Is Smart Switch backup to Windows encrypted?

[Matty72]

I have performed my first backup of my Samsung S23 Ultra Android Smartphone using Smart Switch on Windows. The backup process didn't request a backup encryption password. Are the contents of the backup directory encrypted or could they easily be restored to another phone by anyone who was able to copy the directory?

 

[Hadron]

I don't know myself, as I've never used it, but have you tried just looking at the contents of the directory? If you can open images or text files from there then they aren't encrypted, or at least not other than whatever the default encryption of your PC's storage is.

Of course that's less of a problem when it's your PC than if you were allowing the backup to be copied unencrypted to some cloud service.

 

[Matty72]

Contacts are unencrypted in a CSV file. I tried opening other backup files in Notepad++ such as "Message.smem" and they are garbled. However, this doesn't indicate whether any Samsung phone could simply restore them. Yes it's better saved on my local computer but I might just add the backup directory to an encrypted zip file anyway.

 

[Hadron]

Files like that being garbled need not mean encryption, just that the format isn't something Notepad understands. The fact that there is anything there that can be read probably answers the question.

 

[Matty72]

Adding the backup directory to an encrypted zip file and deleting the original backup directory is a simple DIY solution.