HTC One M9: How to Create a Nandroid Backup

Once you have a custom recovery installed on your HTC One M9, I can show you the step by step process for how to create your very first Nandroid backup.

This process is fairly straight forward but it should be the very first thing you do after you get a custom recovery installed. Nandroid backups are incredibly important as they allow you to preserve all of the data on a select number of partitions within your HTC One M9. This means that if something goes wrong in the future, you can restore your device to the last point in which a backup was created.

A lot of the applications and Android modifications talked about here make some drastic changes to the software inside our devices. Something could go wrong(accidents do happen) and if it does, then a Nandroid backup can save you a ton of headache and stress.

You can think of a Nandroid backup just like your typical backup(or restore point) that you would create on your desktop or laptop computer.

Our custom recovery, which in this case is TWRP, will copy all of your data on your phone into this backup. At any time you can boot up into the HTC One M9 recovery mode and do a restore. This will bring you back to the point that you created the Nandroid backup. The size of your backup will vary depending on how much data you have on your phone so you may need to clear up some space before you begin this process.

Requirements

Sadly, Android doesn’t allow for this type of backup to be created right out of the box. So, for you to be able to create this backup you’re going to need to do a few things first. You will need to have a custom recovery installed on your HTC One M9 for this to work. I have covered this process for how to do this in a previous tutorial which is linked in that last sentence. One you have TWRP installed onto your One M9, then you can create your first backup.

HTC One M9 Create Nandroid Backup

1. Boot the HTC One M9 into Recovery Mode
2. Tap on the ‘Backup’ Option at the TWRP Main Menu
3. Then Make Sure All Available Partitions are Checked
4. Tap on the ‘Backup Name’ Field, at the Top
5. Create a Custom Name for Your Backup(ROM Name, the date, etc)
6. You Can Change the Storage Location if You Choose
7. When Ready, Swipe the Blue Arrow at the Bottom All the Way to the Right
8. Wait Until the Backup Process is Finished
9. Then Tap on the Home Button at the Bottom
10. Tap on the ‘Reboot’ Option
11. Lastly, Tap on the ‘System’ Option to Reboot into Android

Explanation

As mentioned earlier, you must have a custom recovery installed on your HTC One M9 before this will work. I have covered how to do this in a previous tutorial and this in this article. If there isn’t a way to get a custom recovery installed on your M9(like the AT&T and Verizon versions at this time), then you’ll have to wait until an exploit is released which allows this. However, if you have been able to unlock the bootloader of your HTC One M9(or it is already unlocked) and you have been able to install a custom recovery then we can proceed.

After installing a custom recovery you will need to boot up into the HTC One M9 recovery mode. Once there, you’ll be greeted with the TWRP main menu and one of these options will be for backups. Tap on that ‘Backup’ button and you’ll then see a list of partitions available for you to backup. I like to do complete backups so let’s go ahead and make sure all of them are checked. After that, tap on the ‘Backup Name’ field that you will see toward the top of the screen. I like to create a custom name here so that I can remember what ROM this is a backup of and when the backup was created.

You also have the option to create the backup in various areas like an OTG thumb drive or a micro SD card. You’re welcome to leave this in the default location though but it is entirely up to you. Just remember where you stored the backup for future uses. When ready, go ahead and swipe the blue arrow that you see at the bottom of your screen and the backup process will begin. Depending on how much data you have, this could take a while until it is finished. Simply wait until it’s done and then you can reboot back into Android.