How to back up your chat history

Android
iOS
On iPhone, you have two ways to back up your WhatsApp chat history:
  • WhatsApp in-app backup to iCloud: learn more in the article below
  • iPhone backup to iCloud: learn more from Apple’s Help Center
You can choose either option, or use both for extra protection.
Note: If you use both options, it will require additional iCloud storage to store both copies of WhatsApp backup.

WhatsApp in-app backups to iCloud

You can back up your WhatsApp chat history and media using your iCloud account. Before you get started, check if:
  • You’re using the same phone number and iCloud account that the backup was created on.
  • Your iPhone is updated to the latest iOS.
  • Your available iCloud account and iPhone storage is at least 2.05 times bigger than the size of your backup.

Set up automatic backups

To back up chats to your iCloud account:
  1. Tap WhatsApp Settings.
  2. Tap Chats > Chat backup.
  3. Tap Auto backup and choose your backup frequency.
    • You can choose to include or exclude videos from the backup.

Manually back up your chats at any time

  1. Tap WhatsApp Settings.
  2. Tap Chats > Chat backup > Back up now.
Note: Backups include messages and media sent and received in communities. They also include updates shared over WhatsApp Channels, but they do not include media unless you are the channel admin. In some cases, all previously followed channels may not be included in back-up files. Learn more here.

Create an end-to-end encrypted backup

  1. Tap WhatsApp Settings.
  2. Tap Chats > Chat backup > End-to-end encrypted backup.
  3. Tap Turn on.
  4. Create a password or use a 64-digit encryption key instead.
  5. Tap Create to create your end-to-end encrypted backup.
Note: Make sure to remember your password or key as it’s the only way to access your backup in the future.

Related resources

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