contacts+message backup crashing?

Question

Hello, I've been trying to upload my backed-up messages to my Lumia 950 since the online sync seems to be hanging or slow, and while the backups work just fine, when restoring, the app crashes after a few seconds of successfully restoring some messages, but not all.

Are there any workarounds or fixes for this?

Answer 1

Hello,

Based on what you've posted, you're trying to restore the backed-up messages to your Lumia 950. We'd like to know where the backed-up messages were saved. Have you tried restoring from this backup before? Does re-installing the contacts+message backup app make a difference?

Alternatively, try performing a soft reset to refresh your device. To do that, press and hold Volume Down+Power button until it vibrates and restarts. Then, check if the issue would persist.

We look forward to your reply.

Answer 2

You're right; loading message backups does seem to be a bit slower these days.

I was using my backup 950 for a few weeks to make sure it was working, then switched back over to my primary 950 after making a backup. I was waiting for the OneDrive message backups from those past few weeks to upload, but evidently didn't wait long enough, so I decided to clear my history on the primary and upload the (corrupted) backup I just made. Since it didn't work, I loaded older backups, but now I have a 6-month gap in my message history.

I should've just been patient in waiting for my backups to restore.

Answer 3

Given the trouble you're having with the backup/restore app, I'd suggest patience with the cloud backup/restore.

I seem to remember messages used to restore pretty quickly, but now for whatever reason, it can take a couple of hours. I also find toggling the restore time (changing the restore period from "all" to "a year" or "a month", etc.) and back to the period you desire in settings seems to kickstart the process (but that may just be wishful thinking on my part!)

In any case, the messages should show up eventually from the OneDrive cloud backup.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Thank you for the update. Possibly, some of the created backup file is corrupted. If the text messages are still available, try to delete the old backup and create a new one to verify if the issue would persist after restoring it to the other Lumia 950. To delete the contacts+message backup app, go to Settings > Apps > Apps & features > Look for the app on the Search bar > and tap Uninstall.

Let us know how it turns out.

Answer 5

Thanks for the reply.

The file was generated from a 950 (I actually have two - I bought a second one cheap as a backup), and the files are stored on the phone's SD card.

I tried installing the file first after clearing my message history (since it wasn't fully loading, even though I have my phones set to sync messages), then after a hard reset.

I tried loading earlier files, and only some of those fully load before the app crashes. This makes me wonder if some of the files being generated are somehow corrupted. For now, I have most of my messages, with a gap of a few months as a result of loading different backup files.

Since I got your reply, I've investigated the possibility of reloading the contacts+message backup app, but since it's in settings, I don't seem to be able to delete it.

Update: I found the app list in Storage, so I used it to delete contacts+message backup and then reinstalled it from the Store, and then made another backup. I then cleared my message history and then tried the file I was trying to load before, but it still didn't work, although the file I just made on reinstalling did.