smart switch backup to pc not working

[David Briggs]

I have recently upgraded from a Galaxy S7 to an S23. Before transferring across, I wanted to take a backup, so I opened Smart Switch on my Windows 10 PC. The last time I did this was about a year ago, so Smart Switch wanted to update. I did that and it is now running v4.3.22083_3. It says "Connect your device to get started"

I plugged the S7 in on the USB data cable I use to transfer stuff to/from the PC. Smart Switch says "Update the Smart Switch app on the connected device". On the S7, under Settings, Smart Switch says it is Version 3.7.50.1 "The latest version is installed".

If I click on the "Update Smart Switch" button on the PC, it says "Update failed... an error occurred. Please open and update the Smart Switch application on the connected device". This is not possible as it is the latest version.

I got the same results on the S23. I also tried a clean install of Smart Switch on another Windows 10 PC and a Windows 11 PC with the same results. So, I was unable to backup the S7.

Instead, I used Smart Switch on the S23 to pull the data across from the S7 using the new USB-C cable with an adapter at the S7 end. That seems to have worked, but of course, I can't now backup the S23 either.

Does anyone know how to fix this?

Any suggestions gratefully received.

David

[PaulC59]

You are probably better backing up your old phone to your Samsung account or Google account via wifi instead of usb as the Android version on the S7 might not support the latest Smart Switch etc to match the pc. This can happen when trying to connect older devices to a pc. Something we should do is run regular backups when using phone to help avoid running into these problems, but I for one am one of the worst offenders for not doing backups when I should 🤔 I'm not 100% if this is your issue but hope it helps to eliminate the problem

[David Briggs]

Thanks for the suggestion @Anonymous User , but I don't think Windows security will allow a push backup to work. I had been using Smart Switch successfully, but not very often. I don't know where the Backup function broke. My last backup from the S7 was around August last year, so I installed a version of Smart Switch whose download was dated about then (on Windows 11) and that behaved the same as the current version on Windows 10. The Backup option is just not there on the home screen on the PC. I only have options to Send or Receive (to/from another Smart Switch) on the phone.

Thanks,

David.

[David Briggs]

Hi @PaulC59, I don't think the problem is with the versions of Smart Switch as it is the same version running on both the S7 and S23. It is more likely to be with the Windows software not recognising the Smart Switch correctly on either phone. Both of the phones behave identically where all of the Windows versions I have tried do not work.

Fortunately, I was able to use Smart Switch on the new phone to get pretty much everything across from the old one. Both are still accessible from the PCs for file transfer, but I only want to do that for occasional files, if there are any.

Thanks for the suggestion.

David

PREVIEW

[PaulC59]

Ok a long shot maybe to ensure link to windows is activated on your phone then go into windows settings on your pc and make sure connect to phone is activated. This will ensure your phone is paired with windows? Worth a look. I've never used smart switch on my pc so I'm guessing. I usually run a backup to my Samsung account on my old phone and when my new phone is set up, I restore the backup to my new phone from my Samsung account in the phones settings. I've found this way has less gremlins sneaking into your phone.

[David Briggs]

Thanks for those suggestions. I don't normally use Link to Windows or Bluetooth or WiFi connections to the phone. I just plug it/them in on USBs.

I was hoping to keep any phone backups in-house and not have to use cloud storage. In the end, I did have to use my Google account storage in order to transfer the WhatsApp media as even Smart Switch on the phones was not able to do that.

[PaulC59]

Yes WhatsApp is a nuisance. Glad you got it sorted

[wyse_terminal]

I've got the exact same issue but with the s23 ultra, tried on 3 different s23U a s23, flip 4 & 5 and tab S9 same error message, no updates in either play store or galaxy store which is now called Store.

[David Briggs]

The common factor, I think, is the Windows Smart Switch. That must have been broken for a year, if not longer as I'm not sure which version I used for the last successful backup in August 2022. The version I downloaded around then is broken as I tried installing that on a clean PC. Trouble is, I think there was a mandatory update that made it impossible to use earlier versions. Not sure when that was...

I do have some older downloads but most of the updates were done automatically by Smart Switch when it started up. I don't know if those kits are accessible, maybe in my downloads? I'll gave to poke about and see.