How to back up your WhatsApp chats on Google Drive with end-to-end encryption

Keeping a backup of your WhatsApp chats ensures you never lose your important messages, photos, and files, even if you switch phones or lose your device. With a Google Account, you can securely store your chat history on Google Drive and restore it whenever you need. Here’s how to set up automatic, manual, and encrypted backups step by step.

What you need

✔ An active Google Account on your phone
✔ Google Play Services installed
✔ Enough free storage on your device
✔ Enough space in your Google Account
✔ A stable internet connection, preferably Wi-Fi

Set up automatic backups

1. Open WhatsApp and tap More options › Settings > Chats.

2. Tap Chat backup > Back up to Google Drive.

3. Choose a backup frequency other than Never or Only when I tap “Back up.”

4. Select your Google Account. If none is connected, tap Add account and sign in.

5. Optional: Tap Back up using cellular to choose your preferred network.

Back up chats manually

You can create a backup anytime:

1. Go to More options > Settings.

2. Tap Chats > Chat backup.

3. Tap Back up.

Create an end-to-end encrypted backup

For extra security:

1. Tap More options > Settings > Chats.

2. Tap Chat backup > End-to-end encrypted backup.

3. Tap Turn on.

4. Create a password or a 64-digit encryption key.

5. Tap Create.

Note: Keep your password or key safe—you’ll need it to restore your backup.

Change the Google Account for backups

1. Go to More options > Settings > Chats > Chat backup > Google Account.

2. Tap Add account and sign in with the desired Google Account.

3. Tap Back up and set your backup frequency.

Additional tips

• Backup files can be large. To save data charges, connect to Wi-Fi before backing up.
• If you’d rather not use Google Drive, you can transfer chats directly between Android devices using WhatsApp’s chat transfer feature.
• Backups include messages and media from communities. Updates from channels are also backed up, but media is only backed if you’re an admin. Some channels may not be included.