WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. It allows you to send messages, photos, videos and make voice and video calls. WhatsApp backs up your chat history, media, and settings periodically to your phone’s internal storage or Google Drive (for Android users) so you can restore your data if you ever lose your phone or switch to a new one.
Viewing your local WhatsApp backup can be useful to see what data is being stored, free up storage space, or troubleshoot issues restoring your backup. Here are the steps to view and manage your WhatsApp backup on an Android phone.
Prerequisites
Before viewing your WhatsApp backup, make sure:
– You have WhatsApp installed on your Android phone.
– Your phone has enough free storage space for the backup. WhatsApp backups can be hundreds of MB to multiple GB.
– You have enabled WhatsApp backups in Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
– Your phone has the latest version of WhatsApp. Go to Play Store > My Apps and check for any available updates.
– Your phone is connected to a WiFi network if your backup is set to only run on WiFi.
– You have unlocked your phone and opened WhatsApp at least once within the last month for backups to run.
– You know your phone’s file manager app to access file directories. This is usually the Files or My Files app.
Locate WhatsApp Backup Files
WhatsApp stores your backup files in an encrypted format on your phone’s internal storage or SD card. Here’s how to find them:
1. Open your phone’s file manager app. Look for the Files, My Files, File Manager, or File Explorer app.
2. Navigate to the WhatsApp folder. The path is usually:
Internal Storage > Android > media > com.whatsapp > WhatsApp
3. Look for a folder called Databases. This contains your encrypted chat history database files.
4. There may also be a folder called Backups that contains your media files.
The file names consist of random characters and do not indicate the date or contents of the backup.
View Backup Info
While you can’t directly view the encrypted backup files themselves, you can see useful info like the backup date, size and content types. Here’s how:
1. Open WhatsApp and tap the 3-dot menu in the top right.
2. Go to Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
3. It will show the last backup date and time under “Last Backup”.
4. Tap “Back Up” to run a new backup. It will then show a summary of the backup content sizes under “Backup Size”.
5. Tap “View Details” next to each content type like Photos, Videos, etc to see number of files and total size.
This lets you see info like when your last backup was, the total size, and how much space is taken up by your media files versus chat history.
Manage Backups
Now that you know where your WhatsApp backups are stored and how to view info, here are some ways to manage them:
– Delete old backups to free up storage space. WhatsApp automatically keeps your most recent backup.
– Create a new backup before resetting your phone to ensure your latest data is saved.
– Back up high resolution photos/videos to save storage space. Enable lower quality media in backup settings.
– Exclude large videos from backup to reduce size. They can be re-downloaded from WhatsApp servers later if needed.
– Transfer the backup files to a computer or external SD card for extra safety.
– Verify no recent backups shows issues running backups. Check WiFi connection, reinstall WhatsApp, or clear its app data.
– Monitor backup size over time to catch issues like contacts, media or groups growing exponentially.
Restore From Backup
If you get a new phone or reset your current one, here are the steps to restore your WhatsApp data from a local backup:
1. Install WhatsApp and verify your phone number.
2. On the Restore Chat History page during setup, tap “Restore”
3. It will scan your phone storage for local backups and display the available options.
4. Select the backup you want to restore from the list.
5. Tap “Next” and it will restore your chats, media files, settings etc.
Monitoring the backup restore progress in WhatsApp notifications allows you to confirm your local backup was valid and restored properly.
Back Up to Google Drive
WhatsApp also gives you the option to back up your data to your linked Google Drive account for added redundancy:
1. Go to WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
2. Tap “Backup to Google Drive” and follow the prompts to enable and configure it.
3. Select backup frequency, network preferences, Google account etc.
4. Your chat history will now be backed up automatically to Google Drive as well as local storage.
5. You can manage or restore Google Drive backups from WhatsApp’s chat backup settings.
Backing up to Google Drive provides an extra layer of safety if you lose your phone and local backups, as you can still restore your most recent chats and media from the cloud.
Troubleshoot Backup Issues
Some common WhatsApp backup issues and fixes:
| Issue | Fix |
| Can’t find backups | Check internal storage path, grant file manager permissions |
| Backups not working | Enable backups in settings, connect WiFi if enabled |
| Small backup size | Exclude media to reduce size, lower quality of backups |
| Backup size too big | Clear old backups, reduce media size/quantity in backups |
| Restoring fails | Use newer backup, reinstall WhatsApp, clear app data |
Conclusion
Viewing your local WhatsApp backups allows you to monitor their status, troubleshoot issues, manage storage space, and ensure you can successfully restore your data if needed. Following the steps to find your backup files, view details, adjust settings, and restore chats means you never have to worry about losing your WhatsApp data. Backing up to Google Drive provides an extra layer of protection if you lose access to the backups on your phone. With these tips, you can easily manage your WhatsApp backup and recovery.