WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps with over 2 billion users worldwide. It allows users to send messages, make voice and video calls, share photos and videos, and more. One of the key features of WhatsApp is the ability to backup chats to cloud storage like Google Drive or iCloud.
Backing up chats can be useful in case you lose your phone or need to restore your chats on a new device. However, sometimes users may want to permanently delete their WhatsApp backups for privacy or storage reasons.
Why Would You Want to Permanently Delete WhatsApp Backups?
Here are some common reasons why users may want to permanently delete their WhatsApp backups:
- To free up storage space – Backups can take up a lot of storage space on your phone or in the cloud.
- When switching phones – You may not want to transfer your old WhatsApp data to a new phone.
- Privacy concerns – There may be sensitive conversations or data in your chats you don’t want stored in the cloud.
- Leaving WhatsApp – If you want to stop using WhatsApp altogether, you’ll probably want to delete your backups.
Can You Delete WhatsApp Backups from Google Drive?
If you have WhatsApp backups stored on Google Drive, you can delete them through Google Drive settings:
- Open the Google Drive app or log into your Google Drive account online.
- Look for the folder named “WhatsApp” and open it.
- Select the backups you want to delete.
- Click the trash can icon to delete the selected backups.
- Confirm that you want to permanently delete the backups when prompted.
The selected WhatsApp backups will be removed from Google Drive storage. However, this does not delete the backup files from your phone’s local storage. To do that, you’ll need to clear your local WhatsApp data.
How to Delete Local WhatsApp Backups on Android
Here are the steps to delete local WhatsApp backups on Android phones:
- Open WhatsApp and tap the three-dot menu icon.
- Go to Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
- Tap on “Back Up” to disable automated backups.
- Tap “Delete All Backups” to permanently erase backups from phone storage.
- Confirm deletion when prompted.
This will remove all archived WhatsApp data from your Android phone’s local storage. Make sure to disable backups so new data doesn’t continue saving.
Using a File Manager App
You can also use a file manager app to manually locate and delete WhatsApp backup files on Android:
- Install a file manager app like Files by Google.
- Navigate to the WhatsApp folder, usually located at Android > media > com.whatsapp > WhatsApp > Databases.
- Select and delete the msgstore.db.crypt backup files.
How to Delete iCloud WhatsApp Backups on iPhone
For iPhones, WhatsApp data is backed up to iCloud by default. Here’s how to delete iCloud WhatsApp backups on an iPhone:
- Go to iPhone Settings > [your name] > iCloud.
- Tap Manage Storage.
- Select Backups then choose WhatsApp.
- Tap Delete Data to permanently erase the WhatsApp iCloud backup.
This will remove your WhatsApp backup data from iCloud storage. To also delete local backups:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
- Tap Delete All Backups and confirm.
Use a WhatsApp Backup Extractor
Another option is to use a third-party WhatsApp backup extractor tool to view and delete specific chats instead of your whole backup:
- Dr.Fone – WhatsApp Transfer is a good extractor for Android and iPhone.
- FonePaw Android WhatsApp Recovery can extract and delete WhatsApp backups on Android.
- iMyFone iTransor WhatsApp Transfer can selectively delete iCloud WhatsApp backups.
These tools allow you to preview, extract, and select certain conversations to delete from your WhatsApp backups while keeping other data intact if needed.
Tips for Permanently Deleting WhatsApp Backups
Here are some useful tips when permanently deleting WhatsApp backups:
- Disable auto-backup in WhatsApp settings so new backups aren’t created.
- Double check backups are deleted from both cloud storage and local phone storage.
- Use a WhatsApp backup extractor for selective deletion instead of mass deletion.
- Delete WhatsApp cache and data before uninstalling the app.
- Log out of WhatsApp on the old phone when moving to a new device.
Can You Recover Deleted WhatsApp Backups?
Once WhatsApp backups are permanently deleted from local phone storage and cloud storage, it is very difficult to recover them. However, there are a few options you could try:
- Restore from a previous phone or iCloud/Google Drive backup that still contains WhatsApp data.
- Use data recovery software to scan your phone storage for residual WhatsApp files.
- Connect your phone to a computer and use desktop recovery software.
- Contact WhatsApp to check if they still retain any encrypted backup copies on their servers.
But there is no guarantee with these methods. The best practice is to export or backup any important WhatsApp data you want to keep before permanently deleting backups.
Conclusion
Deleting WhatsApp backups permanently requires removing data from both cloud storage and your phone’s local storage. Make sure to disable backups, then delete both device and cloud copies. Use a backup extractor tool if you only want to delete certain chats.
Once fully deleted, WhatsApp backups are very difficult to recover. So be 100% certain before permanently erasing your chat history. With billions of users, WhatsApp will likely remain popular, but you still have the option to delete your data for privacy or while switching to a new phone.