Android Auto Backup
Definition
The Android 6.0+ mechanism that uploads app data to the user's Google Drive automatically (up to 25 MB per app), alongside SMS, MMS, call history, contacts, device settings and Wi-Fi networks. Photos go to Google Photos separately.
- Minimum OS version
- Android 6.0
- Storage destination
- Google Drive
- Per-app data cap
- 25 MB
- Data included
- SMS, MMS, call history, contacts, settings, Wi-Fi networks
Common questions
Why does the 25 MB per-app cap matter to an examiner planning acquisition?+
The cap means Auto Backup is useful for recovering small structured data like SMS or contacts but cannot be relied on for larger app data such as photo-heavy chat histories, so it supplements rather than replaces direct device or full-app-data extraction.
Why are photos excluded from Auto Backup and handled separately?+
Photos and videos are large and change frequently, so Google routes them through the dedicated Google Photos backup pipeline instead of the general Auto Backup mechanism, meaning investigators may need separate legal process or extraction to reach image evidence.
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