WhatsApp backup is a very useful feature, as it allows you to save your app’s message history in the cloud for retrieval in various circumstances. With the feature, it is possible to rescue old conversations on a new phone, allowing the user to recover messages, photos, or videos. The cloud backup can be done on Android, through Google Drive, or on iPhone (iOS), through iCloud.
In the list below, Techidence has gathered some facts about the feature to recover WhatsApp messages on your phone. Check out below if the backup of conversations is safe, if it takes up space on your phone and how you can restore deleted conversations using the feature.
1. WhatsApp backup can be protected in the cloud with encryption
You can encrypt your WhatsApp backup in Google Drive and iCloud. With the feature, you can keep your conversations protected with the same layers of security that already exist in the messenger chat, preventing third parties from being able to intercept your conversations. This is because the feature can convert conversations into a unique code that only the user can access. This way, cloud services also cannot read the messages that have been exchanged through the app.
The feature was introduced to WhatsApp in September. When activating the feature, the user can either create a password to protect the backup or use a 64-digit code randomly generated by WhatsApp itself. So when you reinstall the app or change your phone, you will need to enter the code or password to restore your conversations.
2. It is impossible to open the backup outside of WhatsApp
You can backup WhatsApp in a few different ways. On iPhone (iOS), for example, you can save the backup in iCloud or iTunes, while on Android you can save a copy of the chats locally on your device or you can also backup them in Google Drive.
In addition, you can also save this data on your PC. However, the WhatsApp backup can only be accessed from within the app, using the same account where the backup was saved. Therefore, you can only restore the chats saved in the cloud using the WhatsApp app on your phone.
3. Restoring backup can be a trick to recover deleted messages
An interesting trick that can help recover deleted messages on the platform works by backing up the app. With this tip, you can recover chat windows that were deleted no more than 24 hours ago. For this, it is important that you have automatic backup enabled in WhatsApp before you deleted the chat.
If the backup is enabled, simply uninstall the app and reinstall it again, remembering to set the backup. This way, once the backup is restored, the conversation that was deleted can also be recovered again.
4. WhatsApp Backup does not take up space in Google Drive
The WhatsApp backup space in Google Drive is unlimited and does not take up any space in the cloud. The measure is a result of a partnership between WhatsApp and Google, which began to take effect in 2018. Since then, the active messenger backup on Android does not consume the free storage space in Google Drive, regardless of the size of the backup.
However, the rule does not apply to iPhone (iOS) owners, who need to have at least twice as much free space before backing up to iCloud. So, to save your messenger conversations in the cloud, you need to have at least twice the size of the backup in free space in iCloud and on your iPhone.
5. It is advisable to turn on automatic WhatsApp backup
It is recommended to keep the automatic WhatsApp backup always active to avoid data loss. On Android, you can activate it by going into the app settings and clicking on “Chats”. From there tap on “Chat Backup” and then tap on “Backup to Google Drive”. Next, you can indicate the frequency of the backup, which can be done daily, weekly, or monthly.
On the iPhone (iOS), the step-by-step is quite similar. Open the app and go to the “Settings” tab at the bottom menu. Then tap on “Chats”, “Chat Backup” and “Auto Backup”. Next, simply indicate how often you want to save the data to the cloud, which can be daily, weekly, or monthly.
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