WhatsApp Backups Will No Longer Count Towards Google Drive Storage Quota
WhatsApp has expanded its partnership with Google to start offering Android users added benefits to use WhatsApp backups on Google Drive. The Facebook-owned company has revealed that WhatsApp backups will no longer count towards the Google Drive storage quota starting November 12, 2018. It is also important to note that WhatsApp backups that haven't been updated in more than one year will be automatically removed from Google Drive storage. Users are recommended to manually back up their WhatsApp chats before November 12 to avoid the loss of any dated backups. The latest move is quite valuable for the Android users who don't have plenty of storage space on Google Drive to regularly back up their WhatsApp chats. However, it doesn't bring any change to iOS users since WhatsApp for iPhone uses iCloud as the source to store backups.
As revealed through an FAQ page, WhatsApp backups will no longer count towards the Google Drive storage quota starting November 12. This helps Android users to use the available Google Drive space to store important files and data other than the regular WhatsApp data. While there isn't any restriction on the Google Drive front, to back up your WhatsApp data, you still need to fulfil the minimum requirements that include a Google account activated on your phone along with Google Play services. The handset also needs to have enough free space to create the Google Drive backup. Notably, apart from updating its FAQ page, WhatsApp has started sending emails to users to inform them about the fresh change.
If in case you haven't updated your WhatsApp backup in more than one year, Google Drive will automatically remove the dated backup. Therefore, it is recommended to manually back up the date before November 12. To create a Google Drive backup, tap the three-dot menu from the top-right corner of your WhatsApp screen and then go to Settings > Chats > Chat backup. Now tap the Back up button. You can select a backup frequency to let WhatsApp automatically back up your chats by tapping the Back up to Google Drive option. If this is the first time you're backing up your WhatsApp data, you also need to select a Google account by tapping the Account option. It is recommended to back up the data over Wi-Fi only, although you can tap the Back up over option to choose the Wi-Fi or cellular option to get your WhatsApp backups stored on Google Drive either using the connected Wi-Fi network or your data quota.
It is worth pointing out here that media and messages you back up on Google Drive aren't protected by WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption, though they are protected by Google's encryption. Backups are vital if you're switching from one Android device to another and want all your WhatsApp chats and media available on the new device. WhatsApp for Android users received the option to store their backups on Google Drive back in October 2015.
As we mentioned, the new development is of no use for users on WhatsApp for iPhone as the app uses iCloud as the source to store backups. The latest change, in other words, is limited to Android users only.