How to Move Your Game Progress to a New Android Phone

New phone, same games, and you'd really like your level 60 character and your hard-earned coins to come along. Sometimes that's automatic. Sometimes it takes five minutes of prep. And sometimes, especially with modified builds, the progress only exists on the old phone and you need to move it yourself.

The trick is knowing where each game keeps its save before you reset anything. Here's how to figure that out and move it.

First: find out where your progress lives

Game progress usually sits in one of four places:

1. Google Play Games saved games, tied to your Google account.
2. A developer account, like a studio login or game-specific ID.
3. An in-game cloud save or transfer code that the game manages itself.
4. Only on the phone, in the game's local storage.

Open each game you care about and look in its settings for words like Account, Link, Cloud, Save or Transfer. If you see a linked account or a "saved to cloud" note, you're probably fine. If you see nothing, assume the save is local.

While you're there, screenshot your player ID, level and anything else that proves the account is yours. It helps if you ever need to contact support.

Keep the old phone untouched until you've opened every important game on the new one and seen your progress. That's the one rule that saves most people.

Option 1: Google Play Games

Games that use Play Games saved games restore your progress when you sign in with the same Google account on the new phone. Install the game, open it, let it sign in, and check.

A catch: signing in to Play Games doesn't always mean the game stores your save there. Some games only use it for achievements and leaderboards. If you open the game on the new phone and you're back at the tutorial, the save lives somewhere else.

Option 2: A developer account

Plenty of online games keep everything on their own servers, tied to their own login. A few well-known examples from the PlayMods catalog:

• Clash Royale uses Supercell ID.
• eFootball 2026 uses a KONAMI ID.
• Roblox progress is tied to your Roblox account and stored on Roblox servers.

For these, make sure you know the login (email, password, any two-step verification) before switching phones, then sign in on the new device. If you've been playing as a guest, link the guest profile to an account first. Guest progress is often tied to the device and can be lost in a move.

Option 3: In-game cloud saves and transfer codes

Some games have their own "Save to cloud" button or give you a transfer code. On the old phone, tap save or generate the code, write it down somewhere that isn't the old phone, and enter it on the new one. Check whether the code expires or works only once.

Option 4: Android's own transfer

When you set up a new Android phone, it offers to copy apps and data, either with a cable from the old phone or from a Google backup. This can bring some game data along, but don't count on it:

• Developers can opt their apps out of backup.
• Cloud backup has a size limit per app, so big games may only come back partly.
• A direct cable transfer from the old phone often copies more than a cloud restore.

Treat it as a bonus, not a plan.

Option 5: Copy local save folders

For offline games that keep progress on the device, you can sometimes move the save files by hand. Some games store data in a folder named after their package under Android/data/. (The Android/obb/ folder holds game assets, not saves.)

1. Connect the old phone to a computer with a USB cable and choose File transfer on the phone. Newer Android versions hide Android/data from most file-manager apps, but a computer can usually still see it.
2. Copy the game's folder from Android/data/ to the computer.
3. On the new phone, install the same game, launch it once, then close it fully.
4. Copy the folder back into the same place on the new phone, replacing what's there.
5. Open the game and check.

Many games keep their saves in private internal storage instead, which isn't reachable this way without root. If the Android/data folder for a game is empty or only holds cache files, that's your answer. Menu names and USB options vary by manufacturer.

Modified builds and signature limits

This is where moving gets tricky, so it's worth understanding why.

Every Android app is signed. Android only lets you install an update over an existing app if both are signed with the same key. A modified build is signed with a different key from the original. Practical results:

• You can't install a modified build over the original version (or the other way round) and keep the data. Android refuses, and the usual fix is uninstalling, which deletes local progress.
• On the new phone, install the same file you used on the old phone. A different modified build of the same game may carry a different signature again.

Google sign-in often doesn't work in modified builds. Google sign-in and Play Games are tied to the original app's signing certificate. When the signature changes, sign-in commonly fails, so Play Games cloud saves usually aren't available. Progress in a modified build is often local only, and Option 3 or Option 5 is your route.

Signing in to a real account in a modified online game is a risk in itself. Online games can detect modified clients and act on the account. Read what gets an account banned with mod menus before linking anything you care about.

Save formats can differ between original and modified builds. If you switch from one to the other, back up the save folder first.

Single-player games like Micro RPG or Swamp Attack are good examples of where a local-folder backup is worth trying before you reset the old phone.

Quick checklist before you reset the old phone

• Every important game opened on the new phone and progress confirmed.
• Developer logins written down, guest profiles linked.
• Transfer codes saved off the old phone.
• Local save folders copied to a computer for offline and modified games.
• The exact installation files for modified builds kept, so you reinstall the same versions.

Once your saves are across, you might want to try a pad on the bigger screen: our guide to playing Android games with a controller covers pairing and key mapping. Or browse all games for something new to start.

FAQ

I signed in to Play Games but my progress didn't come back. Why? The game probably doesn't use Play Games saved games. Check its settings for a developer account, transfer code or cloud save option on the old phone.

Can I move progress from a modified build to the original game? Rarely. Different signatures block a direct update, and save formats may not match. If the game uses a server-side account, linking that account in a modified build carries ban risk.

Is it safe to delete the old phone's data once the new phone works? Only after you've opened each game on the new phone and seen your progress. Keep the computer backup of local saves for a while too.