To perform a full backup of the data on a BlackBerry® smartphone, complete the following steps:

1. Connect the BlackBerry smartphone to a computer that has BlackBerry® Desktop Software installed.
2. Open the BlackBerry Desktop Software.
3. Click Backup and Restore.
4. Select Backup to perform a full backup.
5. Select a location to save the backup file, and click Save.

To perform a selective backup of one or more databases, perform the following steps:

1. Connect the BlackBerry smartphone to the computer that has BlackBerry Desktop Software installed.
2. Open the BlackBerry Desktop Software.
3. Click Backup and Restore.
4. Click Advanced.
5. In the Device databases selection dialog box, select the database(s) to back up.
6. Click the Arrow that points to the left side of the screen to add the database(s) to be included in the backup.
7. Make sure that the correct database(s) are listed in the Computer databases selection window.
8. Click File > Save near the top left corner of the BlackBerry Desktop Manager window.
9. Give the backup file an appropriate name and select a location to save it.
10. Click Save.

Note: For instructions on how to restore data from a backup file to a BlackBerry smartphone, see KB10339.

Note: For instructions on how to perform the above steps on a Mac computer, see KB18776.

• BlackBerry® Desktop Software 4.1 to 5.0.1
• Windows®

For instructions on backing up or restoring data using BlackBerry Desktop Software 6.0, see KB23680.

This article contains information previously documented in articles KB11625 and KB12979.