good: Free with no in-app purchases and no ads label
  • Con: 3.9 stars from 529,251 reviews
  • Con: Its data safety card says data is not encrypted and cannot be deleted
  • Con: Music and video are DRM free content only, and music is not supported from iCloud, per its listing

Back to the table

Mi Mover · the Xiaomi route, wireless over a direct hotspot

Files, videos, songs and documents onto a Mi phone, wirelessly

4.0 stars from 39,125 reviews · 100,000,000+ installs · free · no in-app purchases · listing updated 22 June 2026 · by Xiaomi Inc. · Contains ads: No · checked 5 September 2026

Google Play listing · 4.0 (39,125) · read 5 September 2026

Xiaomi's own tool, and its listing, read 5 September 2026, says every transfer is wireless: the two phones connect directly over a portable hotspot, and it moves files, videos, songs, documents and other items from old Android and iOS devices to new Mi phones. Free, no in-app purchases, no Contains ads label, at 4.0 stars from 39,125 reviews. The blunt part is what the listing leaves out: it names no cable route and does not list contacts, messages or app data by name, and its data safety card says data cannot be deleted.

  • Good: Its data safety card says no data collected and no data shared with third parties
  • Good: Free with no in-app purchases and no ads label
  • Good: Its listing says it moves items from old iOS devices as well as old Android ones
  • Con: Its listing describes wireless transfers only, so there is no cable route to fall back on
  • Con: The listing names files, videos, songs and documents, not contacts, messages or app data
  • Con: Its data safety card says data cannot be deleted

Back to the table

Clone Phone · the OnePlus route, no network needed

Contacts, messages, call history, media and apps onto a OnePlus

3.6 stars from 146,518 reviews · 10,000,000+ installs · free · no in-app purchases · listing updated 11 November 2025 · by OnePlus Ltd. · Contains ads: No · checked 5 September 2026

Google Play listing · 3.6 (146,518) · read 5 September 2026

Listed on Play as Clone Phone, the OnePlus app, and formerly OnePlus Switch by its own account. Its listing, read 5 September 2026, says it migrates contacts, SMS, call history, calendar, photos, videos, audio and apps, including the data of certain apps, from Android devices to OnePlus phones without a network connection, while transfers from iOS devices may require a data connection. Free, no in-app purchases, no Contains ads label. Two blunt facts: 3.6 stars from 146,518 reviews, and a listing last updated on 11 November 2025.

  • Good: Its listing names contacts, SMS, call history, calendar, photos, videos, audio and apps
  • Good: Works without a network connection from Android devices, per its listing
  • Good: Its data safety card says no data collected and no data shared with third parties
  • Con: 3.6 stars from 146,518 reviews
  • Con: Listing last updated 11 November 2025, ten months before this read
  • Con: OnePlus phones are the receiving end, per its listing, and iOS transfers may need a data connection

Back to the table

OPPO Clone Phone · the ColorOS route, linked by QR code

Contacts, messages, media, files and apps onto an OPPO, by QR code

3.6 stars from 15,565 reviews · 10,000,000+ installs · free · no in-app purchases · listing updated 10 November 2025 · by ColorOS · Contains ads: No · checked 5 September 2026

Google Play listing · 3.6 (15,565) · read 5 September 2026

Published under the ColorOS name, though its description calls it the OPPO official phone switching tool, and its listing, read 5 September 2026, describes the two phones connecting by scanning a QR code over Wi-Fi with no mobile data used, carrying contacts, messages, call history, photos, videos, audio, files, installed apps and their data. Free, no in-app purchases, no Contains ads label. The blunt facts: 3.6 stars from 15,565 reviews, the smallest review count on this page, a listing last updated on 10 November 2025, and a data safety card that says the app may share data types with third parties.

  • Good: The two phones connect by scanning a QR code, per its listing
  • Good: Its listing names installed apps and their data among what it moves
  • Good: Free with no in-app purchases and no ads label
  • Con: 3.6 stars from 15,565 reviews, the smallest review count on this page
  • Con: Listing last updated 10 November 2025, ten months before this read
  • Con: Its data safety card says the app may share data types with third parties

Back to the table

Coming from an iPhone

Changing platform is a job of its own, and switching from iPhone to Android covers the whole move. What follows is only the part that happens inside this setup wizard. Connect the iPhone with a cable at the copy step, using a Lightning to USB-C adapter for older models, and Android pulls photos, videos, contacts, calendar and messages across.

Smart Switch lists three iPhone routes: wired from an iOS 12.0 or later device, an iCloud import with your Apple ID, or iTunes on a PC or Mac. Music is not in the iCloud route.

Two things still need your hand. Turn off iMessage before the number leaves the iPhone, or texts from iPhone contacts vanish into a service Android cannot read. And paid iOS apps do not convert into Android licences. Moving Apple Notes has its own route.

What does not come across

This is the section worth reading twice. A few things never ride along, and each is painful to recover once the old phone is wiped.

  1. Two factor authenticator codes. The most common way people lock themselves out of their own accounts. The Google Authenticator listing from Google LLC states codes can sync to your Google account and move to another device by QR code. If neither is on, export from the old phone first. Others differ: see the best authenticator apps for Android and setting up two factor authentication.
  2. App logins and banking apps. A bank treats a new handset as a new device and wants a fresh registration, by post, by confirmation on the old phone, or by identity check. Keep the old phone unwiped until each works. A password manager speeds up the rest.
  3. Some saved Wi-Fi passwords. Saved networks are in the device backup, but enterprise networks with certificates, hidden networks and second user profiles tend not to reappear.
  4. Your eSIM. A plastic SIM you just move; an eSIM is a profile bound to the old handset and needs its own transfer, either the eSIM transfer offered at setup where your carrier supports it or a new activation code. See transferring an eSIM. Do not delete the old profile until calls work.

WhatsApp belongs here too. Chats sit outside the ordinary Android device backup because WhatsApp runs its own backup to Google Drive, so make that backup before you sign in on the new phone. Samsung documents a Smart Switch route for carrying WhatsApp data from an iPhone to a Galaxy, but do not assume a transfer tool will bring chats across on its own. It gets a guide of its own.

Anything designed to protect you also resists being moved. Turn on theft protection while you are there.

Google Authenticator · export or sync it before the wipe

Your 2FA codes, only if you export or sync them first

3.9 stars from 678,205 reviews · 100,000,000+ installs · free · no in-app purchases · listing updated 22 July 2026 · by Google LLC · Contains ads: No · checked 5 September 2026

Google Play listing · 3.9 (678,205) · read 5 September 2026

The app most likely to lock you out, and its listing, read 5 September 2026, states both escape routes: codes can sync to your Google Account and across your devices, and accounts can be transferred between devices with a QR code. Neither happens on its own, which is why it sits in this guide at all. Free, no in-app purchases, no Contains ads label, at 3.9 stars from 678,205 reviews.

  • Good: Its listing says codes can sync to your Google Account and across your devices
  • Good: Accounts move between devices with a QR code, per its listing
  • Good: Free with no in-app purchases and no ads label
  • Con: 3.9 stars from 678,205 reviews
  • Con: Sync and the QR transfer both have to be done while the old phone still works
  • Con: Its data safety card says the app may collect data types

Back to the table

WhatsApp · the chats have a backup of their own

Years of chats, through its own backup rather than the device backup

4.6 stars from 242,772,887 reviews · 10,000,000,000+ installs · free to install · in-app purchases $0.40 to $199.99 per item · listing updated 5 September 2026 · by WhatsApp LLC · Contains ads: No · checked 5 September 2026

Google Play listing · 4.6 (242,772,887) · read 5 September 2026

The chat history has its own backup, and it is not part of the Android device backup. Its listing, read 5 September 2026, is the best rated on this page at 4.6 stars from 242,772,887 reviews, free to install with no Contains ads label, and it sells in-app purchases of $0.40 to $199.99 per item that its description does not explain. What the listing does not describe is the move between phones, so make WhatsApp's own backup before signing in on the new phone.

  • Good: 4.6 stars from 242,772,887 reviews, the best score on this page
  • Good: Free to install with no ads label, and its data safety card says no data is shared with third parties
  • Good: Listing updated on the store 5 September 2026
  • Con: Its chats are outside the Android device backup, so a transfer tool alone does not bring them
  • Con: In-app purchases of $0.40 to $199.99 per item, unexplained on the listing
  • Con: Its listing says nothing about moving chats between phones

Back to the table

The order that keeps you out of trouble

  • During setup: copy apps and data, cable if you have one, sign in with the same Google account, let the Play Store finish.
  • Afterwards, by hand: activate the eSIM, restore WhatsApp, register the banking apps again, import your authenticator accounts, open every important app once.

Then live with the new phone for a day before you erase the old one, under Settings, System, Reset options. Keeping it a day longer costs nothing; wiping it an hour early can cost you an evening.

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Questions, answered

Do you need a cable, or does the transfer work wirelessly?

Wireless works: pick the no cable option and the two phones talk to each other over Wi-Fi instead, so both have to stay on and connected until it finishes. The cable is faster and steadier, and it moves the real files off the old phone rather than depending on what finished uploading.

What if you skipped Copy apps and data during setup?

On most phones the offer comes once, so the usual fix is a factory reset and a second run through the wizard. Google states a Pixel 9 or newer can run Android Switch later.

Why are your authenticator codes missing on the new phone?

Authenticator apps keep their secrets on the device by design, so they are not in an ordinary backup. Google Authenticator can sync codes to your Google account and move accounts by QR code, but only if you switched it on first.

Does your eSIM move to the new phone by itself?

No. An eSIM is a profile bound to the old handset. Recent Pixel and Galaxy models offer an eSIM transfer at setup when the carrier supports it, otherwise the carrier issues a new activation code. Leave the old profile until calls work.

Is the free 15 GB of Google storage enough?

For app data, settings, contacts and messages, comfortably. For photos and video usually not, because the 15 GB is shared with Gmail and Drive. Move the big folders over the cable, or buy space through Google One.

When is it safe to factory reset the old phone?

When the new one has been through a normal day: calls, camera, messages, banking apps registered again, authenticator codes present, WhatsApp restored. Then erase the old phone.

Which app actually moves the data onto a new Android phone?

Android Switch on a Pixel or any stock Android phone, Samsung Smart Switch on a Galaxy, and the maker's own tool elsewhere: Mi Mover on Xiaomi, Clone Phone on OnePlus and OPPO. Seven are free with nothing to buy and the eighth, WhatsApp, is free to install with in-app purchases of $0.40 to $199.99 per item; none of the eight carries an ads label, read 5 September 2026. The two that do most of the moving carry middling scores: Android Switch sits at 4.0 stars from 1,251,547 reviews and Smart Switch at 3.9 stars from 529,251 reviews, while the OnePlus and OPPO Clone Phone listings sit lower at 3.6 stars and were last updated in November 2025.

Checked 5 September 2026: the page named nine apps and linked none of them, with no table, no capsule, no dated line and no verification box. Eight now carry fact lines read today, and Google One is linked with the in-app purchases its listing sells. Two month-level stamps, verified on Google Play in August 2026 and verified in August 2026, are replaced by reads dated today, as is all three on Google Play in August 2026. The sentence claiming the three maker tools work the same way, open on both, pick sender and receiver, scan a QR code, is withdrawn: Mi Mover's listing describes a wireless hotspot link, the OnePlus listing a move with no network connection, and only OPPO Clone Phone's names a QR code. The OnePlus and OPPO listings were last updated on 11 November 2025 and 10 November 2025, and the page now says so; OPPO Clone Phone is published under the ColorOS name. Smart Switch's data safety card says data is not encrypted and cannot be deleted, which its section now states. Four FAQ questions moved to the second person and a seventh was added. The heading that shared its block id with the H1 is re-issued under its own id. No figure was withdrawn, because the page carried none about any app.

Set Up a New Android Phone: Transfer Apps, Photos and Contacts