Not by default. The Android backup service is disabled on fully managed devices, but administrators can now enable it through both AMAPI and custom DPC.
Custom DPC implementations can enable backup using DevicePolicyManager.setBackupServiceEnabled(), available since Android 8.0. A device owner calling this method controls the backup service across all users on the device. By default the backup service is disabled on devices with a device owner.
When enabled, users can transfer data to a new fully managed device using the Android Switch application - including texts, photos, contacts, calendars, and apps. The destination device must use the same managed Google account and be managed by the same EMM.
If your EMM is custom DPC-based, check whether it exposes this setting. Not all platforms surface it in their console.
AMAPI now includes a backupService field on the policy resource, added in September 2026. This accepts three values:
| Value | Effect |
|---|---|
BACKUP_SERVICE_STATE_UNSPECIFIED |
No value set (backup remains disabled by default on fully managed devices) |
BACKUP_SERVICE_DISABLED |
Backup service is explicitly disabled |
BACKUP_SERVICE_ENABLED |
Backup service is enabled |
Setting BACKUP_SERVICE_ENABLED allows users to back up and restore device data through the Android backup service, including app data, call history, contacts, device settings, SMS messages, and photos/videos (if opted in). This closes a long-standing functional gap between AMAPI and custom DPC.
AMAPI also logs a BackupServiceToggledEvent in security logs (added April 2025), which records when the backup service state changes on a device.
For work profile deployments (both BYOD and COPE), a profile owner can also call setBackupServiceEnabled() to control backup within the managed profile specifically. However, on a device with both a device owner and a profile owner, backup for the managed profile is only enabled if both the device owner and the profile owner have enabled it.
Regardless of whether backup is available, the organisation should provide end users with a cloud service - OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, or similar - to which data is automatically synced. Device-level backup is useful for device transfer and recovery, but it is not a substitute for continuous cloud sync of critical data.
For organisations planning a migration between EMMs, backup and restore is particularly relevant. See the EMM migration guide for guidance on data preservation during cross-vendor moves.