How to backup WhatsApp

Are you wondering how to secure your WhatsApp conversations? Would you like to transfer your messages and media files to a new phone without losing them? You’ve come to the right place. In this guide, I’ll explain how to easily backup WhatsApp on both Android and iPhone devices, as well as how to save data on your PC for added security.

Why backup WhatsApp?

WhatsApp chats, as well as the multimedia files we share, are certainly among the most important archives that we have on our mobile device. Losing them can be a real tragedy. Regularly backing up WhatsApp is essential to avoid losing messages, photos, videos and important files. It is also useful in the event of a change of smartphone, theft or technical problems, such as a broken smartphone. By default, WhatsApp allows you to save data in the cloud (Google Drive for Android and iCloud for iPhone) or locally on the device.

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How to Backup WhatsApp on Android

Android users can choose to save their data to the cloud via Google Drive or locally. Let’s see how.

Backup WhatsApp Chats to Google Drive

1. Set up Google Account : Make sure your smartphone is connected to a Google account (usually it always is). Go to Settings > Accounts > Google and verify.
2. Access WhatsApp settings :
   • Open WhatsApp.
   • Tap the three dots at the top right and select Settings .
   • Go to Chats > Chat Backup .
3. Set up backup :
   • Tap Backup to Google Drive and choose the frequency (daily, weekly, monthly).
   • Select the Google account to save the data to.
   • Tap Back Up to start saving immediately.

Important: If you want to include videos in your backup, activate the Include videos option . Videos can be quite large, but certainly everyone wants to include them. Remember that the free Google account has a maximum space of 15 GB (shared between all Google applications: Gmail, Photos, Drive, etc.). To make sure you always have enough space for WhatsApp backups, we can activate a paid Google subscription to get at least 100 GB (the monthly cost is negligible).

Let’s see in the images below the various steps to take on the Android smartphone to get to the configuration of the chat backup:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So let’s proceed to activate the backup, with a temporal cadence:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We can always return to this screen to check that the backup was done correctly.

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How to Backup WhatsApp on iPhone

iPhone users can rely solely on iCloud to save their data, and the process is very similar to that of Google Drive for Android. Here’s how to proceed.

Backup WhatsApp Chats to iCloud

1. Make sure iCloud Drive is turned on : Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud and turn on iCloud Drive and WhatsApp .
2. Set up backup :
   • Open WhatsApp.
   • Go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup .
   • Tap Back Up Now to start saving.
3. Customize options :
   • Choose the frequency of automatic backup (daily, weekly, monthly).
   • Check Include video if you want to save video files as well.

Note: iCloud backups are limited by available space (5GB free for iCloud account).

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How to Transfer WhatsApp Data Between Android and iPhone

If you want to move your messages from an Android device to an iPhone (or vice versa), follow these instructions.

From Android to iPhone

Apple provides the Move to iOS app ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apple.movetoios&hl=it ) , which lets you transfer data, including WhatsApp chats. Download the app on Android and follow the instructions as you set up your new iPhone.

Da iPhone ad Android

To transfer data from iPhone to an Android device (updated to Android 12 or higher), use a USB-C to Lightning cable. When setting up your new phone, select the option to transfer data from iPhone.

You can find more information in this Google article:  https://support.google.com/android/answer/13626960?hl=en 

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How to Backup WhatsApp on PC

Even though WhatsApp does not allow direct backup to PC, you can copy data manually.

Per Android

• Connect your phone to your PC via USB cable.
• Go to File Explorer > This PC > [Device name] > WhatsApp > Databases .
• Copy the folder to your PC.

Per iPhone

• Use iTunes (or Finder on macOS Catalina and later) to make a complete backup of your device, which will also include your WhatsApp chats.

 

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How to Restore a WhatsApp Backup

To restore a backup:

1. Install WhatsApp on the new device.
2. Verify your phone number.
3. WhatsApp will automatically detect the backup and ask you to restore it. Confirm to proceed.

Note: Make sure you use the same Google or Apple account that is linked to the backup .

The backup will take some time to restore, especially if there are a lot of media files.

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By following this guide, you will be able to easily backup WhatsApp and ensure the safety of your conversations and files.

Don’t risk losing your data – take a few minutes to back up today!

(Italian)