Comprehensive Guide to Backing Up and Managing Text Messages & Photos on Samsung Galaxy S21

Modern smartphones serve as our pocket-sized digital archives, storing everything from cherished photos to crucial text messages. However, as these devices fill up with data, managing and backing up this information becomes essential. If you’re using a Samsung Galaxy S21 and facing storage challenges like excess data usage by the Samsung Messages app, worry not. This guide will detail how to effectively back up and manage your text messages and photos, ensuring your data is safe and organized without cluttering your phone’s storage.

Understanding Your Storage Dilemma

For individuals who use their phone extensively for communication, text messages can quickly accumulate to form a large bulk of unstructured data. Moreover, messages with attachments like photos and videos (often known as MMS – Multimedia Messaging Service) can take up significant space. In your case, with an 8GB consumption by the Samsung Messages app, a structured approach to backing up and managing these files becomes necessary.

Identifying the Data to Back Up

Before you jump into any backup solutions, it’s crucial to identify what data needs backing up:

1. Text Messages (SMS): These are your plain text conversations. While they consume less space, they can hold crucial information or sentimental value, which makes backing them up important.

2. Multimedia Messages (MMS): These contain photos, videos, or audio files sent via your text messaging app. Such files occupy more storage space.

3. Photos and Videos: Taken via your phone’s camera or received through messages, these are often irreplaceable keepsakes.

The Ideal Backup Strategy

Given the need to maintain a tidy storage space, while also ensuring all important data is safely backed up, here’s a recommended strategy for Galaxy S21 users:

1. Use Samsung Smart Switch

Samsung offers its own solution called Smart Switch, which helps users transfer data to a new device or a PC. Here’s how you can use it for backups:

• Install Samsung Smart Switch: Download and install the Smart Switch app on your Windows laptop. It’s available from Samsung’s official website.

• Connect Your Galaxy S21: Use a USB cable to connect your phone to the laptop.

• Select Data to Back Up: Open Smart Switch and navigate to the backup feature. Select text messages and other media files to back up. The option to exclude certain data types will help you separate your photos from text messages effectively.

• Commence Backup: Follow the on-screen instructions to begin the transfer. This will save your texts and images on your PC, freeing up space on your phone.

2. Explore Google Photos for Image Backup

For backing up photos and videos, Google Photos is an exceptional cloud service. It not only safely stores your photos but also offers options for organizing them.

• Download Google Photos: Ensure that the app is installed on your Galaxy S21.

• Set Up Backup Options: Once logged in with your Google account, navigate to settings in Google Photos and enable ‘Back up & sync.’ Ensure that it’s set to upload only via Wi-Fi to save cellular data.

• Free Up Local Storage: After uploading, Google Photos provides an option to delete backed-up photos from your device, dramatically reducing storage use.

3. Use SMS Backup & Restore for Texts

For those focused specifically on message backups, the SMS Backup & Restore app is highly recommended.

• Install the App: Download SMS Backup & Restore from the Google Play Store.

• Backup Text Messages: Open the app and choose to back up SMS. The app allows you to store the backup locally on your device or automatically upload it to cloud services like Google Drive or Dropbox.

• Restore Anytime: If you happen to reset your phone or switch devices, easily restore your messages using the app.

Organizing and Managing Your Data

After backing up your data, managing it efficiently ensures easy access and retrieval.

1. Organizing Text Messages

Once backed up on your PC or the cloud, organize your text messages using folders or tags based on categories (e.g., personal, work-related, etc.). Software like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets can help create listings of text message details for easy search and access.

2. Managing Photos

After the upload to Google Photos:

• Use albums to group photos based on events or dates.

• Utilize AI-powered search within Google Photos to find images quickly based on depicted objects, locations, or dates.

• Regularly delete duplicates or unnecessary images to save cloud storage space.

Embrace Automated Backups and Set Reminders

To save yourself time and ensure your data remains consistently backed up, enable automated backups wherever possible, especially for photos. Set reminders to manually review and manage your backups, ensuring freedom from clutter and ease of access.

Conclusion

With the combined power of Samsung Smart Switch, Google Photos, and third-party apps like SMS Backup & Restore, you can easily manage and alleviate the storage issues on your Samsung Galaxy S21. Backing up your data not only protects it against loss but also enables you to keep your device functional and performing at its best. Regularly review your storage usage and adapt your backup strategies as necessary, ensuring every critical piece of data stays at your fingertips without overwhelming your phone’s capacity.