How to Download and Restore Whatsapp Messages from Google Drive

When it comes to the instant messages and sharing your favorite content with your loved ones, WhatsApp is an excellent option and the most popular one in that context. However, what if you change phones? You tend to run the risk of losing all your previous conversations. This can also be the case when your phone develops issues and cannot be used anymore. In such cases, Google Drive can be one of the perfect options for you to backup and restore your WhatsApp messages.

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How to use Google Drive to backup, download, and restore your WhatsApp messages? The tips and tutorials here should help you arrive at the best options.

Table of Contents

WhatsApp Chat Backups – An overview

When WhatsApp was launched initially, there was no option to restore your WhatsApp messages. The only option that was introduced later was to backup your WhatsApp chats- including the media files – to the internal storage of your phone. These backups happened daily and took place at 2.00 am every night.

This was useful enough when you had to uninstall your WhatsApp installation and reinstall it for many reasons. There can be multiple reasons that can make it compulsory to opt for such a situation where your WhatsApp has had any issues. Once you reinstall WhatsApp, it would search for the backup during the initialization phase of setting up your WhatsApp account. This would help you restore your WhatsApp chats onto your phone.

However, what if your phone is damaged or cannot boot up at all? What to do in those situations where you found your internal storage wiped out due to any software glitch? There are other situations where you may need to reset your phone where all the data from your phone will get erased.

WhatsApp understood this issue and has introduced the WhatsApp chats backup option on Google Drive. The conversations data, including media files, get backed up to your Google Drive at the same time that your local backup is happening. You need to set up your Google Drive account and specify the frequency at which you want to back up your chats to Google Drive.

When you install WhatsApp next time on any of your devices with the same number, your Google Drive backup will be restored onto your new device. What’s more, you can even backup manually for those last-minute backups just before a switch.

How to backup WhatsApp chats?

The traditional method of backing up your WhatsApp chats is easy and straightforward enough. Just head over to your WhatsApp settings, and you should find the option to configure your backup settings right away.

Here is how you would be able to do it –

Launch your WhatsApp installation.
Go to Menu. It can be done through tapping on the three vertical dots at the top right corner.
Hit on This will take you to the WhatsApp configuration options.
Tap on Chats
Next, tap on chat back up.
Click on Backup Now

WhatsApp will now backup all your chats and media files to your internal storage. As it is, WhatsApp will automatically save your conversations every morning at 2 am. This will be your local backup and will suffer from the issues we have already mentioned here above.

How to Backup Your WhatsApp Chats to Google Drive?

WhatsApp has recently introduced the option to baking up your WhatsApp chats to Google Drive. This can be an excellent option if you are considering changing your phone (which most of us do), yet not have to lose your precious WhatsApp conversations.

Unfortunately, the backup feature on Google Drive on your WhatsApp is available only on an Android device. The iPhone owners may not have access to the functionality. The iOS security policy is inconsistent with Google’s, and this is precisely why it does not allow you to backup your WhatsApp chats to Google Drive.

If you are on an iPhone, your backups will happen to iCloud by default.

Having understood that limitation you would need to be content with, here are the steps involved in backing up your WhatsApp chats to Google Drive on your Android device –

Head on to Chat backup option as in the previous tutorial.
Tap on the button that says Backup to Google Drive.
Tap on Google Drive Settings.
Tap on If you have a Google account already installed on your device; it should pop up. Choose your preferred Google Account. If you have no Google account configured, you will need to do it now.
If the permission prompt comes up, accept them.
Tap on the option Backup Over. You can tap on WiFi only or a combination of cellular and WiFi options. Do note that backing up on cellular data can incur data charges.
You can check the option to include videos as well in your backup.
Tap on Backup, and you are ready to go.
You can configure the frequency at which you would back up your chats. Tap on Backup to Google Drive and choose the frequency backup your messages.

This does it. Your WhatsApp chats will be backed up regularly to your Google Drive. Do note that the data consumed in backing up your data will not be counted against the quota you have on your Google account.

How to Download and Restore Whatsapp Messages from Google Drive?

Restoring your WhatsApp messages from Google Drive will involve reinstalling your WhatsApp installation. Restoring it otherwise is not possible and something you would not need as such.

However, if you have run into any issues with your WhatsApp installation or have opted for a new phone, the backup on Google Drive can come in quite handy enough in resolving the problem you may have.

Here is what you need to do –

Install WhatsApp on your new phone. In case you have uninstalled your WhatsApp on your current device for any reason, reinstall it.
Tap on Agree and Continue
Enter your phone number when prompted. Ensure that it is the same number that you have been using WhatsApp on your previous device.
Wait for the verification code and enter it when received.
Once WhatsApp reaches the initialization stage, it will look for backup – either local or Google Drive.
Make sure you have configured the same Google account on your new device.
Provide permission if your phone seeks to check Google Drive for backup.
You should get a prompt to choose the account you want to restore the backup from.
Tap on the account and next, tap

Wait patiently till the restoration is completed. Please note that the recovery can take a while depending upon the data you have backed up. If you have chosen to include media files as well, it will take more time. Be patient and do not hurry.

Wasn’t that an excellent option to switch your phone and not to lose the WhatsApp chat that you have always cherished to keep for long?

A Few issues though…

While the Google Drive backup and restore can be a perfect option for retrieving your WhatsApp chats when switching phones or getting back your phone after a service requirement, it should also be noted that the service may not be completely reliable. It may or may not work every time.

If it did not work for the first time, we would advise you to uninstall WhatsApp and reinstall it once again. Go through those steps once again, and you should get t right. Reinstalling it several times can, however, make you face a temporary ban. In such a scenario, you may need to wait for half an hour so, before you can attempt verifying your number once again.

It may also be a good idea to keep a backup of your WhatsApp chats on your computer in a notepad or similar application if they are much essential for you too. There is another option where you can move the WhatsApp data to your SD card and transfer it to your new phone.

However, it may be a complicated process and may not be easy for all of us – especially if you are someone who does not have technical expertise.

It is indeed an excellent option for your needs in backing up and restoring your WhatsApp chats. However, there can be a few issues for the purists out there. WhatsApp does not encrypt the messages when it backs up your data to Google Drive.

Another issue one may have to share your private messages with Google, which is known for sharing its data with third-party developers and service providers. Take a call based on what exactly are you looking for when you decide to backup your WhatsApp chats and other data to Google Drive and restore it from there.

Can I download WhatsApp chat backup from Google Drive?

Well, no. You are out of luck there. The WhatsApp chats on Google Drive may not be available to download outside the WhatsApp installation. You can log in to your Google Drive and check if the backup is available and up to date, but downloading the chats onto your laptop or PC will not be possible.

Unlike the other data you save on your Google Drive, the backups are kept in a compressed format. This will make them accessible only through the device that you have backed them upon. You will not be able to access those files on any other device or application.

In Conclusion

The Google Drive backup functionality should be an excellent option for keeping your WhatsApp messages that are close to your heart close to your device as well. If you are indeed not sure of how to backup and restore your WhatsApp chat on Google Drive, the tips and tutorials outlined in this compilation should help you much enough.

Backup your chats to Google Drive and keep changing your phones without losing your precious WhatsApp data.