WhatsApp Backup changes: how will it impact your Google Drive?

There is big news for Android phone users who love using WhatsApp as Google and WhatsApp are making backup changes. Now, the chats and pictures you save on WhatsApp will use your Google account storage on Android.

This means the data you save on Google Drive for WhatsApp will be part of the 15GB storage limit. You can choose to stay within this limit or get a Google One subscription for more space.

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— LatestLY (@latestly) January 2, 2024

Google announced this change last year and it started for WhatsApp Beta users in Dec 2023. It will gradually reach all WhatsApp users on Android in early 2024. You will get a notification 30 days before this change shown in WhatsApp Settings >Chats >Chat backup, 30 days before this change happens.

WhatsApp mentioned that the free storage they offer is three times more than what Apple gives with iCloud. They emphasize that Google accounts have 3X more than most mobile platforms like iOS and iCloud. But, they also say that the WhatsApp backup changes on Android will be similar to other platforms.

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The Google account’s cloud storage limit will be applied to conversation and media backups on Android devices. This represents a policy turn from 2018 when backups were no longer using up Google Drive storage.

Google said in a statement that if you choose to enable WhatsApp backups on Android, personal Google Accounts come with 15GB of storage at no cost. It is 3X more than most mobile platforms that are shared across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos.

As long as you have space available in your Google Account storage, WhatsApp backups for Android will continue to function. But if you reach your storage limit, you will need to remove unnecessary items to make space for backups to continue.