How to set up a new Android phone

First of all, your phone will ask you to select a language. This will display throughout the setup process and all the phone’s menus (though it can easily be changed later), so pick the right one!

Here, you can also select vision and voice modes if you require accessibility features to be turned on throughout your use of the phone.

Tap ‘Get started’ to move to the next screen.

Here you are prompted to connect to a mobile network. You can do this by putting a SIM card into your phone.

In the packaging, there is likely an ejector tool to put in the SIM slot hole to remove the tray. Most modern smartphones take nano SIM cards, the smallest possible size.

In the UK, all phones must be sold unlocked, so you’re free to use any network or operator’s SIM. However, that’s not the case in the US.

Some phones will allow you to choose to download an eSIM instead. This is an electronic SIM stored on the phone without the need for a physical card. Not all phones will give you this option, so choose your device carefully if this is important to you.

If you don’t have a SIM card or don’t want an eSIM, you can tap ‘Skip’ to set up the phone without a mobile network connection using only Wi-Fi.

If you haven’t already been connected to Wi-Fi automatically, you can do so manually now. It’s worth doing this, especially if you chose not to insert a SIM card earlier, as it’ll make the rest of the setup much easier.

Tap the Wi-Fi network you want to connect to, and then enter the network’s password. If you don’t know it, it can usually be found on the back of the Wi-Fi router.

Your phone will then connect to Wi-Fi and continue to set up.

You can opt to ‘Set up offline’ if you wish, but you won’t be able to log in to your Google account without a mobile data or Wi-Fi connection. This is necessary to download apps and use the phone online.

Next, the phone will give you the option to copy apps and data over from your old phone. This includes your Google account, and also data such as text messages, photos, videos, apps, and settings.

You can select ‘Don’t copy’ here if you wish to set up the phone as new with no old data, or ‘Can’t use old device?’ if you do not have access to your old phone.

If you want to copy data, tap ‘Next’.

You can then use your old device to copy over data. The first (and easiest) method is by scanning a QR code to connect the two phones via Bluetooth, but you can usually use a cable if this doesn’t work.

No matter which option you choose from the last step, at some stage, the phone will prompt you to sign in to your Google account.

If you don’t have an existing one, you can create one at this point. This will give you a Gmail email address necessary to use an Android phone.

Eventually, you’ll be prompted to decide what information you’d like to be copied. It’s worth copying over as much as you possibly can – you can always delete it later.

However, it’s important to note that WhatsApp data won’t be carried over with a backup, so you’ll need to restore that separately.

This stage can take several minutes, so you’ll need to be patient.

After you’ve copied data from another phone or skipped that step, your Google account will be added to this phone

Here, the setup will ask you whether you want to turn on things such as location services and app scanning, or whether to send usage and diagnostic data to Google.

You need to select yes to location and app scanning if you want all the services to work properly on your phone. You can always stop certain apps from accessing your location later if you don’t want them to. Think of this step as a master ‘on’ switch – you need to say yes if you want commonly used apps like Google Maps to work.

Tap ‘Accept’ when you’ve selected what you want.

With a Google account, you can turn on the whole device back up with the Google One service. This is built into your free Google account that backs up the data and settings of your phone to Google’s cloud servers.

If you lose your phone, you can use this cloud backup to restore your data and settings to a new phone. You get 15GB free across Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos, but any more than that will require a subscription. Read our full Google One guide for more details.

Tap ‘Not now’ or ‘Turn on’ to continue.

You can now set a PIN code. This is recommended as it stops anyone from unlocking your phone if you lose it.

By default, Android will ask you to set a PIN number of at least 4 digits. The longer the number you choose, the better, though.

You can sometimes choose a password or pattern if you’d prefer, but a PIN is the best balance of security and ease of entry.

Enter your choice twice as per the on-screen instructions to proceed.

Some phones have built-in fingerprint sensors that allow you to unlock the phone with a fingerprint, as well as authorise things like payments in apps. This can also be done using your face, though this isn’t as secure unless your phone has an advanced 3D face scanner.

Follow the on-screen instructions to get them both set up.

Many Android phones at this stage will ask you if you want to continue the setup.

This will include things like setting up Google Wallet for debit and credit card payments, selecting the text size of the phone, and other things.

You can tap ‘Continue’ or ‘Leave and get reminder’. The latter will make sure you get a notification later to do this step a bit later, so it’s perfect if you just want to start using your phone.