How to backup WhatsApp chats: Step-by-step guide

For many of us, WhatsApp has become essential—not just for messaging and calls, but also for sharing photos, videos, and documents. With so much information saved in one place, it’s important to keep a backup, especially if you plan to switch devices. The good news? Backing up your chat history is easy. You’ll need a Google account to store your backup in the cloud. If that sounds complicated, don’t worry—just follow this simple step-by-step guide to back up your WhatsApp data.

How to backup data on WhatsApp

Step 1: Open WhatsApp on your phone.
Step 2: Go to Settings and scroll down to the Chats section.
Step 3: In the Chats section tap Chat backup. 
Step 4: Now you can select the Google account, where you want to backup. 
Step 5: Tap Back up.

Also read: How to use Meta AI on WhatsApp: A complete guide

It’s done. Now, your chats have started uploading on the cloud. Once the backup is completed, you can log in to your WhatsApp account on the device you are switching to, and there you’ll get the option to “Search for backup” and then tap on “Restore backup”. And done, all of your chat history including media files have been restored safely on your new device.

Things you should know

• Transfer Chats: This feature works with Android-to-Android or iPhone -to-iPhone. It allows you to transfer your chat history including photos, videos, and documents, privately without using Google cloud storage.

Also read: How to search a particular message on WhatsApp: A step-by-step guide

• Backup Options: On WhatsApp, you get two ways to backup your chat history and media. The above step-by-step guide is the way to back up the data manually. Another one is Auto backup where you’ve to turn it on and it’ll backup your data according to the frequency that is set.
• End-to-End encryption: By turning it on you can protect your backup with end-to-end encryption. Your backup will be safe even if you’ll lose your phone.