Backing Up Your Phone Before Flashing

Why bother backing up?

Flashing firmware is mostly safe, but when something goes wrong, it can go really wrong. Common problems people run into without a backup:

• IMEI gone — SIM no longer detected, no calls, no data
• Wi-Fi broken — won''t connect to any network
• Bluetooth missing — can''t pair headphones or watches
• Battery percentage weird — shows 100% then dies at 50%
• Camera broken — shutter errors, won''t focus

With a backup, all of these take 5 minutes to fix. Without a backup, some of them can''t be fixed at all.

How to back up with ART

1. Connect your phone to the PC

   Enable USB debugging in Developer Options and plug the phone in with a data cable.

2. Open ART and go to the Backup tab

   ART detects your phone and shows its model and brand at the top.

3. Click "Backup Critical"

   ART automatically selects the important items to back up for your specific phone — you don''t need to pick anything manually. Advanced users can switch to custom selection if they want more or fewer items.

4. Pick a folder on your PC

   Use a short path like D:\PhoneBackups\. ART will create a subfolder with your phone''s brand, model, and the date, so backups from different phones don''t mix.

5. Click Start and wait

   A progress bar appears. The whole backup takes 2–5 minutes depending on your phone and USB speed. When you see "Backup complete", you''re done.

Where to save the backup

Follow these two simple rules:

• Keep two copies. One on your PC, one on an external drive or USB stick. If your PC dies, you still have the backup.
• Never share your backup. It contains your phone''s unique identity — IMEI, Wi-Fi address, serial number. Someone with your backup could clone your phone''s identity.

Restoring if something goes wrong

If your IMEI, Wi-Fi, or anything else breaks after a flash, you can restore in minutes:

1. Connect the phone

   Use the same connection mode you used for the backup.

2. Open ART → Backup tab → Restore

   Point ART to your backup folder.

3. Pick what to restore

   By default ART ticks only the items you need. For "my IMEI is gone", that''s the IMEI data. For "Wi-Fi broken", that''s the Wi-Fi settings. ART suggests the right thing based on what you report.

4. Click Restore and reboot

   Wait for the done message, reboot your phone, verify everything works.