Have you ever lost a lot of important messages, photos, or videos on WhatsApp? Whether it's an image of a family member, a work report, or an academic paper, you probably feel panic when they're gone. Data loss can happen to everyone. Having a wise backup strategy can help you avoid the crushing feeling that comes with data loss. To help you back up WhatsApp files on iPhone or Android, we collect some feasible way, each of which has its benefits and limits. Depending on your needs, you can choose the method that suits your need.
As we all know that Apple offers its users two options to make a backup: local backup via iTunes and cloud backups via Apple iCloud.Each has its strengths and weaknesses.iCloud backups are created automatically without requiring the connection to the PC, while it only offers 5GB storage for free. iTunes, needless to say, is far complex than iCloud. Given that, we recommend you to use this professional WhatsApp backup tool - Qiling MobiMover, which makes the backup of your WhatsApp history much easier than ever. With it installed on your PC, you can backup all chats likemessages, photos, videos, and other attachments on PC. Besides, there are many outstanding features of Qiling MobiMover that are waiting for your exploring (some of them are shown below).
Step 1.Connect your iPhone to your computer using a USB cable, launch Qiling MobiMover, and choose "WhatsApp" > "Backup".
Step 2. Select the location you want to back up WhatsApp data to and click "Back up" to start backing up your WhatsApp messages and attachments to PC.
Step 3.Wait for the backup process to complete. The messages will be saved as an HTML file on your Mac. Thus, you can view the details with a browser whenever you want.
Step 4.When it has done, you can go to "WhatsApp" > "Backup History" to check the WhatsApp messages and attachments in the backup.
Apple's built-in iCloud service is available for everyone and comes with 5GB of storage for free. With it, you can either back up certain app data or the entire device with ease.
With this method, you can easily back up only WhatsApp data on iCloud. If storage space allows, you can even turn on the automatic backup feature of WhatsApp on the iCloud drive. If there's no enough storage, you'll need to manage the iCloud storage before saving WhatsApp backup.
Step 1. Open WhatsApp on your iPhone or iPad > Tap "Settings" at the bottom right corner of your screen.
Step 2. Tap "Chats" > Tap "Chat Backup" > Tap "Back Up Now." Then, a message will pop up to let you sign in to iCloud. Also, it will require you to choose to include/exclude videos in the backup.
Step 3. To make an automatic backup, you can tap the "Auto Backup" under the "Back Up Now" option and set a backup frequency (in days, weeks, or months)
How to Restore WhatsApp Chats from iCloud
If you want to restore WhatsApp chats from iCloud, then you can follow these steps to do it.
Step 1. Launch your WhatsApp on your iPhone or iPad > Tap the Settings at the bottom of your screen > Tap "Chat Backup" to confirm there is a backup.
Step 2. Delete and reinstall your WhatsApp on your device.
Step 3. Verify your phone number and iCloud ID. Then, a message will prompt to let you to restore chat history. Click on the "Restore Chat History" tab to restore your WhatsApp files.
The second option to back up WhatsApp with iCloud is to back up the entire device on iCloud. Undoubtedly, WhatsApp data is included. But if you have a lot of data like photos, videos, documents, music, etc. to save, it may require to buy more storage space.
Step 1. Head to the Setting on your iPhone or iPad > Tap iCloud. In the new iOS versions, tap on the Apple ID > iCloud.
Step 2. Turn on iCloud Backup in the Backup filed.
Step 3. After that, you can return to iCloud interface to check if the iCloud backup is included.
No technical skills are required to back up everything, including WhatsApp data by using iTunes. All you need to do is preparing a computer (either PC or Mac), a USB cable, and an iTunes account. Compared with iCloud, iTunes is more flexible that gives you more space to store files and enables you to encrypt your backup. Here are the steps to do it.
Step 1. Launch the latest version iTunes on your computer (PC or Mac) > Connect your iPhone or iPad to your computer with a USB cable.
Step 2. A message will pop up to let you to "Trust this computer", tap "Trust" to continue.
Step 3. Sign in to the iTunes Store with the correct Apple ID and password.
Step 4. In the iTunes platform, tap "Summary" at the left-side panel of iTunes > Click "Back Up Now" button at the right side. Then, all of your iPhone files will be synced to iTunes, and you can find this backup on your PC/Mac .
How to Restore Whatsapp data from iTunes
If one day you need to use the WhatsApp files that were backed to iTunes, then you can restore it to your iPhone or iPad. Or if you change a new device, you can also apply this way to restore files to your new device. But note that this will erase all current data on your device, so be careful to restore data by using this way. If you are stick to this way, here are the steps.
Step 1. Launch the latest iTunes on your computer (PC or Mac) > Connect your iPhone or iPad to the computer with a USB cable.
Step 2. Tap "Trust this computer" on your device if required.
Step 3. Click your device name > "Summary." In the right panel of the iTunes screen, click the "Restore Backup" button.
Step 4. Next, a window will prompt up tp let you choose a backup to restore, just select the latest one and click on "Restore."
When it comes to backing up WhatsApp chat history on Android, cloud services like Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox are great options. Typically, these services are less expensive than purchasing storage with iCloud. Let's take Google Drive, for example. Google offers every user 15GB of free storage, which is enough to back up WhatsApp chats without paying extra for more storage space. To use Google Drive backup, you'll need to:
Step 1. Launch WhatsApp on your Android phone > Tap the menu icon ( three vertical dots) in the upper right of the screen.
Step 2. Tap "Settings" > "Chats" > "Back up to Google Drive". Then, you can choose the backup frequency (in days, weeks, or months).
Step 3. Choose the Google account you want to back up > "Allow" > Include/Exclude videos depending on your need. If you include videos, they might quickly fill up your storage.
Step 4. Tap Back up to back up your Whatsapp chat history.
How to Restore WhatsApp Data from a Google Drive
If you want to restore WhatsApp chats from a Google Drive Backup, you can follow the next steps to do it.
Step 1. Open WhatsApp on your Android device > Tap "Agree and Continue" > Verify your phone number and tap "Next" > Tap "OK."
Step 2. Tap "Continue" > Choose "Restore" > Input your name > Tap "Next."
With the help of the above-discussed methods, we hope you have backed up your WhatsApp chat history successfully. If you require to restore WhatsApp data, you can also use the solutions mentioned in this guide to restore them with ease.