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If you lose your phone, break it or switch to a new one, a WhatsApp backup is the only way to get your chats back. WhatsApp doesn’t keep your messages on its servers, so if there’s no backup, there’s nothing to restore. Setting it up properly takes two minutes and then runs by itself.
Short answer: on Android, open WhatsApp → Settings → Chats → Chat backup, choose your Google account, set the frequency to Daily, and tap Back up. For extra privacy, turn on End-to-end encrypted backup and protect it with a passkey or a password you won’t forget.
Last updated: October 2026.
How WhatsApp backups work on Android
There are three different ways to keep your chats safe, and they do different jobs:
| Method | Where it’s saved | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Google account backup | Your Google account (cloud) | Restoring on a new or reset phone, automatically |
| Local backup | Your phone’s storage | Restoring on the same phone, or copying to a computer |
| Export chat | A text file you save anywhere | Keeping a readable copy of one important chat |
For most people, the Google account backup is the one that matters. The other two are useful extras.
Set up automatic Google backup
- Open WhatsApp, tap the three dots → Settings.
- Tap Chats → Chat backup.
- Tap Google Account and choose the account you want to use. Pick one you’ll still have access to in five years, ideally your main Gmail.
- Tap Back up to Google (or Frequency) and choose Daily.
- Decide on Include videos. Videos make backups much larger and slower; leave it off unless you need them.
- Turn on Back up using cellular only if you have plenty of mobile data. Otherwise backups wait for Wi-Fi.
- Tap Back up to run the first backup now.
When it finishes, the top of the Chat backup screen shows Last backup with today’s date, the time and the size. That’s your proof it worked.
Mind the 15 GB limit
Since 2024, WhatsApp backups on Android count toward your Google account storage, which is 15 GB free and shared with Gmail and Google Photos. If that space is full, backups quietly stop. If yours has stopped, see why WhatsApp backups fail on Google Drive and how to fix it, and compare free cloud storage options if you need more room.
Turn on end-to-end encrypted backup
A normal backup is protected by your Google account. An end-to-end encrypted backup goes further: nobody can open it without your key, not Google and not WhatsApp.
- Go to Settings → Chats → Chat backup → End-to-end encrypted backup.
- Tap Turn on and choose one of the three ways to protect it, explained below.
- Follow the steps and let WhatsApp create a new encrypted backup.
The three options:
- Passkey: uses your phone’s fingerprint, face or screen lock. WhatsApp began rolling this option out worldwide in late 2025, so it may not appear on every phone yet.
- Password: one you create. Write it down somewhere safe.
- 64-digit encryption key: the strongest option, but you must store the key yourself.
One serious warning: if you lose the password or key, the backup can’t be recovered by anyone. If you’re not sure you’ll keep it safe, a passkey or a password saved in a password manager is the practical choice.
The local backup on your phone
Android WhatsApp also saves a local copy of your chats on the phone itself, usually once a day overnight. You’ll find it with a file manager under Android → media → com.whatsapp → WhatsApp → Databases, as files named like msgstore.db.crypt14.
This copy is useful if you reinstall WhatsApp on the same phone, or if you want to copy the folder to a computer as an extra backup. It won’t help if the phone itself is lost or broken, which is why the Google backup matters more.
Export a single chat as a file
To keep a readable copy of one chat, for work records or a family conversation you never want to lose:
- Open the chat and tap the three dots → More → Export chat.
- Choose Without media (smaller) or Include media.
- Save the file to Google Drive, email it to yourself, or send it to your computer.
An exported chat is a text file you can read anywhere, but it can’t be imported back into WhatsApp. Think of it as an archive, not a backup.
Moving to a new Android phone
If you still have your old phone and both phones are nearby, you don’t need to restore from a backup at all. On the old phone, go to Settings → Chats → Transfer chats and follow the steps; the new phone scans a QR code and copies everything directly over Wi-Fi. This is faster than a cloud restore and includes your media.
If the old phone is gone, install WhatsApp on the new one, verify the same number, sign in to the same Google account, and tap Restore when WhatsApp finds your backup.
How to check your backup is really working
Once a month, open Settings → Chats → Chat backup and look at Last backup. If the date is more than a day or two old, something has stopped it, usually full storage, battery saver settings or no Wi-Fi. Fix it before you need it, because the time you discover a broken backup is usually the day you lose your phone.
The short version
Go to Settings → Chats → Chat backup, choose your Google account, set backups to Daily and tap Back up. Leave videos off if your Google storage is tight, turn on an end-to-end encrypted backup with a passkey or a password you won’t lose, and check the Last backup date now and then. A working backup is also your best chance to recover deleted WhatsApp messages. To use the same chats on your computer, see our WhatsApp Web login guide.
