WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps, allowing users to send messages, photos, videos and other media. With frequent use, your WhatsApp media can quickly eat up phone storage. The best way to free up space is to routinely back up WhatsApp to Google Drive.
Google Drive integration allows you to seamlessly backup WhatsApp media to the cloud. This saves phone storage and acts as a recovery option if you lose your device. Backups occur automatically daily when charging and connected to WiFi, or you can manually trigger a backup.
What gets backed up to Google Drive?
When enabled, WhatsApp automatically backs up the following data to Google Drive:
- Profile photo
- Individual and group chats
- Media like photos and videos
- WhatsApp settings and preferences
Message history and media are encrypted by default during the backup process for security.
How to enable WhatsApp backup to Google Drive
Before using the backup feature, you need to link WhatsApp to your Google account. Follow these steps:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings.
- Tap Chats > Chat backup.
- Tap Backup to Google Drive and log into your Google account when prompted.
- Tap Back up to confirm.
That’s it! WhatsApp will now automatically backup your data to Google Drive as long as you meet the requirements:
- Your phone needs to be charging and connected to WiFi to enable automatic backups.
- Your Google account must have enough free storage space for the backup.
- Your phone needs to be powered on with an active internet connection.
How to manually back up WhatsApp
Aside from automatic backups, you can also manually trigger a WhatsApp backup to Google Drive any time from the chat backup settings. Here’s how:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings.
- Tap Chats > Chat backup.
- Tap Back up. WhatsApp will start backing up your most recent chats and media.
The manual backup option is useful if you want an up-to-date backup before resetting or switching phones.
How to restore WhatsApp backup from Google Drive
If you get a new phone, or reset your device, you can restore your chat history and media from Google Drive. Here are the steps:
- Install and open WhatsApp on your new phone.
- Enter your phone number when prompted.
- A screen will pop up asking “Restore chats?” – tap Restore.
- Select the Google Drive backup you want to restore.
WhatsApp will fetch the latest backup file from Drive and restore your chats, media, settings etc. Pretty convenient!
How to free up Google Drive storage
Over time, your WhatsApp backups can occupy a lot of Google Drive storage. If you’re getting storage warnings, here are some tips to free up space:
- Upload photos/videos to a different cloud service like Google Photos and delete them from Drive.
- Permanently delete files you no longer need.
- Empty your Google Drive trash.
- Consider upgrading to a paid Google One plan for more storage.
- Remove device backups you don’t need anymore.
How to exclude media from WhatsApp backup
If you want to reduce the size of your Google Drive backups, you can choose to exclude certain media. Here’s how to do it:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings.
- Tap Chats > Chat backup.
- Tap Backup media auto-download.
- Toggle off the type of media you want to exclude – Photos, Audio, Video and/or Documents.
With this setting disabled, new media of that type will not be backed up. Previous media already in your backup will remain.
How to stop WhatsApp from backing up to Google Drive
If you no longer want backups to Google Drive, you can disable it entirely in WhatsApp settings:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings.
- Tap Chats.
- Tap Chat backup > Auto backup.
- Tap the switch off icon to disable Google Drive backup.
Your existing backup data will stay in Drive but no new backups will occur. Make sure you don’t need the backup before turning this off.
WhatsApp media backup size limit
WhatsApp currently allows up to 2 GB of uncompressed data to be backed up to Google Drive. This includes:
- Media like photos, videos, voice messages, documents
- Chat histories and message data
If your uncompressed backup reaches 2 GB, WhatsApp will stop adding new chats and media to it. You’ll need to manage your backup size to resume backups.
Viewing your WhatsApp backup size
To see the size of your WhatsApp backup in Google Drive:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
- The size of your current backup will be shown e.g. 1.3 GB of 2 GB used.
This helps you monitor how much backup quota you have left before hitting the 2GB limit.
Managing WhatsApp media in Google Drive
WhatsApp media like photos and videos can quickly fill your Drive storage. Here are some tips to manage WhatsApp media in Google Drive:
- Occasionally review old media and delete unnecessary files.
- Use the “Free Up Space” tool in Drive to identify large and unwanted files.
- Download media you want to keep, then delete it from Drive.
- Enable the Google Photos sync option to automatically save photos/videos.
- Consider upgrading to a paid Google One subscription for more storage space.
Backing up WhatsApp without Google Drive
If you don’t want to use Google Drive, there are alternative ways to backup your WhatsApp data:
Local backup
You can configure WhatsApp to backup locally to your phone’s storage instead of the cloud. Here’s how:
- Go to WhatsApp > Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
- Tap Backup location and choose “To this phone’s storage”.
- Tap Back up to confirm.
This will save backups to your phone storage. Remember to copy them elsewhere as backup.
iCloud backup
For iPhone users, you can backup WhatsApp chats and media to iCloud:
- Go to iPhone Settings > tap your name.
- Tap iCloud.
- Toggle on iCloud Backup.
- Tap Back Up Now to manually trigger backup.
WhatsApp data will be included in your iCloud backups. Enable automatic backups for routine WhatsApp backup.
Third-party apps
Apps like iMyFone D-Back and FonePaw Android Data Backup & Restore allow backing up WhatsApp chats, history, media to your computer. Some backup to cloud storage like Dropbox.
Conclusion
Backing up WhatsApp to Google Drive is a convenient way to free up phone storage and safeguard your chats and media.
Enable chat backup, review the size of your backup occasionally, and free up space when needed. With Google Drive integration, you can seamlessly migrate WhatsApp when switching phones.
Apart from Google Drive, also explore local backup, iCloud and third-party apps for alternative WhatsApp backup options that work for you.