WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. One of the key features of WhatsApp is its backup function, which allows users to save their chat history, media, and settings.
But does the WhatsApp backup really include everything from your account? Let’s take a closer look at what is and isn’t included in a WhatsApp backup.
What is included in a WhatsApp backup
Here are the key items that are included in a WhatsApp backup:
- Chat history – All of your text messages, group chats, and media messages are saved in the backup. This allows you to restore your entire message history if needed.
- Media – Photos, videos, GIFs, voice messages, and other media you have sent or received will be backed up. However, if the media is already saved your phone’s storage, it won’t be duplicated in the backup.
- Settings – Your WhatsApp settings, such as your profile name, About section, notification settings, and chat wallpapers will be preserved in the backup.
- Group info – The names, icons, and descriptions of any WhatsApp groups you are a member of will be included.
- Voicemail – Any voicemail messages saved in WhatsApp will be backed up.
So in summary, your messages, group info, media, and settings are all encompassed in a WhatsApp backup. This allows you to retain your full WhatsApp account if you ever need to restore it.
What is NOT included in a WhatsApp backup
While the WhatsApp backup casts a wide net, there are some items that are not captured:
- Call history – Your full log of incoming and outgoing WhatsApp calls is not backed up.
- Messages marked “keep” – If you have marked certain messages to be kept forever using the Keep option, this status will not be preserved in the backup.
- Linked Accounts – Your WhatsApp linked accounts, such as Facebook or Instagram, are not backed up. You’ll have to re-link them if restoring your backup.
- Starred messages – Your message star status is not included in the backup.
- Blocked contacts – Your blocked contacts will need to be blocked again after restoring your backup.
So in summary, your WhatsApp call history, Keep settings, linked accounts, starred messages, and blocked contacts are not saved. These items would need to be set up again if restoring your backup to a new device.
Backup Size Limitations
WhatsApp does limit the size of backups, which can affect what content gets included:
- Android – Backups are limited to 10 GB of storage on Android devices.
- iOS – Backups have a limit of 2 GB on iOS devices.
- Google Drive – Backups saved to Google Drive have a storage limit of 2 GB.
- iCloud – Backups to iCloud also have a 2 GB size limit.
If your backup content starts to exceed these size thresholds, your oldest chats and media may start being excluded from the backup in order to stay under the limit. So very long chat histories and large media files may get dropped eventually.
You can check your current backup size within WhatsApp’s Settings > Chats > Chat Backup. This will show you how much space you have available left for backups.
How Often is WhatsApp Backup Run?
WhatsApp backups do not run continuously. Instead, there is a periodic schedule for when backups occur:
- Android – Backups happen daily on Android, but only when the phone is idle, charging, and connected to WiFi.
- iOS – On iOS devices, backups occur once per week provided the phone is connected to power and WiFi.
- Manual – You can manually trigger a backup at any time from WhatsApp’s Settings menu.
So your WhatsApp backup will contain all of your chat history, media, and settings as of the last time it ran on its weekly or daily schedule. Any new activity since the last backup will only be captured whenever the next automatic backup cycle occurs.
How to Transfer WhatsApp Backup to New Phone
When you get a new phone, you’ll want to move your WhatsApp backup over to restore your full account. Here are the steps to transfer your backup and settings:
- On your old device, ensure you have a current WhatsApp backup by manually running one.
- On the new device, install WhatsApp and verify your number through SMS or call confirmation.
- When prompted, tap “Restore” to restore your chat history and settings from your previous device.
- Select the backup source – either Google Drive or iCloud depending on your device.
- WhatsApp will transfer the backup and restore your chats and media.
And that’s it! With those steps your full WhatsApp account will be seamlessly transferred to your new device.
How to Create Local WhatsApp Backup
By default, WhatsApp backups are saved remotely to either Google Drive or iCloud. But you can also create a local backup to store on your device’s storage:
- Go to WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
- Tap “Backup to Local Storage” to switch to local backups.
- Tap “Backup” to manually run a local backup now.
The advantage of local backups is they do not count against your Google Drive or iCloud storage quota. The disadvantage is that they are only stored on that device, so you cannot restore them if you lose the device.
Does WhatsApp Compress Backups?
To save storage space, WhatsApp does apply compression to backups. This compresses the size of attachments and media files while retaining their quality.
Compression rates vary based on media types. Some examples of typical compression rates:
- Photos – compressed up to 80% smaller
- Voice messages – compressed up to 50% smaller
- Videos – compressed up to 50% smaller
The compression occurs while the backup is being created. So the already-compressed size is what applies towards your backup quota.
This compression allows your messages, media, and files to take up less total space in your backup. So you can fit more content before hitting the size limits.
Can I Manage What’s in My WhatsApp Backup?
Besides the items that are always excluded from backups, you do not have much ability to directly customize what is and isn’t included in your WhatsApp backup.
Your main option to reduce backup size is to periodically prune very large files that may be taking up a lot of unnecessary space:
- Delete Large Files – Manually remove videos, voice notes, or other large files from chats whenever you no longer need them. This will keep them from being backed up.
- Clear Up Old Chats – Delete old chats you no longer really need to access. Archive or delete groups and conversations to stop including them going forward.
- Export Media – You can export very large media like long videos to storage outside of WhatsApp so they won’t count against your backup quota.
Other than that, you cannot pick and choose specific chats or media to include or exclude from WhatsApp backups.
Conclusion
To summarize what we learned:
- WhatsApp backups include your messages, media files, settings, groups, and voicemail.
- Backups do not include your call history, Keep media, linked accounts, starred messages, or blocked contacts.
- Backups are limited to 10 GB on Android, 2 GB on iOS, and 2 GB on Google Drive or iCloud.
- Backups run daily on Android when idle and charging, or weekly on iOS when connected to WiFi.
- You can transfer your backup when getting a new phone to carry over your full chat history.
- WhatsApp compresses backups to save storage space for media and attachments.
- Other than removing large files or chats, you cannot pick and choose what to include in your backup.
So while not absolutely everything makes it into your WhatsApp backup, it does include all of the most important data like your messages, groups, and media files. This allows you to recover your full WhatsApp account if you ever lose your phone or need to restore your chats on a new device.