Back up my stuff

  • Article

4/14/2014

When you sign in with your Microsoft account on your Windows Embedded 8.1 Handheld-powered device, you can turn on the service that lets you automatically save things to the cloud so you'll have a backup if something happens to your device.

To learn more about restoring a backup, see Restore a backup to my device.

What gets saved

You can manage how you save your device settings, text messages, and photo and videos. In the App list, just go to Settingsphone start icon settings > Backup.

App list + settings

One of the toughest things about replacing a lost handheld device or upgrading is getting your accounts and settings just the way you like them on your new device. We can create a backup of all sorts of things to make the transition easier, including:

  • The list of apps you've installed on your device.
  • Your call history.
  • Your theme color.
  • The accounts you've set up on your device.
  • Your Microsoft Internet Explorer favorites.
  • Settings from around your device, including photos, messaging, email and accounts, location, Internet Explorer, lock screen, Speech, and more.

Note

  • Your handheld will wait for a Wi-Fi connection to automatically save backups. If you don't connect to Wi-Fi for a week, any changes to your App list and settings will be saved using a cellular data connection.
  • Backup saves the apps on your handheld, but it doesn't save any data associated with the apps.
  • Start will reset to its default set of pinned Tiles when you restore.

To turn settings backup on or off

  1. In the App list, select Settingsphone start icon settings > Backup.
  2. Select App list + settings, and then turn backup on or off.

To delete settings backup

  1. In the App list, select Settingsphone start icon settings > Backup.
  2. Select App list + settings > Advanced, and then select Delete.

Important

This procedure will delete all settings currently stored in the cloud and turn off backup. You will not be able to restore your device’s settings until you turn backup back on.

Text messages

You can automatically save your SMS and MMS messages to the cloud. That way, the next time you get a new device, you can restore them all when you set up the device. When you delete your messages from your device, they'll be deleted from the cloud as well, so you're always in sync.

To turn text message backup on or off

  1. In the App list, select Settingsphone start icon settings > Backup.
  2. Tap Text messages, and then turn Text message backup on or off.

Note

Turning off backup will not delete previously saved messages. To delete messages from the cloud, you'll need to turn on backup and delete the messages from your device.

Photos and videos

You can automatically upload your photos to SkyDrive and get them later from any computer or device that connects to the web. (This might use your data plan and incur charges.)

To turn auto upload on or off for photos or videos

  1. In the App list, select Settingsphone start icon settings > Backup.
  2. Select Photos, and then do one of the following:
    • Select Don't upload if you don't want to automatically upload your photos or videos.
    • Select Good quality to automatically upload photos or videos at a resolution that uses less data and SkyDrive storage space.
    • Select Best quality to automatically upload photos or videos at the highest possible resolution.

Note

You'll need a Wi-Fi connection to automatically upload videos and best-quality photos.