WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps with over 2 billion users worldwide. One of the key features that makes WhatsApp so useful is the ability to backup and restore your chat history. This allows you to save your conversations and easily transfer them when switching phones or reinstalling the app. But how exactly does WhatsApp’s chat backup work? Here is a detailed look at the ins and outs of backing up your chats on WhatsApp.
What gets backed up in WhatsApp chat backup
When you backup your WhatsApp chats, the following data is saved:
- Your chat history – All of your conversations are backed up, including text messages, photos, videos and voice messages you have exchanged.
- Media files – Any media such as photos, videos and voice notes you have received are backed up.
- Contacts – The contacts in your WhatsApp account are saved.
- Settings – Your WhatsApp settings such as your profile name, About section and notification settings are backed up.
Some things that are NOT backed up include:
- Call history
- Location data shared
- Read receipts
So in summary, your messages, media files, contacts and app settings are backed up, giving you a full snapshot of your chats and account details. Your call logs and some metadata is not saved.
Where is WhatsApp chat backup saved
WhatsApp gives you two options for where your chat backup data can be saved:
- Google Drive – This is the recommended option. Your backup is stored securely in your linked Google Drive account. You get free unlimited storage for your WhatsApp backups here.
- Local storage – Your backup can also be saved locally on your device storage. However, this backup will be deleted if you uninstall WhatsApp or clear its data. Local storage also has a size limit.
Google Drive is typically the best option since it gives you free cloud storage and means your chats remain safe even if your phone is changed or lost. The backups on Google Drive also will not contribute to your Google storage quota.
How to change WhatsApp chat backup location
Follow these steps to change where your WhatsApp backups are saved:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings.
- Tap on Chats.
- Tap on Chat Backup.
- Tap on Backup to Google Drive or Backup to Local Storage based on your preference.
That’s it! Your new chat backups will now go to the selected destination.
How often does WhatsApp backup chats
WhatsApp is set to backup your chats daily by default. The scheduled time for the daily backup is 2AM to 6AM.
You can however change the frequency of backups in Settings:
- Never – Turns off scheduled backups. You will need to manually backup.
- Daily – Default option. Backs up once a day.
- Weekly – Backs up every Sunday.
- Monthly – Backs up on the 1st of every month.
Setting your backup to daily is recommended to prevent losing significant chat history if you lose your phone or reinstall WhatsApp.
How to manually backup WhatsApp chats
Apart from the scheduled backups, you can also manually trigger a WhatsApp chat backup anytime:
- Open WhatsApp.
- Go to Settings.
- Tap Chats.
- Tap Chat Backup.
- Tap Back Up Now.
This will immediately start a backup of your chat history. It’s a good idea to manually backup before resetting your phone or reinstalling WhatsApp.
How to restore WhatsApp chat backup
If you get a new phone, reinstall WhatsApp, or lose your chats, you can restore your backup to recover your chat history. Here is how to restore a WhatsApp backup:
- Install and open WhatsApp on your device.
- On the Get Started screen, tap Restore.
- Confirm your country code and enter your phone number.
- WhatsApp will automatically look for available backups linked to your number.
- When prompted, tap Restore to recover your most recent backup.
Your chats, media and settings will all be restored from your Google Drive or local backup. Pretty handy!
How to restore older WhatsApp backup
By default, WhatsApp restores your most recent backup file when you reinstall the app. But what if you want to restore an older backup?
If you have multiple backup files saved on Google Drive, here is how to restore an older one:
- When prompted to restore a backup, tap Manually select backup.
- On the next screen, you will see a list of dates of your WhatsApp backups on Google Drive.
- Simply tap on the date of the backup you want to restore.
This will let you recover an older backup if needed. Keep in mind only the most recent backup is saved locally.
WhatsApp chat backup size
Backing up your WhatsApp chats takes up storage space. Here are the key details on WhatsApp backup sizes:
- Backups saved to Google Drive do not count towards your Google storage quota. You get unlimited free storage for WhatsApp chat backups here.
- Backups saved locally are limited to the free space available on your phone storage.
- WhatsApp does not limit the size of chat backups. The size depends entirely on your chat history and media.
- Large media files like photos and videos take up the most backup space compared to plain text.
Since Google Drive gives you unlimited storage, most users don’t need to worry about WhatsApp backup size limits. But if you backup locally, you may occasionally need to clear space if backups grow too large.
How to reduce WhatsApp backup size
If your WhatsApp backups start taking up too much device storage, here are some tips to reduce the backup size:
- Delete old chats you don’t need backed up anymore.
- Clear large files and media you have already saved elsewhere.
- Turn off periodic backup and only manually backup when needed.
- If backing up locally, enable Google Drive backup instead.
- Upgrade your device storage capacity if needed.
cleaning up old chats and media in your conversation is the best way to trim down the size of your WhatsApp backups.
How to delete WhatsApp chat backup
If you need to delete your WhatsApp backups to free up space or due to privacy concerns, here is how you can do it:
Delete Google Drive backup
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
- Tap Delete Backup Account.
- Tap Delete Backup to confirm.
This will permanently delete all your WhatsApp chat backups saved on Google Drive.
Delete local backup
- Go to WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
- Tap Back Up To Local Storage.
- Tap Delete All Backups.
- Confirm deletion in the popup.
This will delete all locally saved backups. Note that you need to disable Google Drive backup first to delete local files.
And that’s a wrap on managing your WhatsApp chat backups! Following these tips will help you never lose your valuable chat history even if you switch phones or reinstall the app.
Conclusion
Backing up your WhatsApp chats is important to avoid losing your precious conversations, media and info. Thankfully, WhatsApp makes it easy to schedule regular backups, gives you storage options like local or Google Drive, and lets you restore when needed.
Key things to remember about WhatsApp backup are:
- It saves your messages, media, contacts and settings.
- Backups happen daily but you can also do manual backups.
- You can save backups to Google Drive or local device storage.
- Restoring brings back your most recent or older backups.
- Google Drive storage for backups is unlimited but local backup has size limits.
- Cleaning up old chats can reduce backup size.
So safeguard your priceless memories and moments. Back up your WhatsApp chats regularly. With these tips, you’ll never have to worry about losing your conversation history again!