Backing up your WhatsApp chats to Google Drive is an easy way to keep your chat history safe. Here are the steps to back up your WhatsApp chats on an iPhone:
Why Back Up WhatsApp Chats
There are a few key reasons why you may want to back up your WhatsApp chats:
- Preserve chat history if you lose or switch phones
- Restore chats if you accidentally delete WhatsApp
- Transfer chats to a new phone
Without a backup, you risk losing all your WhatsApp chat history if anything happens to your phone. Backing up to Google Drive ensures your chats are safe and accessible even if your phone is damaged, lost or upgraded.
How WhatsApp Backups on iPhone Work
WhatsApp uses iCloud by default to back up your chats on iPhone. However, you can switch the backup to Google Drive for more storage capacity and cross-platform accessibility.
With Google Drive backup enabled, WhatsApp will automatically save a copy of your chats to your Google account each day when your phone is charging, connected to Wi-Fi, and the screen is locked. This allows your chat history to stay in sync across devices.
Requirements for Google Drive Backup
To back up WhatsApp chats to Google Drive on iPhone, you need:
- The latest version of WhatsApp installed
- A Google account added to your iPhone
- A reliable Wi-Fi connection
- Your iPhone battery charged to at least 50%
As long as these requirements are met, WhatsApp will seamlessly handle the backups each day.
How to Enable Google Drive Backups
Enabling Google Drive backups for WhatsApp only takes a few taps in the app settings:
- Open WhatsApp and tap Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
- Tap Back Up To Google Drive.
- Tap Account and select the Google account you want to back up to.
- Tap Back Up Over to choose cellular data or Wi-Fi only.
- Tap Auto Backup to enable daily automatic backups.
That’s all there is to it! WhatsApp will now continuously back up your chats to your Google Drive.
Where to Find WhatsApp Backups on Google Drive
Your WhatsApp backups will be saved to your Google Drive account. To locate them:
- Open the Google Drive app or log in to Google Drive on the web.
- Open the menu and tap Backups.
- Your WhatsApp chat backups will be listed here as separate dated files.
You can also search “WhatsApp” to quickly find all your backups in Google Drive.
Manage Your Backups in Google Drive
In Google Drive, you have options to manage and restore your WhatsApp backups:
- View backup details – See date, size and content details for each backup.
- Download backup – Download a backup file to your computer.
- Delete backups – Remove unneeded backups to save storage space.
- Restore backup – Restore a WhatsApp backup to your device.
With these tools, you have full control over your chat history in Google Drive.
How to Restore WhatsApp Backups from Google Drive
If you ever need to restore your chats from a Google Drive backup, here are the steps:
- Reinstall WhatsApp and verify your number.
- On the Back up chats screen, tap Restore > Next.
- Select the backup you want to restore.
- Tap Restore to complete the process.
Your chats, media and settings will all be restored to WhatsApp on your iPhone.
Troubleshooting Google Drive Backups
Here are some common issues with troubleshooting steps:
| Issue | Fix |
|---|---|
| Backups not working |
|
| Restore not working |
|
| Missing chats in backup |
|
WhatsApp Backup Size Limit
WhatsApp backups to Google Drive have the following size limits:
- Each backup file can be up to 2 GB.
- Your most recent backup does not count towards your Google Drive storage limit.
- Older backups count towards your overall Google Drive storage.
- You can have unlimited backup files, but only the most recent will not count towards storage.
So even if you have hundreds of GBs worth of backups, you won’t run out of space as long as you occasionally delete old backups.
Enable Encrypted Backups
For enhanced security, you can enable encrypted backups to Google Drive:
- Go to WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
- Tap End-to-end encrypted backup.
- Tap Continue and create a password.
- Confirm the password and tap Turn On.
This will encrypt future backups with your password so the contents are not accessible to anyone else.
Alternative Backup Methods
Aside from Google Drive, there are other ways to back up and restore WhatsApp chats:
- Local backup – Manually back up to device storage or computer.
- iCloud backup – Automatic iPhone backups to iCloud.
- Email chat history – Email yourself chat exports.
However, Google Drive backup provides the most seamless cross-platform cloud backup solution for iPhone users.
Conclusion
Backing up WhatsApp to Google Drive ensures your chats are protected. Just enable auto-backup in settings, manage your backups in Google Drive, and restore whenever needed. Consistently backing up your chats safeguards your conversation history.