For many of us, our mobile phones contain crucial files that we just can't do without. Important messages and contacts, precious photos, and your favourite music are some of these types of files.

If your phone was to get stolen, lost or broken today, would your data be safe? If you don't make backups of your phone, the answer is likely to be no.

To ensure that your information is safe, you'll need to be proactive and backup your data, either to a cloud service or to your computer. In this guide, we'll be looking at how to backup your Android phone to your PC over a Wi-Fi or a USB connection using the Droid Transfer app.

What is Droid Transfer?

Droid Transfer is a popular Android media transfer program for Windows, which allows you to backup your messages, photos, contacts, music and other files from your Android phone to your PC.

The biggest advantage in using Droid Transfer is that you can backup data which is not normally backed up by Google, such as your Text messages and Multimedia Messages (MMS). Additionally, you can make a differential backup of your photos and music, i.e. only backup files that have changed since you last used the app.

Wirelessly connect your Android device and your PC

In order to connect your Android with Droid Transfer, you'll need 2 apps: Droid Transfer on your PC and the Transfer Companion app on your Android. You can get the Transfer Companion app free from Google Play Store.

Connecting your Android phone and your PC over WiFi is done by scanning the QR code in Droid Transfer using the Transfer Companion app on your Android device.

Your Android device and your PC need to be connected to the same WiFi network, for Droid Transfer to seamlessly connect them allowing you to backup and manage your Android phone files through your PC.

Backup and Print your Text Messages (SMS and MMS)

Whether you'd like to back up your messages for safe-keeping or print them out for your records or as evidence in a court hearing, Droid Transfer has you covered.

You can copy your texts as PDF, HTML or text to your computer, or even print them straight out with a click of a button!

Messages exported and printed out by Droid Transfer contain all the important information like contact name, contact number, dates and times, and attached media like photos and emojis.

Here's how to backup Android Messages in a PDF file:

1. Open Droid Transfer and connect your Android device.

2. Click Messages.

3. Select a contact to view your conversation with them.

4. Click "Save PDF".

5. Choose a location on your PC to save the file to and click OK to save.

Hint: If you have a lot of messages, Droid Transfer has a handy search tool allowing you to search through your messages by contact name and message content. You can also use the Set Date Range button in Droid Transfer to only show messages sent and received between your selected dates.

See it in Action:

Android Contact Manager

More than just a backup tool, Droid Transfer allows you to save your contacts to PC, transfer them to a new Android device, edit your contacts or delete them. It truly is an all-in-one contacts manager.

Copying contacts with Droid Transfer can be done simply by clicking on "Copy Contacts" in the app, allowing you to save your contacts as vCard, a CSV file, or you can copy them directly to Windows Contacts or Outlook.

Make a differential backup of your Android phone Music

If you love music and wish to keep your music library on your computer in sync with your phone, Droid Transfer helps you do that easily by clicking the Sync Folder button. Droid Transfer will compare your music libraries between your phone and your PC and copy any missing songs from your phone to your PC and vice versa.

You can also make a full backup of all your music by simply selecting Music in Droid Transfer and clicking on "Copy to PC" in the app.

If you use iTunes, Droid Transfer allows you to Sync your iTunes library with your phone, as though your Android device was an iPhone!

Other music management features include play Android music through your PC, delete music from your Android, and add music from PC to Android.

Backup and manage Android phone photos

Droid Transfer not only allows you to view, copy and delete photos from your phone, it provides an incredible back up feature - the app will scan your photos and only export photos which are not already on your computer. This avoids creating duplicates and allows for quick and easy regular backups.

To make a differential backup of your photos, follow these steps:

1. Launch Droid Transfer and connect your Android device.

2. Open the "Photos" tab from the feature list in Droid Transfer.

3. Click "Export Photos".

4. Select a folder on your PC where you usually backup photos.

5. Droid Transfer will scan this folder and display photos which you haven't already backed up..

6. You can choose to backup these new photos by clicking on the green "Export" button in Droid Transfer.

What else can you do with Droid Transfer?

It doesn't stop there - Droid Transfer has a seemingly endless number of features, with more being added all the time.

Whatever your Android transfer needs, this software has the answer. Here are some more features which we haven't been able to cover in this article:

• Backup videos.
• Export calendars to PC or Outlook.
• Save or print call history.
• Transfer apps from Android to Android.
• Access Android clipboard on PC.
• Android File manager.

Find out all about each feature in the Droid Transfer user guide >

Why choose Droid Transfer?

Droid Transfer has a clear focus on solving common problems, for everyday users, in the easiest way. This goal makes the software shine where others just don't make the cut.

• Choose to backup your phone over Wi-Fi or USB.
• Backup data not normally backed up by Google such as text messages and MMS.
• Intuitive interface and easy-to-use.
• Plethora of features to cover all Android management needs.
• Free version lets you to backup 5 messages, as well as 100 songs and photos.
• Paid version with full functionality costs $30.
• Available in English, German, French and Spanish.