WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 1 billion users worldwide. It allows you to send messages, photos, videos and make voice and video calls for free. All your WhatsApp data like messages, media, contacts etc are stored in your phone’s internal storage.
However, if you ever lose your phone or switch to a new one, you risk losing all your WhatsApp data unless you have a backup. The good news is WhatsApp gives you the option to backup your data to Google Drive. This allows you to restore your chats and media if you ever need to recover your WhatsApp account.
Backing Up WhatsApp to Google Drive
By default, WhatsApp takes daily backups to your phone’s internal storage. However, this backup will be lost if your phone is damaged, lost or wiped.
To make sure your WhatsApp chats are preserved even if your phone is changed, you need to enable Google Drive backups. Here are the steps to do it:
- Open WhatsApp and tap on the More options (3 dot) menu.
- Go to Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
- Tap on Backup to Google Drive and then tap on Account.
- Select your Google account.
- You can choose to backup over WiFi only or even when cellular data is enabled.
- Tap Back Up to start backing up your WhatsApp data to Google Drive.
The first time you enable Google Drive backup, it can take time depending on how big your WhatsApp data is. WhatsApp will continue to take daily backups to Google Drive each day. This will ensure your WhatsApp chats and media are preserved safely in Google Drive.
Restoring WhatsApp backup from Google Drive
If you ever lose your phone or switch to a new phone, you can restore your WhatsApp account along with messages, media, contacts from the Google Drive backup. Here are the steps to restore WhatsApp backup from Google Drive:
- Install WhatsApp on your new phone and launch it.
- Enter your phone number and tap Next.
- Instead of tapping OK to start a new account, tap Restore > Next.
- WhatsApp will look for available Google Drive backups for your number and display them.
- Select the backup you want to restore.
- Tap Restore to start restoring your chats and media from Google Drive.
- WhatsApp will overwrite your current data and restore everything from your backup.
Restoring from Google Drive backup will bring back all your old chats, media files, contacts etc. Your WhatsApp account will be exactly the same as before, with no data loss.
Some important points about Google Drive backup
Here are some important things to note about backing up and restoring WhatsApp data to Google Drive:
- Your phone needs to be connected to the internet for Google Drive backups to work.
- Only the latest backup is stored in Google Drive. Older backups are deleted.
- Media like photos and videos may not get restored sometimes if the backup size exceeds Google Drive’s limit.
- Messages and chats over 1 year old won’t be backed up.
- You can’t restore WhatsApp backup from one OS platform to another. For example, you can’t restore backup from Android phone to an iPhone.
Size of WhatsApp backups
The size of your WhatsApp backup on Google Drive depends on how much data (messages, media) you have in WhatsApp. Some users may get large backups exceeding 1 GB or more.
Here are the typical sizes for WhatsApp backups:
| Backup Size | Data Amount |
|---|---|
| Less than 100 MB | Very little WhatsApp data and media |
| 100 MB – 500 MB | Moderate use with some media shared |
| 500 MB – 1 GB | Heavy WhatsApp user with lots of media |
| Over 1 GB | Very frequent WhatsApp user with lots of photos and videos |
WhatsApp currently allows up to 12 GB of backup size on Google Drive for free. So you don’t need to worry about exceeding storage limits.
Managing Google Drive space for WhatsApp backups
Since WhatsApp backups can take up a lot of Google Drive storage space, you may want to monitor your usage and free up space when required. Here are some ways to manage Google Drive for WhatsApp backups:
Delete old WhatsApp backups
Only the most recent backup is retained in Google Drive by default. You can check for old backups and delete them to free up space:
- Open Google Drive and look under WhatsApp folder.
- Here you will see multiple backup files with date and time.
- Select the old backups you want to remove.
- Right click and delete the files.
This will remove the outdated backups and clear up Google Drive space.
Remove media from WhatsApp backup
Media like photos and videos take up the most space in WhatsApp backups. You can exclude media from backup to reduce the size:
- Go to WhatsApp > Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
- Uncheck the option for backing up videos.
- You can also exclude photos if you want.
- Tap Back Up to create a new backup without media.
The backup size will be much smaller. You can still restore chats and text messages if needed.
Buy more Google Drive storage
If your WhatsApp backups are exceeding the free 15 GB Google Drive space, you can purchase a larger storage plan:
- 100 GB plan – $1.99 per month
- 200 GB plan – $2.99 per month
- 2 TB plan – $9.99 per month
- 10 TB plan – $99.99 per month
- 20 TB plan – $199.99 per month
- 30 TB plan – $299.99 per month
Upgrading to a paid Google Drive plan will give you more space for WhatsApp backups and other files storage.
Transferring WhatsApp backups from iPhone to Android
When switching from an iPhone to Android, you can transfer your WhatsApp backup to retain your chats:
- On your iPhone, backup WhatsApp chats to iCloud.
- Install the Move to iOS app on your Android phone.
- Open it and select the option to transfer from iOS.
- Follow the prompts to move your iCloud backup to the Android device.
- Install WhatsApp on your Android and restore chats during setup.
- WhatsApp will extract the chat history from your iCloud backup.
This way you can seamlessly transfer WhatsApp data from an iPhone to your new Android phone.
Lost WhatsApp backup on Google Drive
In rare cases, your WhatsApp backup on Google Drive may get lost or corrupted. This can happen due to:
- Server issues at Google Drive.
- Software bugs in WhatsApp.
- Switching from Android to iPhone which uses iCloud.
- Uninstalling and reinstalling WhatsApp improperly.
If you find your WhatsApp backup missing from Google Drive, here are some things you can try:
- First, check your internet connection is working fine.
- Force stop WhatsApp and clear its cache and data.
- Re-enable Drive backup in WhatsApp and try manual backup.
- If backup is still missing, contact WhatsApp support.
- Try logging out and into Google Drive on your phone.
- As a last resort, delete and reinstall WhatsApp.
This will usually resolve any issues with your WhatsApp backup on Google Drive.
Conclusion
Backing up your WhatsApp chats to Google Drive gives you a convenient way to preserve your messages, media files, contacts etc. If you ever lose your phone or move to a new one, you can easily restore everything from Google Drive in a few taps.
Just remember to regularly verify backup is working fine, manage your Google Drive storage space, and take backups before moving smartphones. This will ensure your WhatsApp data stays safe and you never lose your precious memories and conversations.