WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, with over 2 billion users. It allows you to easily communicate with friends, family and coworkers through text, voice messages, video calls and more.
One great feature of WhatsApp is its built-in backup option. This allows you to save your WhatsApp data like messages, media and settings to the cloud or your device’s local storage. However, WhatsApp does not natively allow you to backup your data directly to your email.
In this article, we’ll look at whether it’s possible to backup your WhatsApp data via email and some potential workarounds to achieve this. We’ll also discuss the pros and cons of backing up WhatsApp by email.
Is it possible to directly backup WhatsApp by email?
Unfortunately, there is no direct way to backup your WhatsApp data to an email account. The app does not have a built-in feature to export your chat history or media and attach it to an email.
WhatsApp currently only allows you to backup your data in two ways:
- To iCloud (for iOS users)
- To Google Drive (for Android users)
Backups to iCloud and Google Drive are done automatically on a daily basis as long as you have an active internet connection. You also have the option to manually trigger a backup by going into WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
But again, there is no way to directly port this backup over email through the app itself. The backup files are stored in a proprietary format that is not readable through regular email.
Potential workarounds to backup WhatsApp by email
Even though WhatsApp does not directly allow email backups, there are some workarounds you can use to get your WhatsApp data into an email format:
1. Email chat history as text
While you can’t attach your actual WhatsApp backup file to an email, you can manually copy and paste your individual WhatsApp chats into a text file or document. You won’t be able to include media, but you will have a text record of your conversations.
To do this:
- Open the WhatsApp chat you want to export.
- Tap and hold on the conversation.
- Select all messages (may have to select and copy portions of long chats).
- Paste the copied text into a text editing app.
- Organize the text into a document.
- Email this as a file attachment.
It’s more time consuming than a full backup, but allows you to preserve chat histories in an emailable format.
2. Convert Android backup to Google Drive and email
For Android users, you can backup WhatsApp to Google Drive and then access those files from your Gmail:
- Verify WhatsApp is backing up properly to Google Drive.
- Open Google Drive on your computer or mobile device.
- Locate the WhatsApp folder.
- Select the files you want to email.
- Click the share icon and choose to email the files.
This gives you access to your chat history, media files and other data from Google Drive. The files will still be in a compressed format. The recipient may need special software to open them.
3. Use a third-party backup software
Some third-party apps claim to offer WhatsApp backup to email capabilities:
- WazzapMigrator – Android app that can export WhatsApp chats and media to an email attachment.
- CopyTrans Contacts – Software for PC/Mac that can backup and transfer WhatsApp data by email.
- SimiCopy – Tool to export WhatsApp messages to PDF or Excel formats that can be emailed.
However, be cautious when using third-party backup apps. Make sure to research the app, read reviews and evaluate security practices before downloading, as some may have privacy or malware risks.
Pros of backing up WhatsApp by email
Here are some potential benefits of being able to backup WhatsApp data through email:
- Wide compatibility – Email is universally compatible across platforms and devices.
- Easy sharing – Can easily share WhatsApp backup files by sending attachments.
- No platform restriction – Don’t need iCloud or Google Drive account to access backups.
- Added backup – Provides an alternate backup option beyond the cloud.
- Local storage – Backups are stored locally on your device or computer.
For some users, having the ability to quickly email WhatsApp backups provides more flexibility than the default cloud backup options.
Cons of backing up WhatsApp by email
However, there are also some downsides to consider:
- No native support – No official or straightforward way to do this through WhatsApp.
- Laborious process – Manually exporting chats is time-consuming.
- Size limitations – Emails have attachments size limits.
- Privacy risks – Backups not end-to-end encrypted like WhatsApp.
- Third-party app risks – Potential malware/data privacy issues.
Unless WhatsApp builds in native email backup support, the process involves workarounds that take time and have risks. For many users, the cloud backup options may be easier and more secure.
Should you backup WhatsApp by email?
Whether you should attempt to backup WhatsApp by email depends on your specific needs:
- If you want a secondary copy of your chats and don’t require regular or automated backups, email could be helpful.
- If you need to frequently share WhatsApp files larger than attach
Pros Cons - Wide compatibility
- Easy sharing
- No platform restriction
- Added backup option
- Local storage
- No native support
- Laborious process
- Size limitations
- Privacy risks
- Third-party app risks
When email backup could make sense
- Need a secondary chat history copy as redundancy
- Want the ability to email specific media or chats
- Have limited or unreliable internet for cloud backups
- Need to transfer data between different platforms
When cloud backup may be better
- If you need frequent, automated backups
- If you have lots of media to backup
- If you want end-to-end encrypted backups
- If you only use WhatsApp on one device
So in summary, while emailing WhatsApp backups is limited, it can be useful in some specific situations. But for most users, the automatic cloud backups are easier and more robust.
Conclusion
WhatsApp currently does not have a native feature to allow you to directly backup chats and data by email. This is because the app’s backups use a proprietary database format not viewable as regular files.
It is possible to export your WhatsApp chats manually into documents or find third-party apps that claim to help transfer WhatsApp backups by email. However, these workarounds take time, may have compatibility issues or risks, and will not provide complete backups.
For most users, the automatic encrypted backups to iCloud or Google Drive will be easier and safer. But in certain situations where you need to transfer files across platforms or have limited internet, email backups provide an alternative option.
Overall, directly emailing WhatsApp backups is limited by technical constraints. Unless WhatsApp builds in native support for this, cloud backups remain the recommended way for most people to reliably safeguard their WhatsApp data.