Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp is consistently bringing a number of updates to enhance the user experience. But, one of its latest updates will change the app forever. WhatsApp is known for keeping your old data including messages, videos and photos, safe for a long period of time. However, in its latest post, the messaging app said that it has come up with a new way to store your data. Instead of backing up data on the device, it will now store it on Google Drive.
It also said that back-up won’t make use of the Google Drive storage space. All these backed-up messages, photos, and videos of the country will remain on Google Drive but they won’t count towards the storage limit of the user.
This will not only save storage space on your phones but also on Google Drive. “Starting November 12, 2018, WhatsApp backups will no longer count towards the Google Drive storage quota,” the statement from WhatsApp read.
However, on the flip side, the platform said that it will start deleting some of your old content. Any data that has not been backed up for over a year will start disappearing from Google Drive. “Furthermore, WhatsApp backups that haven’t been updated in more than one year will be automatically removed from Google Drive storage,” it said.
Why save WhatsApp data?
There could be nothing worse than going into your social media archives to try and find a certain photo or message, only to discover that it has been suspiciously wiped from your device. If you don’t want to face a similar situation, you need to back up your WhatsApp data manually before November 12, 2018.
The chats and media can be backed up on Google Drive. WhatsApp has advised the users to connect their phones to Wi-Fi prior to backing up their chats via Google Drive, as backup files can vary in size and consume mobile data, causing additional charges.
Meanwhile, Google too, in an e-mail to users, has said, “Due to a new agreement between WhatsApp and Google, WhatsApp backups will no longer count against Google Drive storage quota. However, any WhatsApp backups that have not been updated in more than a year will automatically be removed from storage.”
How to backup data?
To back up data, switch on your Wi-Fi first. Then open WhatsApp and go to Menu. Open settings, then chats and then click on Chat back-up. If you select Back Up, everything on the phone would be automatically backed up to the Google Drive.