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PSA: WhatsApp Backups on Android to Count Against Google Drive Storage

Starting in December, WhatsApp chat history backups on Google Drive will eat into the 15GB of free storage offered by Google.

November 16, 2023
A WhatsApp Logo on a phone (Credit: Anadolu Agency)

WhatsApp users on Android have enjoyed unlimited chat history backups on Google Drive since 2018. Now, the gravy train has pulled out of the station as backups will again count against a user's Google Drive storage.

The change is rolling out to beta users first in December, and "then gradually to all WhatsApp users on Android starting early next year," Google says.

WhatsApp will send a notification to users 30 days before the change happens via an alert in the Settings > Chats > Chat Backup menu. If you don't have enough storage on your Google account, and don't want to pay for it, WhatsApp's only suggestion for now is to transfer your chats to another Android device using WhatsApp Chat Transfer.

"If you hit your storage limit, you’ll need to free up space to resume backups by removing items you do not need," Google says.

Google offers 15GB of free storage per account across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. Google One storage plans start at $1.99 per month for 100GB and go up from there. "To help you with the transition, we will soon provide eligible users limited, one-time Google One promotions," Google says, though it didn't elaborate. (It's currently offering discounts on the first three months across Google One plans.)

On iOS, Apple offers 5GB of free cloud storage backup; iCloud+ plans start at $0.99 for 50GB.

Those with a Google Workspace subscription through work or school are not affected.

This comes about two years after Google ended unlimited storage on Google Photos and Docs.

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About Joe Hindy

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Hello, my name is Joe and I am a tech blogger. My first real experience with tech came at the tender age of 6 when I started playing Final Fantasy IV (II on the SNES) on the family's living room console. As a teenager, I cobbled together my first PC build using old parts from several ancient PCs, and really started getting into things in my 20s. I served in the US Army as a broadcast journalist. Afterward, I served as a news writer for XDA-Developers before I spent 11 years as an Editor, and eventually Senior Editor, of Android Authority. I specialize in gaming, mobile tech, and PC hardware, but I enjoy pretty much anything that has electricity running through it.

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