[Guide] Smart Switch & Your Samsung Phone

Hello Everyone!

Today I bring you this guide on how to back up & restore your phone* via Samsung's Smart Switch

*Supports Samsung phones only, may support other Android phones

What is "Smart Switch?"

Smart Switch is Samsung's PC/Mac and Android/iOS data transferring software, which allows you to switch between phones (ex: iPhone 6 to a Galaxy S7,) while keeping all your important files, pictures, and videos. Smart Switch also allows you to backup your files (Not including the operating system) to your computer, which you can restore your phone to. You can download Smart Switch HERE!

Backing Up Via Smart Switch

Backing Up is easy with Smart Switch. Simply connect your phone/tablet to your PC, open Smart Switch, and click backup. This will backup all your Apps, Photos, Videos, Music, Contacts, Call Logs, Memos, Documents, Home Screen Prefs, and Settings. This will take a while due to how much stuff Smart Switch has to backup, unless your phone is bare bones already. You can also review previous backups, and delete them. Backups are located in your Documents folder.

Getting Aquainted & Preparing for Software Recovery

Not only can you backup your files, but you can also restore your phone* back to factory! (*Samsung phones only)
Located next to the "minimize window" button, lies a button called "More." Upon clicking it reveals a drop-down menu with some options, we are going to mainly focus on one button in particular for this portion of the guide, that button being the "Emergency Software Recovery & Device Initialization." Upon clicking it, a window will pop-up, this is where you can restore your phone from a botched flash or soft brick. If a software update OTA went wrong, stay on the "Emergency Software Recovery" tab, otherwise, click on the "Device Initalization" tab. Make sure you have the appropriate cables to connect your phone to the PC, and make sure they fit correctly, and do not have any issues. I recommend you use the cable that came with your phone, but any third-party data transfer cables work too. Turn off your phone, and reboot it into Odin/Download mode (Usually Vol Down, Power, and Home Button.)

Actual Software Recovery

This is the part where you have to enter everything correctly. In the "Device Initalization" tab, enter the model number of the phone, which will then prompt you to enter the S/N (Serial Number) of the device you have.

• For the S6/S7 the S/N sticker is located on the back of the phone, hopefully you didn't tear that sticker off...


• For phones with rear covers that can be taken off (Like the Galaxy Core Prime, etc) your S/N will be on the battery or battery compartment


• If your phone doesn't have a S/N sticker (If it never came with one) use Samsung Kies instead.


• If you tore off the S/N sticker, you're going to have to hunt down a stock ROM for your phone...sorry man.

It is then, while your device is still in Odin/Download more, should you connect your phone to your PC.
After CAREFULLY entering the Model Name/Number, and the Serial Number, Smart Switch will automatically download the Stock ROM, Bootloader, Kernel, etc for that device. After it downloads everything, Smart Switch will automatically flash the files to your device, so sit there and monitor both Smart Switch & your phone. If everything is successful, Smart Switch will say so, and ask you to unplug, and re plug your phone to the computer. Your phone will reboot by itself, and may take a while to get to the "Welcome" android setup screen. If this doesn't happen, try a reboot. If the device will not go past a certain screen (ex: T-Mobile, or Samsung) make sure you typed in the correct information, and try again. If you backed up via Smart Switch, now's the time to restore.

Restoring Backups Via Smart Switch

After a successful device initialization, or a complete wipe of the phone, Smart Switch comes in handy. If you have done a backup via Smart Switch, restoring is easy. Simply click on the "Restore" button. If you have multiple backups of the same device, you can choose which one to restore to, by default, Smart Switch will select the newest backup. Smart Switch will then proceed to restore your personal items, and may take a while. This will restore all your Apps, Photos, Videos, Music, Contacts, Call Logs, Memos, Documents, Home Screen Prefs, and Settings (albeit you still have to change some settings to your pleasing.)
(Note: Smart Switch will slow down while restoring Apps, due to the fact that there are so many, so DON'T exit or quit Smart Switch)

And this ends this guide, from me Matt. Hopefully I've saved you from hunting down a stock ROM from a suspicious website. Got any questions? PM me or, write down in the comments below, as I & some fellow XDA Dev's may be able to help you,