I am sure there are a few ways to do this, but I am looking for the main options for backing up all of the important stuff from my phone (and my laptop) before upgrading (or selling, or losing or having it stolen or broken).

Here are the things I can think of that I want saved. I might be forgetting something.

While brainstorming and thinking through these items, I am keeping in mind that one option I have is to do the following; settings/Google/backup/back up now. It seems this will cover many of what I am looking for. Is this the best way for some of the following items?

1) Emails - of course already backed up since I use Gmail.

2) Contacts - safe on my Google account already.

3) Texts - it seems my main two options are either to do the backup Google option as I mentioned above, or use SMS Backup app? I did use SMS Backup in the past, but why use an extra app if the other option works as good or better?

4) Call Log - same as what I wrote for "texts".

5) Google Chrome; Open Tabs, Bookmarks, Passwords, History, and so on - Yesterday I tried this and had some issues; in Google Chrome I clicked on settings/sync/sync everything and made sure I was signed into the correct Gmail account. I tried to access the synced Chrome tabs from my cell on my laptop. It showed only the recent tabs I clicked on, but none of the tabs that were open from before that I have not clicked on in a while. For now, I copied and paste all tabs into a draft email so I did not lose the URLs of over 400 tabs. I tried uninstalling Chrome (it wouldn't completely uninstall but did uninstall updates). Then I installed updates again, opened Chrome and of course all of my tabs were gone. I am now opening each tab individually on my laptop so I have them open with my other tabs. Hopefully moving forward, keeping Sync on will save all open tabs in the future, even those that have not been clicked in weeks/months/years. Does anyone have any insight here???

6) Pics saved in various places - I know pics are already synced to Google Photos. I am unsure if that was default or if I chose that setting at some point. I am unsure if it saves all pics there, or just ones I take with my camera. For example, does it also backup pics that were downloaded from a website or saved from an email/text/message.

7) Videos saved in various places - similar to what I wrote for "pics".

8) Audio saved in various places - not sure if similar to "pics" and "videos".

9) Downloads - Gotta check to make sure all downloaded docs/files/misc are backed up.

10) Apps - Definitely convenient if Google remembers which apps are installed so it can help to make my next phone similar.

Will settings/Google/backup/back up now take care of all ten items? Is it the best option for each of the ten? What other methods should I consider for each?

Regarding my laptop

1) Pics saved in various places - is there a way to keep certain folders synced to my Google account? I might be doubling up on some pics, but also trying to be cautious to not lose any pics either.

2) Videos saved in various places - similar to what I wrote for "pics".

3) Audio saved in various places - similar to what I wrote for "pics" and "videos".

4) Downloads - Similar to what I wrote for "pics", "videos", "audio". not sure there is a way to sync with Google to backup all things that are downloaded on my laptop. I probably just need to try and save everything to one location to keep things simple when I want to move everything for future upgrades. Will still suck if the laptop is lost/damaged/stolen.

5) Google Chrome; Open Tabs, Bookmarks, Passwords, History, and so on. - While my cell seemed to have a lot of issues doing this, my laptop seemed to sync just fine using settings/sync and Google services, and made sure I was signed into the correct Google account. While it did save the tabs, it did not seem to save the groups I sorted them into. Mild inconvenience.

6) Emails - already safe on Gmail.

7) Contacts - already safe on Google.

8) Installed Programs - I assume this will not be nearly as easy as recreating "apps" on a phone. Not a huge deal. Worst case, I just create a list of what I have installed, and just refer to it when I get a new laptop.

I am not as concerned about backing up my laptop as my cell, but I figured I should include it since I am already posting already.

Well, I just realized that I can drag and drop folders/files from my laptop to my Google Drive, and it will sync. I am impressed and also shocked I was not aware of this before! This seems like a no brainer, as long as you have the space for it in your Google account. My Google account is currently 77% full, before even backing up anything on my laptop. So, I eventually need to figure something out there. External hard drives are sweet, but the convenience of Google allowing you to have access to all of your files anywhere, without having to haul a hard drive with you is just too cool!

If you made it this far; thank you so much for taking time to read everything. I know I had a lot to cover. I think I am kind of on the right track, but just need some feedback before moving forward. I did recently purchase a new Galaxy S23 , so it will be nice once I get this all sorted out and can send my S10 to Tmobile for my credit.