WhatsApp is one of the most popular chat IM (instant messaging) and VoIP (voice-over-IP) services globally. Many people around the world use it to communicate with friends, stay in contact with family or for business, and statistics how that much more than 1 billion messages are sent through WhatsApp every day.
But sometimes things happen. Your phone may suffer damage, need a replacement, factory reset, or the WhatsApp application uninstalled. That’s why it’s important to know how to take a back up and how to restore a back up.
WhatsApp has two back-up methods. One that is run automatically on local storage and another option to back up to the cloud through Google Drive or iCloud.The local back up is made every day at 2 A.M. automatically. It holds the last 7 days, meaning after 7 days when a new back up is made, the oldest one is deleted.The cloud is optional.
Taking A Backup
WhatsApp automatically creates backup files for the last 7 days. To verify backup settigns, or manually take a cloud backup:
- Open WhatsApp
- Go to Settings
- Press Chat → Backup
Restoring A Backup
To restore a local backup, go into your phone’s File Manager, find the WhatsApp folder, and remove the ending “12” from the file with the latest date ending in dbcrypt, for example zzz.
To restore a cloud backup:
- Open WhatsApp
- Go into Settings
- Press Chat → Backup and choose either Google Drive or iCloud, where you will then need to sign in and/or select your desired backup specified by date.
Learn more about saving your chat history on WhatsApp’s official website article.