Will your drive work with the new phone?
Usually yes — as long as your Ultimate Backup fits the port on the new phone. Here is how to check, and the one thing that most often looks like a fault when it is not.
Most new phones have a USB-C port: every iPhone from the iPhone 15 onwards, and current Android phones. Older iPhones have a Lightning port. Find your drive below.
- Ultimate Backup MAX — plugs straight into a USB-C phone. For an older Lightning iPhone, or an Android phone with a Micro-USB port, use the adapter that came in the box. See What is the Ultimate Backup MAX adapter?
- Ultimate Backup 4-in-1 — plugs straight into a USB-C phone, and has tips for Lightning and Micro-USB phones as well.
- Ultimate Backup SSD — connects directly to a USB-C phone. On a Lightning iPhone it is backed up through Manual Backup Mode instead, which uses a Windows or Mac computer to finish the job. If you are not sure which cable yours came with, see Which Ultimate Backup SSD cable do I have, and do I need the Keeper Connector?
The full table is on the Product Compatibility Chart, and the Connectivity Guide shows each drive connected to each kind of device.
On a USB-C iPhone, or with a MAX, the drive will not appear on its own
This is the one that catches people out most often, and it is not a fault. With a MAX drive, or any drive on a USB-C iPhone or iPad, the app has to be given access to the drive before it can see it: open the app, tap Grant Access to Drive, and choose the drive in the Drive Picker. You do this once per drive. Other drives on a Lightning iPhone or iPad do not need it.
If your old phone was a Lightning iPhone, a 4-in-1 simply appeared when you plugged it in — so on a new USB-C iPhone it can look as though nothing is happening at all. There are step-by-step screenshots in App Setup for iPhone or iPad.
Once it is connected
Sign in with the account you used on your old phone. If you do not remember its password, you can reset your password. If you no longer have access to that email address, create a new account instead — your backups are not tied to your account, so nothing already on the drive is lost. See Do I need my account to reach my files?
The app's record of what it has already copied lives on the phone, not on the drive, so a new phone generally starts over and copies your photos again. An iPhone set up from your old one is the exception, because it brings that record with it. There is more in Does a second drive start where the first one stopped?
What to do next
Once the drive is connected, the rest of the move is covered here: Moving to a new iPhone or iPad and Moving to a new Android phone. Both also cover switching between an iPhone and an Android phone.
If you need any additional assistance, please contact Ultimate Backup support.