Unlike cloud storage, which is susceptible to issues like DDoS attacks and depends on a steady internet connection to access, external hard drives can be used to backup your computer anywhere, and are always accessible as long as the drive is physically nearby. Best of all, transferring files to an external drive is a fairly straightforward process.

Read More: Everything You Need to Know About Your Cellular Network

Connecting Your Hard Drive
In order to transfer your files, applications, music, or photos to an external hard drive, the hard drive must first be connected to your computer. While some computers may require hardware configurations that should be addressed, most external hard drives only require that you plug them into one of your device’s USB drives to begin managing your files. If you need to install software first before using the drive, check to see if any discs came with the hard drive. If no disc is available, most manufacturers have the most up-to-date software for your hard drive available on their site. In either case, accessing your hard drive should be fairly easy.

Additionally, if your hard drive needs AC power to work, be sure you plug it into an outlet before accessing the drive. If your drive has a power switch, be sure you turn the device on and wait until it is recognized and initialized by your computer before managing your storage.

Creating Back Ups
Whether you use a Mac or a Windows computer, most operating systems will ask whether or not you want to backup your files with a pop-up prompt. Tell the computer that you do. If you don’t receive this prompt, you can go to the start menu, search “backup,” and select “Backup and Restore” for Windows. Or, go to System Preferences, then Time Machine, and select the device as a backup disc on Macs.

Once you’ve done this, it’s merely a matter of selecting the device you wish to transfer backup copies of your files to (whatever name your external hard drive appears as on your computer) and going through any additional prompts that pop up. The computer will make a snapshot copy of your computer’s files. If you keep your external hard drive plugged in, it’ll back up in the background in regular intervals, meaning you’ll never have to manually backup your files again.

Manually Backing Up Data
Of course, if there is something in particular you don’t want to lose on your computer, or if you don’t want to backup everything on your computer for the sake of storage space on your external drive, you may feel compelled to manually backup certain files to your drive. In this case, simply create a folder that contains whatever data you want to save, make copies of said data, and drag that folder into your external hard drive. The computer will handle the rest.

Mind the Gap
Once you’ve finally transferred whatever files you want saved, and you want to pull the plug on your hard drive, be sure you hit the “Eject” or “Disconnect” buttons before you do. This can be done by finding the folder displaying the hard drive, right clicking it and finding the corresponding prompt. Once you’ve done this, a notification will appear once it’s safe to disconnect. While this may seem tedious and time-consuming, it is very important to follow this procedure, as drives may sometimes lose data when yanked from the USB port without ejecting first.
In any event, following this guide will help you keep the information you treasure most from ever getting lost and, more importantly, readily available whenever you need to restore those files back to your device.

1. Use iCloud

If you’ve made use of the ever-popular iCloud’s functionality, then you may have opted to store your calendar dates and settings here instead of directly onto your iPhone. Or, you may want to give the iCloud a try for the first time for doing just this. While this might be one of the trickier methods for transferring your information, it’s ideal for transferring a great number of calendar entries at once, and it can still be done in a few steps.

• First, on your iPhone, go to “Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account.”
• Next, register or login to your iCloud account and enable it to sync your local calendar to the iCloud, if you have not done so already.
• On your PC or Mac’s web browser, go to www.iCloud.com and login to your account.
• Click on the calendar icon and choose the calendar in the top left that you want to transfer.
• Click “Share Calendar” and a pop-up menu will appear. Choose “Public Calendar” and copy the share URL.
• In a new web browser tab, paste the copied URL. Replace “webcal” with “http,” then visit the URL.
• This browser tab will now automatically download an .ics file onto your computer.
• Now, go to your Google Calendar and sign in or register. On the left panel of the interface, click on “Other Calendars” and there will be a menu.
• Select “Import Calendar,” locate the downloaded .ics file, and hit “import” to import all events.
• When you have finished importing all of the calendar events, you will see them on your Google Calendar. You can now sync this with the calendar on your Android phone, and all of your events will appear.

Read More: How to Transfer Contacts to a New Android Phone

2. Use Google

Now that you have an Android device, you might as well familiarize yourself with everything Google has to offer! You’ll soon see that when it comes to transferring and importing/exporting important information, Google comes out as the easiest and most efficient tool to use.

• Go to “Settings” on your iPhone, then select “Mail > Contacts > Calendars > Add Account.”
• Set up or login to your Google account.
• Go to “Calendars” and switch the toggle on.
• By doing this, you will automatically sync your calendar to your Google account.

3. Use a Third-Party App

As we always say: there’s an app for that! While the two options listed above are fairly simple and get the job done well, if you’re looking for any extra perks or want to sync even more calendars from different accounts across different platforms and devices, an app or program may be the way to go.

• SmoothSync for Cloud Calendar. This app lets you establish an iPhone-to-Android connection that can instantaneously sync your calendars (please note that it does not work from Android-to-iPhone). All you have to do is download the app, configure it and you’re good to go!
• Gihosoft Mobile Phone Transfer. This is not an app for your mobile device, but instead a program to download onto your PC or Mac. Once installed, all you have to do is connect your phone to your computer with a USB cable, and within the Gihosoft program select “Start Copy,” and your Calendar information can be transferred from your iPhone to any Android smartphone.