How to backup WhatsApp messages?

WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps with over 2 billion users worldwide. It allows users to send messages, photos, videos and make voice and video calls. WhatsApp stores all your conversations and media on your phone which can take up a considerable amount of storage space over time.

It is crucial to regularly backup your WhatsApp data either to your phone’s internal storage or to external storage like your computer. Backing up your WhatsApp messages ensures you have a copy of your data and conversations in case you lose your phone, switch devices or reinstall WhatsApp. Your backup also transfers over your messages when you set up WhatsApp on a new device.

Why should you backup WhatsApp?

Here are some key reasons to backup your WhatsApp data:

• Preserve your chat history – Backing up ensures you have a copy of all your conversations even if you switch devices or reinstall WhatsApp.
• Transfer chats to a new device – Your backup makes it easy to transfer your messages when you set up WhatsApp on a new device.
• Free up phone storage – Backing up to an external storage like a computer frees up space on your phone.
• Safeguard important media – You have extra copies of all the photos, videos and files you have shared on WhatsApp.
• Protect against data loss – Losing your phone or accidental data loss won’t mean losing your WhatsApp data if you have a backup.

How often should you backup WhatsApp?

To ensure you have the most up-to-date backup, it’s recommended to backup your WhatsApp messages on a regular basis such as:

• Once a week
• Everytime you have an important conversation
• Before uninstalling or reinstalling WhatsApp
• Before updating your phone’s operating system
• Before resetting or changing your phone

Backing up frequently reduces the risk of losing your chat history and ensures you never lose your important WhatsApp data.

How to backup WhatsApp messages on Android

Here are the steps to backup WhatsApp to your Google Drive on Android:

1. Open WhatsApp and tap on the More options icon (three vertical dots).
2. Select Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
3. Tap on Back up to Google Drive and select a backup frequency – daily, weekly, monthly etc.
4. Tap Back up over mobile data if you want backups to happen even when not on WiFi.
5. Tap Account and select the Google account you want to backup to.
6. Tap Back up to manually trigger an instant backup.

Your WhatsApp messages, photos, videos will now automatically backup to your Google Drive storage.

How to backup WhatsApp to internal storage on Android

You can also backup WhatsApp locally to your device’s internal storage:

1. Open WhatsApp and tap More options > Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
2. Tap Backup to Google Drive and select Back up to this device.
3. Choose a backup frequency and tap Back up to initiate a manual backup.

Your WhatsApp chats will be backed up to a folder on your phone’s internal storage. However, this backup will be lost if your phone is damaged, lost or wiped.

How to backup WhatsApp on iPhone

On iPhone, WhatsApp is backed up automatically to iCloud. Here’s how to check your iCloud backup settings for WhatsApp:

1. Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud.
2. Check if WhatsApp is included in Apps Using iCloud.
3. Tap on iCloud Backup and ensure backup is enabled.
4. Connect your phone to power and WiFi to allow backups to complete.

Your WhatsApp data will now be included in daily iCloud backups. You can also manually trigger an instant iCloud backup by going to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup > Back Up Now.

How to backup WhatsApp to iTunes on iPhone

You can also backup WhatsApp messages to your computer using iTunes:

1. Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes.
2. Under Backups, select This computer for backups.
3. Click on Backup Now to initiate a manual backup.
4. When the backup completes, your WhatsApp data will be saved on your computer.

The iTunes backup provides a secondary backup location for your WhatsApp data.

How to restore WhatsApp messages from backup

If you get a new phone or reinstall WhatsApp, you can restore your chat history and messages from a previous backup. On Android, restore WhatsApp from Google Drive backup:

1. Install WhatsApp on your new device and verify your number.
2. On the Restore from backup? screen, tap Restore.
3. Select the Google account that has your WhatsApp backup.
4. WhatsApp will restore your chats and data from the backup.

On iPhone, your backup will automatically be restored when you install WhatsApp with the same Apple ID used previously.

You can also manually restore chats from an iTunes backup on iPhone. Connect your new iPhone to the computer containing the iTunes backup and click Restore Backup to restore WhatsApp data.

How to transfer WhatsApp from Android to iPhone

To move your WhatsApp history from an Android phone to iPhone:

1. Backup WhatsApp on your Android phone to Google Drive.
2. Install the Move to iOS app on your Android phone and follow setup instructions.
3. A code will be displayed on your iPhone. Enter this on the Android phone.
4. Select WhatsApp on the Transfer Data screen.
5. Tap Start on Android and Continue on iPhone to transfer data.
6. Once transfer completes, install WhatsApp on your iPhone to access your chat history.

Transfer WhatsApp from iPhone to Android

To move your WhatsApp messages from iPhone to Android:

1. Backup WhatsApp on your iPhone to iCloud.
2. On your iPhone, uninstall WhatsApp.
3. Install WhatsApp on your Android phone and verify number.
4. On Restore from backup? screen, tap Restore.
5. Log in using the same iCloud account containing your WhatsApp backup.
6. WhatsApp will restore your chats and data from iCloud.

WhatsApp cloud backups size limit

Here are the size limits for WhatsApp backups on Google Drive and iCloud:

Cloud Storage	Free Backup Limit
Google Drive	Up to 12 GB
iCloud	Unlimited

On Google Drive, once your backup exceeds 12 GB, you will need to purchase additional storage to continue backing up your WhatsApp data. There is no size limit for WhatsApp backups on iCloud.

Turn off WhatsApp backup

Follow these steps if you want to disable WhatsApp backups:

Turn off Android backup

1. Open WhatsApp and tap More options > Settings.
2. Go to Chats > Chat backup.
3. Tap Back up to Google Drive and select Never.

Turn off iPhone backup

1. Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud.
2. Tap on Manage Storage under iCloud.
3. Select WhatsApp and turn off the switch.

This will stop backing up your WhatsApp data to the cloud. However, you will lose your chat history if you uninstall WhatsApp or switch devices.

Exclude large videos from WhatsApp backup

WhatsApp backups can be large, especially if you share a lot of videos. To exclude videos from the backup and save storage space:

Android

1. Open WhatsApp and tap More options > Settings.
2. Select Chats > Chat backup.
3. Enable the ‘Exclude videos from backups’ option.

iPhone

1. Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage.
2. Select WhatsApp and enable ‘Reduce Backup Size’.

This will prevent large videos from being included in your WhatsApp backup. Other media like photos will still be backed up.

Delete WhatsApp backup

If you need to delete your WhatsApp backup from Google Drive or iCloud, here are the steps:

Delete Android backup

1. On your phone, open WhatsApp and tap More options.
2. Go to Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
3. Tap Delete backup account.

This will erase your WhatsApp backup from Google Drive.

Delete iPhone backup

1. Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage.
2. Select WhatsApp chat backup and tap Delete Backup.

Your WhatsApp backup will be removed from iCloud storage. You can also disable iCloud backup for WhatsApp to stop backups.

Encryption protects WhatsApp backups

WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption to secure messages and calls. Backups are also encrypted:

• Android backups are encrypted with a unique key only you control.
• iPhone backups to iCloud are encrypted using iOS data protection.

The encryption ensures only you can access your backed up WhatsApp data. However, anyone with your phone’s lock screen passcode can restore and access your chats.

Use third-party apps to manage WhatsApp backup

Some third-party apps provide greater control over managing your WhatsApp backup:

• WAMR – Backup WhatsApp to computer and restore chats on any device.
• iMyFone iTransor – Encrypts backups and allows transferring WhatsApp between iOS and Android.
• CopyTrans Manager – Easily backup, merge and transfer WhatsApp chats.

These tools provide alternative options to backup and migrate your WhatsApp data.

Use Telegram or Signal as WhatsApp alternative

Some alternative messaging apps to WhatsApp include:

Telegram

• Backs up chats securely to cloud.
• Syncs message history across devices.
• Allows exporting chats as JSON files.
• Desktop and web app available.

Signal

• End-to-end encrypted backup to cloud.
• Restores messages when reinstalling.
• Simpler interface focused on privacy.
• Supports secure group chats.

These apps provide secure, encrypted backup options as an alternative to WhatsApp.

Conclusion

Regularly backing up your WhatsApp messages enables you to preserve your chat history, migrate data to a new device and safeguard your memories and conversations on the app. WhatsApp provides automated backups to cloud storage like Google Drive and iCloud which you can encrypt and restore when needed. You can also use third-party backup tools for greater flexibility.

Setting up a consistent backup schedule ensures you never lose your invaluable WhatsApp data due to device issues, upgrades or app reinstalls. Combined with WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption, comprehensive backups give you both security and convenience.