How to Set Up a New iPhone or Android Phone

Taking an hour to set up your new phone properly is worth it. Rushing through the setup and skipping the transfer means you'll spend days rediscovering things that didn't come across.

Before You Start

• Make sure your old phone is charged and nearby.
• Know your Apple ID or Google account email and password.
• Have your Wi-Fi password ready.
• If transferring: take a recent backup of the old phone first (see step below).

Setting Up a New iPhone

Quick Start (Transfer From Old iPhone)

1. Turn on the new iPhone. The setup screen will appear.
2. Bring your old iPhone close to the new one. A Quick Start animation will appear on the old phone — tap Continue.
3. Use the old phone to scan the animation shown on the new phone.
4. Choose to restore from an iCloud backup or transfer directly device-to-device. Device-to-device is faster if both phones are on the same Wi-Fi.
5. Follow the on-screen prompts. The transfer can take 20–60 minutes depending on how much data you have.

Setting Up as New or From Backup

If you don't have an old iPhone, or Quick Start doesn't work, sign in with your Apple ID during setup and choose Restore from iCloud Backup if you have one. Or set up as a new device and reinstall apps manually from the App Store.

Setting Up a New Android Phone

Transfer From Old Android

1. Power on the new phone and follow the welcome screens until you reach the Copy apps & data step.
2. Choose A backup from an Android phone.
3. On older Samsung-to-Samsung transfers, the Smart Switch app handles this — install it on both phones and follow the instructions.
4. On Pixel: connect the old phone with a USB-C-to-USB-C cable (or use the adapter that came with the Pixel) and follow the on-screen instructions to select what to transfer.

Restore From Google Backup

If you backed up your old phone to Google, sign into your Google account during setup and choose Restore from backup. Apps, contacts, settings, and some app data will restore over the next hour or so.

First Things to Do After Setup

• Enable automatic backup so you don't start from scratch if this phone needs replacing.
• Set up biometrics (Face ID, fingerprint) in Settings for quick and secure access.
• Update the software: New phones sometimes ship with older software. Check for updates in Settings.
• Move the SIM card from your old phone to the new one if you haven't already, or activate an eSIM if your carrier and new phone support it.

Not all apps transfer their data automatically — banking apps and authenticator apps (like Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator) need to be set up separately. Don't wipe your old phone until you've confirmed everything is working on the new one. Ask us if you hit a snag.