WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. One of the great features of WhatsApp is the ability to backup your chat history, media, and settings, allowing you to restore your chats if you ever switch phones or lose your device. By default, WhatsApp backs up to iCloud for iOS users, and Google Drive for Android users. But can you change this default backup location if desired?
Backing up WhatsApp chats
WhatsApp gives you the option to backup your chats daily, weekly, monthly, or never. Backups happen automatically when your phone is connected to power and WiFi, unless you disable auto-backup. Manual backups can also be triggered anytime by going into WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
On iOS devices, WhatsApp backs up to iCloud by default. The backup includes your chat history, media files sent and received, WhatsApp settings, and more. To enable iCloud backup you need to be signed into an iCloud account on your iPhone. Your chat backup will not count against your iCloud storage quota.
On Android phones, WhatsApp backs up to your Google Drive account by default. You need to be signed into a Google account on your device with ample storage space in Google Drive. WhatsApp chat backups on Google Drive currently count against your Google storage quota.
Changing WhatsApp backup location
For iOS users, there is no built-in way to change the backup location from iCloud to something else like Google Drive or local storage. This is a limitation imposed by Apple. However, there are a few potential workarounds:
- Use a third-party app like iMazing or PhoneView to export your WhatsApp chats to a Mac or PC. Then you can upload the chat backups anywhere, like Google Drive.
- Jailbreak your iPhone, which allows installing tweaks or apps that can route WhatsApp backups to different locations.
- Sync your iCloud photos to Google Photos. Since WhatsApp media is included in iCloud backups, this indirectly copies your media to Google.
For Android users, you can easily change the chat backup location from Google Drive to local device storage. Here’s how:
- Open WhatsApp Settings
- Go to Chats > Chat Backup
- Tap Back Up To Google Drive and select Back Up To This Device Instead
This will switch new WhatsApp backups to be stored locally on your Android device rather than syncing to Google Drive. Existing backups on Google Drive will remain untouched.
Restoring WhatsApp backups
If you get a new phone and need to restore your chat history, the process will depend on your backup location:
- iCloud backup: When setting up your new iPhone, make sure you sign into the same iCloud account used on your old phone. WhatsApp will prompt you to restore chats and data from the iCloud backup.
- Google Drive backup: Download and install WhatsApp on your new Android phone. Sign into your Google account when prompted. WhatsApp will detect your existing chat backup on Google Drive and allow you to restore it.
- Local device backup: Copy the WhatsApp backup files from your old device storage to the new phone. Then open WhatsApp, tap Settings > Chats > Chat Backup > Restore to restore chats.
No matter where your backups are saved, remember to create a recent backup before wiping your old phone. This ensures you don’t lose any recent WhatsApp chats and data when moving to a new device.
Pros and cons of different backup locations
Here is a comparison of the pros and cons for the different WhatsApp backup options:
| Backup Location | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| iCloud |
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| Google Drive |
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| Local Storage |
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Should you backup WhatsApp chats to Google Drive?
For Android users, backing up WhatsApp chats to Google Drive is recommended for a few reasons:
- It’s seamless – backups happen automatically in the background
- Chats are accessible across any Android or iOS device signed into your Google account
- If you lose your phone, restoring chats is easy when setting up a new Android device
The downside is counting against your Google Drive storage quota, especially if you have a lot of large media files exchanged on WhatsApp. If this is an issue, you can periodically export your WhatsApp chat history and media to your computer or external storage using a third-party app.
For iPhone users, iCloud is your only integrated option for WhatsApp backups. While you can’t natively backup chats to Google Drive, workarounds like syncing iCloud photos to Google Photos can partially achieve a similar result.
Conclusion
To summarize:
- WhatsApp allows automatic chat backups to iCloud for iOS, Google Drive for Android
- iOS users cannot natively switch backups to Google Drive or other locations
- Android users can change backup location to local device storage
- Each backup option has pros and cons to weigh
- For most Android users, Google Drive backup is recommended
- iPhone users are locked into iCloud for seamless WhatsApp backups
Backing up your WhatsApp chats is important to avoid losing your messaging history if you ever lose your phone or switch devices. Understanding the backup options available for your platform helps ensure your chats are protected.