WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. Many people use WhatsApp daily to chat with friends, family, co-workers, and more. With so much conversation happening on WhatsApp, users often share photos back and forth as well.
Over time, those WhatsApp photos can really add up! Luckily, WhatsApp has a built-in backup feature that saves your chat history, including photos that have been exchanged. This can be incredibly useful if you ever switch phones and need to transfer your WhatsApp data, or if you simply want a way to retrieve old WhatsApp photos you may have forgotten about.
Backing Up Your WhatsApp Photos
Before you can access your WhatsApp backup photos, you first need to back up your WhatsApp data. This can be done in a few different ways depending on your device type.
Back Up WhatsApp on Android
For Android users, WhatsApp backups happen automatically to your Google Drive account, as long as you have it set up on your device. However, you can also manually trigger a backup at any time by following these steps:
- Open WhatsApp and tap the 3 dot menu in the top right corner
- Select Settings > Chats > Chat backup
- Tap “Back Up” to manually start a backup
Your WhatsApp backup on Android will include your chat history, photos, videos, and more. Backups happen daily when your phone is charging, connected to WiFi, and the screen is off.
Back Up WhatsApp on iPhone
On iPhone, WhatsApp uses iCloud to store backups. To configure and create a manual backup:
- Go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup
- Tap “Back Up Now” to manually trigger a WhatsApp backup
- Make sure you are backing up over WiFi if you have a large backup size
Your chat history, photos, videos, and other WhatsApp data will be backed up to iCloud. WhatsApp backups happen daily when your iPhone is plugged in, on WiFi, and has sufficient iCloud storage space.
Accessing Your WhatsApp Backup Photos
Once you have confirmed that WhatsApp backups are being created as expected, you can access your backed up photos in a few different ways depending on your device.
Find WhatsApp Backup Photos on Android
For Android users, your WhatsApp backup photos can be found in your Google Drive account:
- Open the Google Drive app on your Android device
- Look for the WhatsApp folder
- Open the WhatsApp Media folder
- View subfolders for Photos, Animated Gifs, Videos, etc
- Your WhatsApp photos will be in the Photos folder
You can open and view the photos directly within Google Drive. If you want to save the photos to your device’s local storage, tap and hold on a photo and choose “Save” from the pop-up menu.
Find WhatsApp Backup Photos on iPhone
On iPhone, your WhatsApp backup photos are stored in your iCloud account. To access them:
- Open the Photos app
- Tap “Albums” at the bottom
- Scroll down and select the WhatsApp album
- Your WhatsApp photos will be organized by chat
From here, you can view, share, save, or delete your backed up WhatsApp photos as needed. Keep in mind your iCloud storage quota when managing these large files.
Restoring WhatsApp Backup Photos
Beyond simply viewing your backed up WhatsApp photos for nostalgia’s sake, you may want to fully restore them at some point. For example, when setting up WhatsApp on a new phone, or recovering lost data.
Restore WhatsApp Photos on Android
On Android, WhatsApp has a built-in restore feature to retrieve your backup photos and chats. When first installing WhatsApp, you will be prompted to restore from a Google Drive backup.
You can also initiate a restore manually at any time:
- Completely uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp
- Verify your phone number on launch
- On the Restore Chat History page, tap “Restore”
- Select the backup date to restore
This will restore your WhatsApp data, contacts, photos, settings and more from the chosen Google Drive backup.
Restore WhatsApp Photos on iPhone
To restore a WhatsApp iCloud backup on iPhone:
- Delete and re-download WhatsApp
- Launch WhatsApp and enter your phone number
- On the Backup Found screen, tap “Restore”
- Select the backup date to restore from
This will restore your WhatsApp chats, contacts, photos, and settings associated with your phone number from iCloud.
Troubleshooting WhatsApp Backup Photos
In certain cases, you may encounter issues trying to back up your WhatsApp photos or restore previous backups. Here are some troubleshooting tips:
Backups Not Working
- Check that you have a stable internet connection when performing backups. Backups can fail on unstable connections.
- Ensure your cloud storage (Google Drive or iCloud) has sufficient space for WhatsApp backups. Delete other files if needed.
- Disable battery optimizations for WhatsApp so your device does not kill the app during backups.
- Restart your device and retry the backup – sometimes a reboot can resolve intermittent issues.
Can’t Find Backups
- On Android, check that you have the latest version of the Google Drive app.
- Make sure you are signing in to Google Drive and iCloud with the same accounts used on WhatsApp.
- Double check that your backup data exists by viewing available backups within WhatsApp’s settings.
Restores Not Completing
- Avoid using your phone during lengthy restore processes to prevent interruptions.
- Restart and retry the restore if it gets stuck mid-process.
- Check that your WiFi is stable if restoring large backups over the air.
- As a last resort, perform a factory reset on your device before restoring.
Conclusion
WhatsApp makes it simple to back up your photos, videos, and chats automatically to cloud storage on Android and iOS devices. With a few taps, you can find and restore those WhatsApp backup photos when switching phones or recovering lost data.
Be sure to check your backup settings, give WhatsApp the required permissions, and maintain ample cloud storage to seamlessly save and restore your chat history. Follow the troubleshooting tips outlined here if you encounter any issues with the backup or restore process.
Knowing how to properly leverage WhatsApp’s built-in backup capabilities gives you peace of mind that your photos and memories are always saved and accessible when needed.