WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. One of the key features of WhatsApp is the ability to send and receive photos, videos, documents and other media files. For iPhone users who rely on WhatsApp to communicate and share important memories, a key question arises – does iCloud backup include WhatsApp videos?
Keeping regular backups of your iPhone is critical to avoid losing important data and memories in case you lose or break your phone. iCloud provides seamless automatic backups for iPhone users, allowing you to store and sync your data across devices. Understanding exactly what gets backed up to iCloud is important to ensure you don’t lose any valuable WhatsApp data.
In this article, we’ll provide a detailed answer on whether iCloud backups include your WhatsApp videos. We’ll look at how iCloud backups work, what they do and don’t include, and how to check if your WhatsApp media is being backed up properly. We’ll also provide tips on alternative backup options for WhatsApp videos.
How iCloud Backups Work
Before looking specifically at WhatsApp, it’s important to understand what gets backed up by iCloud in general. Here’s a quick overview:
- Contacts – All contacts stored on your iPhone are backed up.
- Calendar – Your calendar events and details are backed up.
- Settings – This includes settings for mail, messages, safari, health data and other apps.
- App Data – Data stored by apps is backed up, but not the apps themselves.
- Photos – Photos and videos in your camera roll are backed up at their original resolution.
- Messages – iMessage, SMS and MMS messages are backed up.
iCloud backups happen automatically when your phone is charging, connected to WiFi and has an active internet connection. You can also initiate manual backups at any time from the Settings app.
Backups include nearly all data needed to restore your device to a previous state if needed. Importantly, iCloud does not back up the following:
- Music, books, movies, podcasts synced from iTunes.
- Photos already stored in iCloud Photos.
- Touch ID and Face ID settings.
- Apple Pay information and settings.
- Activity, Health and Keychain data (Encrypted separately).
- Temporary caches and logs.
- Apps themselves.
Now that we’ve covered the basics of iCloud backups, let’s look specifically at WhatsApp.
Does iCloud Backup WhatsApp Videos?
The short answer is no, iCloud backups do not include your WhatsApp videos.
Here are some key points on how WhatsApp data is handled in iCloud backups:
- Messages – Text messages, images, audio files and document attachments sent over WhatsApp are backed up.
- Media – WhatsApp media stored in your camera roll is backed up as part of your photos. But media solely stored within WhatsApp is NOT backed up.
- Videos – WhatsApp videos are NOT backed up to iCloud.
- Chat history – Your chat history and details are backed up, but without any related media files.
- Settings – WhatsApp settings are backed up, but no media files.
So in summary, while chats, text messages, and chat history can be restored from an iCloud backup, any videos or media stored exclusively within WhatsApp will NOT be included in an iCloud backup.
Why Doesn’t iCloud Backup WhatsApp Videos?
There are a couple of reasons why WhatsApp media is handled differently from photos in iCloud backups:
- Size limitations – Videos take up much more storage space compared to photos. Backing them up could cause iCloud quotas to be exceeded.
- Privacy – WhatsApp aims to keep communications end-to-end encrypted. Backing up videos could compromise this.
- Compatibility – Other cloud services like Google Drive are better equipped to handle backups of WhatsApp data.
Due to these reasons, Apple made the decision to leave WhatsApp videos out of iCloud backups. While it may be inconvenient, there are workarounds to backup your videos separately.
How to Backup WhatsApp Videos
If you want to make sure your WhatsApp videos are backed up, here are 3 options:
Use WhatsApp’s Google Drive Backup
WhatsApp has built-in integration with Google Drive to backup your chat history, media and settings. This is the recommended way to backup your WhatsApp videos specifically.
To enable Google Drive backups:
- Open WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
- Tap Backup to Google Drive.
- Log into your Google account and choose backup frequency.
- Tap Account, then Back Up Now to manually start a backup.
With Google Drive backup enabled, your WhatsApp videos will be saved along with other data.
Export WhatsApp Videos to a Storage Service
Another option is to manually export your WhatsApp videos to a cloud storage service like Google Drive, Dropbox or iCloud Drive periodically.
To export WhatsApp videos:
- Open the WhatsApp chat with the video you want to export.
- Tap and hold the video to select it.
- Tap the export icon in the top right.
- Choose Export Video from the menu.
- Select the cloud storage service to export it to.
By manually exporting videos, you can save copies to sync across devices and prevent loss.
Use a Third-Party Backup App
Some third party apps like iMazing and PhoneView allow you to create full local backups of your WhatsApp data, including videos. They can backup media files independently of iCloud.
However, these may require a computer to create backups and some paid versions. Check their feature list before using a third party backup app.
| Backup Method | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Google Drive | Seamless WhatsApp integration | Counts against Google storage quota |
| Manual Export | Free option | Time consuming process |
| Third-party app | Full local backup | Potential costs, more complex |
Tips for Backing Up WhatsApp Videos
Here are some tips to ensure your WhatsApp videos are properly backed up:
- Set up Google Drive backup for seamless automated backups.
- Periodically export new videos to external storage services.
- Don’t delete WhatsApp videos before backing them up elsewhere.
- Check backup status in Settings to confirm backups completing properly.
- Back up important videos immediately rather than waiting for auto backup.
WhatsApp Support for iCloud Backups
While WhatsApp videos are not currently part of iCloud backups, there are indications this could change in the future:
- WhatsApp has announced plans to improve iCloud backup integration in upcoming updates to the app.
- iOS 13 screenshots showed WhatsApp settings to enable iCloud backups, though the feature did not actually ship.
- Code in recent WhatsApp updates contains further evidence of iCloud backup support in development.
Based on this, it’s likely WhatsApp will eventually directly back up videos and other media to iCloud in the same way photos are handled. This would eliminate the need for separate Google Drive backups or exports. However, there is no definitive timeline for when integrated iCloud backups will be enabled.
Conclusion
To summarize the key points:
- iCloud backups do NOT currently include WhatsApp videos.
- WhatsApp media needs to be backed up separately using Google Drive, exports or third party apps.
- This is due to limitations, privacy and compatibility reasons.
- Enable Google Drive backup or regularly export new videos for protection.
- WhatsApp is planning future improvements to iCloud backup support.
Following the recommendations outlined, you can make sure critical WhatsApp videos are backed up. While iCloud does not directly backup WhatsApp media at this time, there are straightforward workarounds you can utilize until better integrated solutions are enabled.