WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app used by over 2 billion people worldwide. It allows users to send messages, make voice and video calls, and share photos, videos, documents and more. One of the most useful features in WhatsApp is the ability to backup chats and chat settings.
What is Chat Settings Backup?
The chat settings backup feature allows users to save their WhatsApp preferences and settings. This includes things like:
- Profile name and photo
- About information
- Last seen and online presence settings
- Read receipts settings
- Chat wallpaper
- Notification settings
- Privacy settings
- Blocked contact list
So basically all your account information and preferences are backed up, except for your actual chats themselves. This can be useful if you ever need to restore your settings or transfer them to a new device.
How Does Chat Settings Backup Work?
WhatsApp gives users two options for backing up their chat settings:
- Back up to Google Drive (Android only)
- Back up locally to device storage
Google Drive Backup (Android)
If you’re using WhatsApp on an Android device, your chat settings are automatically backed up daily to your linked Google Drive account. As long as you have an active internet connection, your settings will be securely uploaded to the cloud.
Some benefits of Google Drive backup include:
- Settings are saved remotely so they won’t be lost if your phone is damaged, lost or upgraded.
- Easy to transfer settings to a new Android device just by logging into your Google account.
- Backups happen automatically without user intervention.
Local Backup
You can also choose to back up your WhatsApp chat settings locally to your device’s storage. This creates a backup file on your phone which can be used to restore if needed.
Advantages of local backup include:
- Doesn’t require an internet connection after the initial backup.
- Provides a backup if you don’t use Google Drive.
- May be faster than uploading to the cloud.
The downside is that the backup file is only stored on your device, so you’ll need to manually transfer it if switching phones.
How to Backup Chat Settings
Backing up your WhatsApp chat settings is easy and only takes a few minutes. Here are step-by-step instructions for both backup methods:
Google Drive Backup (Android)
- Open WhatsApp and tap the More options (three dots) icon.
- Go to Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
- Tap Back up to Google Drive and confirm.
That’s it! Your chat settings will now be backed up automatically each day.
Local Backup
- Open WhatsApp and tap More options > Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
- Tap Back up to local storage.
- Choose whether you want backups to happen Daily, Weekly or Monthly.
- Tap Back up to create your first local backup file.
You can return to the Chat backup settings anytime to create a new backup file.
How to Restore Backup
If you ever need to restore your backed up WhatsApp chat settings, here is what to do:
Google Drive Backup (Android)
- Reinstall WhatsApp on your device or install on a new device.
- Enter your phone number and tap Restore when prompted.
- Tap Restore from Google Drive backup.
- Select the backup file you want to restore.
Your chat settings will be retrieved from Google Drive and applied to WhatsApp.
Local Backup
- Reinstall WhatsApp on your device or move to a new device.
- On the Registration screen, tap Restore > Next.
- Select the local backup file to restore.
This will load your locally saved chat settings into WhatsApp.
WhatsApp Chat Settings Backup Limitations
While the chat settings backup is very useful, there are some limitations to be aware of:
- Actual chat histories are not saved, only your settings.
- Media files like photos and videos are not backed up.
- You can only restore from Google Drive on an Android device.
- Backups do not transfer from iPhone to Android or vice versa.
- Very old backups may become incompatible after WhatsApp updates.
So while the chat settings backup preserves your profile details and preferences, it won’t restore historical conversations or media. For that, you need to use WhatsApp’s separate messages backup feature.
Extra Tips for Chat Settings Backup
Here are some additional tips on using WhatsApp’s chat settings backup effectively:
- Check backup settings occasionally to make sure backups are still turned on.
- Creating occasional local backups provides an extra safeguard if issues with Google Drive.
- You can’t password protect chat settings backups, so enable phone and Google Drive encryption if concerned about security.
- Don’t delete old backups from Google Drive or local storage until confirming the newer one worked.
- Back up to both Google Drive and local for maximum redundancy.
Conclusion
Being able to backup and restore WhatsApp chat settings provides an easy way to transfer your account information between devices. While it doesn’t backup chats themselves, it does preserve important profile settings, privacy options and preferences.
Setting up chat settings backup only takes a few minutes and helps avoid losing your data. Enable auto-backup, test restoring to confirm it works, and check the settings periodically to give yourself peace of mind.
WhatsApp continues to improve and add new features for its over 2 billion users. The chat settings backup gives users an easy safeguard for protecting their account details and settings.