Regardless of what messaging platform you use, your messages and chats are of huge importance. That is why you should have a backup of them, including all the media sent, so that you don’t lose them in case of a stolen device or corrupt software update. Here we cover how to back up your Whatsapp chats on an iOS device to Apple’s iCloud service.
Previously, you could back up your Whatsapp chats to your computer using iTunes; however, in recent versions of iOS, this backup is done directly to the cloud using iCloud Drive. By using iCloud Drive, your entire Whatsapp data (chats + media) can be backed up into the cloud and can be restored easily should the need ever arise.
Although you may have iCloud Drive enabled on your device, that does not necessarily mean Whatsapp backups are enabled. Follow the guide below to enable Whatsapp backups to iCloud Drive:
1. On your iPhone/iPad, open the Settings app.
2. Click on your name (Apple ID name) on the top of the screen. This will take you to the Apple ID section.
3. Tap on iCloud.
4. Here, scroll down and enable the toggle for iCloud Drive.
5. From the same menu, scroll down and enable iCloud Drive for Whatsapp.
Once this is done, enable backups from the Whatsapp app. You can choose to back up your data either automatically or manually. Follow the steps below:
1. Open Whatsapp on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap on the Settings tab, which is located on the bottom-right corner of the screen.
3. Here, navigate to Chats -> Chat Backup.
4. Find the option to back up your chats. Tapping on “Back Up Now” will automatically back up all your chats and media to iCloud.
Similarly, if you’d like to adjust the frequency at which your chats are backed up, you can do so from the “Auto Backup” menu. You can choose daily, weekly or monthly backups. You can also turn it off completely if you’d like to do so.
We’d recommend to do these backups over Wi-Fi only, as a single backup will be ranging anywhere from 300 to 400MBs to 5 to 6 GBs, depending upon your usage.
Backing up that much data daily on a cellular connection can incur a significant mobile data bill. To save on your bill, disable cellular data access for iCloud or turn off Auto Backups. By choosing to “Include Videos” in your backup, your backup size will increase enormously depending on the amount of videos you have in your Whatsapp media.
Now, even if you uninstall/reinstall Whatsapp or switch to a new device, you can easily restore your conversations in a matter of seconds. Whenever you activate Whatsapp on your new iOS device, you’ll be prompted to restore your data from iCloud.
Did you find the guide useful? Let us know in the comments section below.
Related:
- How to Get WhatsApp on Your iPad without Jailbreaking
- WhatsApp Security Precautions You Should Be Using
- The Complete Guide to Keeping Your Privacy While Using WhatsApp
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