Losing your WhatsApp history hurts more than losing the phone itself. Photos of your kid’s first day at school, voice notes from your mum, client conversations you need for work. All gone. WhatsApp backup is the only thing standing between you and that nightmare, and in 2026 it still works pretty much the same as always, but with a few details most people get wrong.
I’ve restored WhatsApp on new phones more times than I care to remember, and I’ve also seen people lose everything because they assumed Google Drive was saving their videos. It wasn’t. So let’s cut the fluff and go straight into how to back up WhatsApp properly on Android and iPhone, what actually gets saved, and the traps nobody warns you about.
What a WhatsApp backup actually saves (and what it doesn’t)
Here’s the thing nobody tells you: a WhatsApp backup is not a full copy of your phone. It’s a compressed file with your messages, call logs, and media files — but only if you tell it to include media. By default, WhatsApp backups to Google Drive and iCloud exclude videos. Photos and voice notes usually go in. Videos? Off unless you flip the switch.
That single checkbox is the reason thousands of people restore a backup and find their chats intact but every video replaced with a sad little “media not available” notice. If your WhatsApp backup matters to you, include videos. It costs more space, sure, but storage is cheap compared to losing a wedding video.
Also worth knowing: your backup does not include your WhatsApp status history, and it doesn’t save anything from linked devices like WhatsApp Web or the desktop app. Those just mirror what’s on your phone.
How to back up WhatsApp on Android step by step
Android backups go to Google Drive, tied to the Google account you’re using in WhatsApp. You can do it manually in about twenty seconds:
- Open WhatsApp and tap the three dots in the top right corner.
- Go to Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
- Tap Back up to Google Drive and pick how often you want it to run (daily, weekly, monthly, or only when you tap).
- Under “Include media,” choose whether photos, audio, and videos go in too.
- Tap Back up and leave the phone on WiFi until it finishes.
If you’ve never set this up, do the manual backup first, then switch on the automatic schedule. A WhatsApp backup that runs daily while you sleep is the closest thing to a safety net you’ll get without paying for anything.
The Google Drive storage trap
Google stopped giving unlimited free space for WhatsApp backups back in 2024. Now your WhatsApp backup counts against your Google account’s 15 GB free tier, the same space Gmail and Google Photos eat into. If your backup is 8 GB of videos, you’ll hit the wall fast.
Check your Google Drive storage before you turn on video backups. If you’re close to full, either upgrade to Google One or accept that you’ll back up photos and messages only. Backing up WhatsApp without space is a recipe for a silent failure — the app won’t always scream at you when it can’t complete.
How to back up WhatsApp on iPhone with iCloud
On iPhone the process is slightly different because Apple uses iCloud instead of Google Drive:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
- Tap Back Up Now.
- Turn on Include Videos if you want the full package.
- Make sure you’re on WiFi and signed into iCloud with enough free storage.
iCloud gives you 5 GB free across everything — photos, device backups, WhatsApp. Five gigs disappears quickly. Most people I know end up paying the 0.99 euros a month for 50 GB just to keep their WhatsApp backup alive. That’s the honest math.
One more iPhone quirk: if you use the free 5 GB plan and your iPhone’s own system backup is fighting for the same space, WhatsApp backups can fail quietly. Go into Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Manage Storage and see what’s actually eating the space.
Both Android and iPhone keep a local backup file on the device itself. On Android it lives in a folder like /WhatsApp/Databases/, on iPhone it’s buried inside the app’s container. You never see it, but it’s there.
Why does this matter? Because a local WhatsApp backup is your emergency parachute. If your Google Drive or iCloud backup is outdated or corrupted, WhatsApp will fall back to the local file when you reinstall. That’s how people recover chats even when the cloud failed.
Problem is, a local backup dies with the phone. Drop it in a lake and that file is gone forever. So never rely on local alone. Cloud plus local is the only combo that makes sense.
How to restore a WhatsApp backup on a new phone
Restoring is where people panic, but it’s straightforward if you follow the order:
- Install WhatsApp on the new phone and verify your phone number with the same SIM or the same number via SMS call.
- When prompted, tap Restore and let it pull from Google Drive or iCloud.
- Wait. A big backup can take ten minutes or an hour depending on your connection and media size.
- Don’t skip the restore step. If you tap “Skip,” you’ll start with an empty chat list and the backup may get overwritten.
The number has to match. If you switched SIM cards and verify with a different number, WhatsApp treats it as a brand new account and your old backup won’t appear. I’ve watched people lose years of chats over this exact mistake.
Common questions about WhatsApp backup
Does the WhatsApp backup include photos and videos?
Photos and voice notes: yes, normally included. Videos: only if you tick “Include videos.” That setting is off by default and it’s the number one reason people lose media they thought was safe.
Can I back up WhatsApp without Google Drive or iCloud?
Yes, but you’re limited to the local file on the phone. It works for quick restores on the same device, and it’s useless if the phone is lost, stolen, or wiped. It’s a backup in name only.
How much space does a WhatsApp backup take?
Text-only backups are tiny, often under 100 MB. Add photos and it climbs to 1–3 GB for a heavy user. Include videos and you can easily hit 10 GB or more. If you’ve been on WhatsApp for five years, expect a big number.
How often should I back up WhatsApp?
Daily automatic is the sensible default. If you use WhatsApp for work and send a lot of documents, make it daily and keep an eye on your cloud storage every couple of months. Weekly is fine for casual users, but you’ll lose up to seven days of chats if something goes wrong.
The one habit that saves you
Set the automatic backup, include videos, and check the date of the last successful backup once a month. That’s it. It takes five minutes to set up and it’s the difference between “I’ll just reinstall WhatsApp” and “I’ve lost everything since 2019.”
And if you’re switching phones, do a manual backup right before you swap. Don’t trust that last night’s automatic run captured the conversation you had this morning. A fresh WhatsApp backup before any migration is non-negotiable.
