# Whatsapp backup query



## billubakra (Feb 25, 2017)

Hi Guys,

I took a backup of my Whatsapp data including videos few days back to my Google Drive, the size of the same was 180mb. Just now I was taking the backup again and the size of the data was 360mb and then after 60% or 70% it kept on increasing like it became over 500mb considering I did not receive any new message of any kind. Few doubts-

1. If I open the Google Drive via the app or pc, I am not able to find the backed up data anywhere. Where is it located?

2. The back up data which was taken few days back, is it overwritten or it stays there as it is? Why is the size of the backed up data increasing right now?

WA is up to date.

Thanks


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## JojoTheDragon (Mar 13, 2017)

You can't access the backup. I think. It gets restored if you even move to a new cellphone or reinstall WhatsApp. It's all good. Rest easy. And size increases as you receive more texts, imgs, etc.


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## Flash (Mar 13, 2017)

Back up WhatsApp messages (Android only) - Drive Hel


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## ariftwister (Mar 13, 2017)

Yes.. Correct!! They are inaccessible !! And the more data you include, the more size it gets


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## billubakra (Mar 15, 2017)

JojoTheDragon said:


> You can't access the backup. I think. It gets restored if you even move to a new cellphone or reinstall WhatsApp. It's all good. Rest easy. And size increases as you receive more texts, imgs, etc.





Flash said:


> Back up WhatsApp messages (Android only) - Drive Hel





ariftwister said:


> Yes.. Correct!! They are inaccessible !! And the more data you include, the more size it gets



Thanks. Please help me understand this, I tested this on a new phone too, the backup size of few messages in that phone is 10mb. Then we sent a 5mb video from another phone to this phone. The backup size becomes 15mb. Now if we take backup via Google Drive the whole 15mb gets uploaded. That's fine. But what happens to the older 10mb of data? Is it overwritten or deleted?


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## JojoTheDragon (Mar 15, 2017)

It gets updated, I am assuming. Don't think too much about it.


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## ariftwister (Mar 15, 2017)

billubakra said:


> Thanks. Please help me understand this, I tested this on a new phone too, the backup size of few messages in that phone is 10mb. Then we sent a 5mb video from another phone to this phone. The backup size becomes 15mb. Now if we take backup via Google Drive the whole 15mb gets uploaded. That's fine. But what happens to the older 10mb of data? Is it overwritten or deleted?



Your Backup consists of two parts - Whatsapp messages (in the form of DB) and Media. 

Media Files gets added, The DB consists of messages, so the news messages will be added to DB as entries and this file as a whole DB gets uploaded. So the old DB is replaced by the new DB, yet your messages are there safely in the DB.


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## billubakra (Mar 16, 2017)

JojoTheDragon said:


> It gets updated, I am assuming. Don't think too much about it.



Actually the storage in my Google Drive is filling up way too much after taking backups and I don't think that the older data is getting deleted or overwritten.



ariftwister said:


> Your Backup consists of two parts - Whatsapp messages (in the form of DB) and Media.
> 
> Media Files gets added, The DB consists of messages, so the news messages will be added to DB as entries and this file as a whole DB gets uploaded. So the old DB is replaced by the new DB, yet your messages are there safely in the DB.



The messages might get replaced, they are in kb's. I am talking about videos and audio files. Like I mentioned above, 15mb file was uploaded and then we sent a video of 10mb but the second time we took the backup whole 25mb was uploaded and not just 10mb. In my case the backup size is like 500mb+


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## Flash (Mar 16, 2017)

billubakra said:


> Actually the storage in my Google Drive is filling up way too much after taking backups and I don't think that the older data is getting deleted or overwritten.



[h=2]Delete or stop backups[/h]If you delete your backup or app data from Drive, you won't be able to recover it.


Using a computer, go to drive.google.com.
In the top right, click Settings*lh6.ggpht.com/snsP5-ODgFFqVJhxS5La7OAqsAmO-GwYWWERMFPW5R4MXcxp0zUZ5Bq6lRFqrvk92lA=w18-h18  > *Settings*.
On the left, click *Manage Apps*.
Find "WhatsApp" in the list.
Note: If your backup is large, WhatsApp might take a few minutes to display.
Click* Options > Delete Hidden App Data*.
To stop future backups, click* Options > Disconnect from Drive*.

Back up WhatsApp messages (Android only) - Drive Hel


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## billubakra (Mar 16, 2017)

Flash said:


> [h=2]Delete or stop backups[/h]If you delete your backup or app data from Drive, you won't be able to recover it.
> 
> 
> Using a computer, go to drive.google.com.
> ...



Thanks, I can check the 500mb odd data there, can't access it though. Anyways that means that every time a backup is taken the old one gets deleted and new backup from the scratch is uploaded. Other apps were eating up my Google Drive it seems.


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## ariftwister (Mar 16, 2017)

billubakra said:


> Actually the storage in my Google Drive is filling up way too much after taking backups and I don't think that the older data is getting deleted or overwritten.
> 
> 
> 
> The messages might get replaced, they are in kb's. I am talking about videos and audio files. Like I mentioned above, 15mb file was uploaded and then we sent a video of 10mb but the second time we took the backup whole 25mb was uploaded and not just 10mb. In my case the backup size is like 500mb+



Are you concerned with the bandwidth it uses or the storage it takes ?? Because from your query, 15MB video and then 10MB videos means totally 25 MB. That's how it should be. 

Also, whatsapp can't upload individual files. It takes too much processing and unnecessary overhead. They simply bundle it up and then upload at the periodic interval set by you!!


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## billubakra (Mar 18, 2017)

ariftwister said:


> Are you concerned with the bandwidth it uses or the storage it takes ?? Because from your query, 15MB video and then 10MB videos means totally 25 MB. That's how it should be.
> 
> Also, whatsapp can't upload individual files. It takes too much processing and unnecessary overhead. They simply bundle it up and then upload at the periodic interval set by you!!



I am concerned about the size and bandwidth both. That 25 mb was uploaded from a new phone with WA installed for the first time. In my phone say I take the backup today, the size will be around 500mb and say I take the backup again after 2 days the size would increase to 600-700mb and the whole 600-700mb's of data is reuploaded and not just the 100-200mb additional or new files.


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## ariftwister (Mar 20, 2017)

billubakra said:


> I am concerned about the size and bandwidth both. That 25 mb was uploaded from a new phone with WA installed for the first time. In my phone say I take the backup today, the size will be around 500mb and say I take the backup again after 2 days the size would increase to 600-700mb and the whole 600-700mb's of data is reuploaded and not just the 100-200mb additional or new files.



Yes.. Like i said earlier, it doesn't upload individual media files but a bundle of them !! Also, there's a reason whatsapp warns you to use wifi to sync!!


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## billubakra (Mar 21, 2017)

ariftwister said:


> Yes.. Like i said earlier, it doesn't upload individual media files but a bundle of them !! Also, there's a reason whatsapp warns you to use wifi to sync!!



Thanks. To conclude it deletes/overwrites the older bundle and replaces it with a new one. What a waste of bandwidth.

Sir an out of context question, We tried to install WA+ in a S7(non-edge) phone but we are getting an error, The package conflicts with an existing package by the same name. Since there is no way to uninstall the preinstalled WA, we disabled it but still the same error is there. There are people who have WA+ in their phones without rooting or deleting the preinstalled version. How to bypass this error?


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## ariftwister (Mar 22, 2017)

billubakra said:


> Thanks. To conclude it deletes/overwrites the older bundle and replaces it with a new one. What a waste of bandwidth.
> 
> Sir an out of context question, We tried to install WA+ in a S7(non-edge) phone but we are getting an error, The package conflicts with an existing package by the same name. Since there is no way to uninstall the preinstalled WA, we disabled it but still the same error is there. There are people who have WA+ in their phones without rooting or deleting the preinstalled version. How to bypass this error?



There are many versions of WA+ out there. One of them is GB Whatsapp. It is that one, which allows you two have two whatsapp at the same time. Other's don't allow it.


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## billubakra (Mar 22, 2017)

ariftwister said:


> There are many versions of WA+ out there. One of them is GB Whatsapp. It is that one, which allows you two have two whatsapp at the same time. Other's don't allow it.


GBWA and WA+ both gave the same error my dear. Any way out?


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## ariftwister (Mar 22, 2017)

billubakra said:


> GBWA and WA+ both gave the same error my dear. Any way out?



You tried normal GB Whatsapp, there's another one called, Dual GB Whatsapp. You can identify them by their package name. If they have the package name, "com.whatsapp" then you will get conflict. Dual GB Whatsapp have the name "com.gbwhatsapp"


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## billubakra (Mar 22, 2017)

ariftwister said:


> You tried normal GB Whatsapp, there's another one called, Dual GB Whatsapp. You can identify them by their package name. If they have the package name, "com.whatsapp" then you will get conflict. Dual GB Whatsapp have the name "com.gbwhatsapp"


Actually I don't want the dual thing. I just want some modded stuff the requirement of which is fulfilled by WA+ or GBWA. Anyway to bypass this error? How to change the name of the package?


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## ariftwister (Mar 22, 2017)

billubakra said:


> Actually I don't want the dual thing. I just want some modded stuff the requirement of which is fulfilled by WA+ or GBWA. Anyway to bypass this error? How to change the name of the package?



Okay, in that case, you HAVE TO un-install original whatsapp app to install the modded one. If you are afraid of losing your messages, you can take a backup of them which will be restored in modded ones.


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## billubakra (Mar 23, 2017)

ariftwister said:


> Okay, in that case, you HAVE TO un-install original whatsapp app to install the modded one. If you are afraid of losing your messages, you can take a backup of them which will be restored in modded ones.



My dear in the new phones specially Samsung's you cannot uninstall the preinstalled softwares without root. I don't want to root yet as it will ruin the warranty. I installed WA+ in one of the phones without any issues and then the owner told me remove it. Now I am getting the same error if I try to install WA+ or GBWA in that phone too.


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## ariftwister (Mar 23, 2017)

billubakra said:


> My dear in the new phones specially Samsung's you cannot uninstall the preinstalled softwares without root. I don't want to root yet as it will ruin the warranty. I installed WA+ in one of the phones without any issues and then the owner told me remove it. Now I am getting the same error if I try to install WA+ or GBWA in that phone too.



You are using 2 different accounts right?? You can't use the same account on OG WA and GB WA at the same time.


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## billubakra (Mar 23, 2017)

What do you mean by 2 different accounts? As of now I have got a new phone and I haven't activated the preinsatlled WA. All I want to use is a modded version of the same.


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## billubakra (Mar 25, 2017)

ariftwister said:


> You are using 2 different accounts right?? You can't use the same account on OG WA and GB WA at the same time.


 [MENTION=169037]ariftwister[/MENTION]
Any more help Arif bhai?


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## ariftwister (Mar 26, 2017)

billubakra said:


> [MENTION=169037]ariftwister[/MENTION]
> Any more help Arif bhai?



If that whatsapp is a pre installed app, then it can't be removed without rooting. Still I don't understand why you don't want to use GB whatsapp ??


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## billubakra (Mar 26, 2017)

[MENTION=169037]ariftwister[/MENTION]
Because I don't want dual WA. Moreover the dual one is also fixing that error.


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## ariftwister (Mar 26, 2017)

billubakra said:


> [MENTION=169037]ariftwister[/MENTION]
> Because I don't want dual WA. Moreover the dual one is also fixing that error.



Whats wrong with GB Whatsapp ?? As you cannot remove inbuilt whatsapp without rooting, you have no other choice!


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## billubakra (Mar 26, 2017)

ariftwister said:


> Whats wrong with GB Whatsapp ?? As you cannot remove inbuilt whatsapp without rooting, you have no other choice!



GB WA also giving the same error as I posted above.


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## ariftwister (Mar 28, 2017)

billubakra said:


> GB WA also giving the same error as I posted above.



com.gbwhatsapp is giving you error ?? What is that error ?


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## Zangetsu (Mar 28, 2017)

But if u delete the media files from your phone or via Whatsapp Chat windows then the backup media will also be deleted...correct me.


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## billubakra (Mar 28, 2017)

Zangetsu said:


> But if u delete the media files from your phone or via Whatsapp Chat windows then the backup media will also be deleted...correct me.



You are correct but my query is different dear.

- - - Updated - - -



ariftwister said:


> com.gbwhatsapp is giving you error ?? What is that error ?



The package conflicts with an existing package by the same name.


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## ariftwister (Mar 28, 2017)

billubakra said:


> You are correct but my query is different dear.
> 
> - - - Updated - - -
> 
> ...



Then, what you downloaded isn't (dual) GB whatsapp. Because that has different package name than the official one, which won't conflict and thats the whole point of it.


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## billubakra (Mar 28, 2017)

ariftwister said:


> Then, what you downloaded isn't (dual) GB whatsapp. Because that has different package name than the official one, which won't conflict and thats the whole point of it.


Can you please pm me the correct one dear.


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## ariftwister (Apr 5, 2017)

billubakra said:


> Can you please pm me the correct one dear.



Sorry.. Totally forgot about your request... PMed.


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## BhargavJ (Sep 22, 2017)

I am buying a new phone and wish to transfer the entire Whatsapp database (including photos and videos) to the new phone - Android to Android. I used ES File Explorer to find out the size of the Whatsapp folder; it is 2.33 GBs (about two years of data). If I use Google Drive to backup and restore, will Whatsapp upload 2.33 GBs of data from the current phone to Google Drive and then download the same amount onto the new phone later, or will it compress the files to save data? My concern is with uploading and downloading this many GBs of data. Second, when it has restored the backup, will the conversations look the same as they do now - the messages, images and videos in the same order as they are now, or will it be jumbled up?

Suppose I just copy the main Whatsapp folder to my computer (with its subfolders) and later copy it to the new phone and then install Whatsapp on it, will it pick up all the messages, images and videos and display them in the correct order? Doing this will save me a lot of GBs.


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## ariftwister (Sep 22, 2017)

BhargavJ said:


> Suppose I just copy the main Whatsapp folder to my computer (with its subfolders) and later copy it to the new phone and then install Whatsapp on it, will it pick up all the messages, images and videos and display them in the correct order? Doing this will save me a lot of GBs.



Yes, this will work. After installing the whatsapp on new mobile, it will ask for restoration, click yes and everything will be restored.


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## billubakra (Sep 23, 2017)

BhargavJ said:


> I am buying a new phone and wish to transfer the entire Whatsapp database (including photos and videos) to the new phone - Android to Android. I used ES File Explorer to find out the size of the Whatsapp folder; it is 2.33 GBs (about two years of data). If I use Google Drive to backup and restore, will Whatsapp upload 2.33 GBs of data from the current phone to Google Drive and then download the same amount onto the new phone later, or will it compress the files to save data? My concern is with uploading and downloading this many GBs of data. Second, when it has restored the backup, will the conversations look the same as they do now - the messages, images and videos in the same order as they are now, or will it be jumbled up?
> 
> Suppose I just copy the main Whatsapp folder to my computer (with its subfolders) and later copy it to the new phone and then install Whatsapp on it, will it pick up all the messages, images and videos and display them in the correct order? Doing this will save me a lot of GBs.



Do let us know whether it worked or not.


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## BhargavJ (Sep 23, 2017)

Duh... I was hoping there would be a whole lot of people who have copied the Whatsapp folder to the computer and then on to the internal memory of the new mobile, and successfully restored the backup in this way. No offense, but your comment makes me doubt whether it will work or not. 

ariftwister has replied that it will work, and I will go ahead with this option. The other option is to upload and download a lot of GBs of data, and I don't want to do that. I'll inform you all later what happens, probably tomorrow.

Thanks for the replies.


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## billubakra (Sep 23, 2017)

BhargavJ said:


> Duh... I was hoping there would be a whole lot of people who have copied the Whatsapp folder to the computer and then on to the internal memory of the new mobile, and successfully restored the backup in this way. No offense, but your comment makes me doubt whether it will work or not.
> 
> ariftwister has replied that it will work, and I will go ahead with this option. The other option is to upload and download a lot of GBs of data, and I don't want to do that. I'll inform you all later what happens, probably tomorrow.
> 
> Thanks for the replies.


I personally don't think that it will work, I didn't want to lower your morale so didn't say anything. The Google drive method is tedious but it will work for sure.


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## Zangetsu (Sep 23, 2017)

Anybody using GBWhatsapp ?

I updated the GBWhatsapp and now there are two icons of Whatsapp...and the new icon is not detecting the backup of old one.
How do I transfer the chatbackups to new one ?


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## BhargavJ (Sep 24, 2017)

I tried the copy to computer and then to the new mobile method, and it didn't work... 

I had tried using the Google Drive method to make a backup, not selecting the videos as they take the most space, and Whatsapp first made a backup of around 400 MB, and then started uploading it to Google Drive, but got stuck at 40%. It didn't move past that for a long time, so I cancelled it. I don't know if the partial backup exists on Google Drive, or whether it can be used to restore the backup; will have to check.

I copied the Whatsapp folder from the old phone to the computer, didn't uninstall Whatsapp from the old phone, and did a factory reset. After installing Whatsapp on the new phone, I didn't open the app (as recommended in a guide). I copied the Whatsapp folder from the computer to the phone, then opened Whatsapp, and went through the process of setting up the account. It displayed all my contacts/groups, and at first I thought it had successfully restored the backup, but when I opened a group, I saw that it contained only new messages from today. It starts with xx created this group on this date, you were added, and then today's messages. None of the previous messages.

I would still like to restore the old conversations. Does anyone have any suggestions? What happens if I uninstall Whatsapp from the new phone - will it delete my Whatsapp account and remove me from all the groups, or just remove the app from the phone? What if I again copy the Databases folder from the computer to the new phone? This is if it allows me to overwrite that folder. What if I try to restore the partial backup from Google Drive? I'm going to try all these methods, but I thought I'd ask first; maybe someone has used one of these three methods to successfully correct a messed up restore job.

As @billubakra has said, the best method is using Google Drive.


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## BhargavJ (Sep 24, 2017)

I got it working!

Whatsapp's offfical guide:

WhatsApp FAQ - Restoring your chat history

I checked the file sizes of the same file (msgstore.db.crypt12) in both places (computer and internal storage), and it was different, probably because of the new messages that came yesterday.

First, I copied the Databases folder from the computer to the internal storage again - only that folder, not the whole media folder with its subfolders. Then I uninstalled Whatsapp. This didn't remove the Whatsapp folder in the internal storage. Then I again installed Whatsapp and started it. After verifying the number, it said that it had found a local backup, and I selected the restore the backup option. It took a few seconds to process the files, and then the main screen came up, and everything had been restored! All the previous messages, images, and videos!

The first time I had installed Whatsapp on this phone after copying the Whatsapp folder to the local storage, it hadn't checked the local storage. After verifying the number, it had asked me if I wanted to backup to Google Drive, and I had selected no, and then it had displayed the main screen, and the older local backup had not been processed.

I'm greatly relieved on getting all the messages back. If others face a similar problem, just do these steps. I still feel that restoring from Google Drive is the best option, but if you can't do that, this other method also works.


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## billubakra (Sep 24, 2017)

Zangetsu said:


> Anybody using GBWhatsapp ?
> 
> I updated the GBWhatsapp and now there are two icons of Whatsapp...and the new icon is not detecting the backup of old one.
> How do I transfer the chatbackups to new one ?



Gbwhatsapp is I presume to use 2 WhatsApp's via different numbers in a dual Sim phone. Is your phone having say v1 icon and the new updated v2 icon?
Please backup your stuff to Google drive in the meantime.


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## Zangetsu (Sep 24, 2017)

I'm using single sim phone with only one WhatsApp number


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## billubakra (Sep 24, 2017)

Zangetsu said:


> I'm using single sim phone with only one WhatsApp number


Switch to WA+ then. GBWA is good only if you want to use 2 WA's in one phone.


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