When transferring data to a new phone, it is important not only to move your contacts, photos, and apps, but also your WhatsApp messages. These messages often contain valuable information, memories, or conversations that you want to keep. Fortunately, WhatsApp offers the option to securely save your chats via a backup. By restoring this backup on your new phone, you can easily recover your entire conversation history. Until recently, this service was completely free for Android users, but an important change has recently occurred.
WhatsApp backups and Google Cloud
Previously, WhatsApp backups did not count toward the available memory in Google Cloud. This meant that you could back up as many chats, photos, and videos as you wanted at no extra cost, as long as it was via WhatsApp. However, in December 2023, Google changed its policy. From that moment on, WhatsApp backups count toward the total memory available in your Google Cloud account. For users who already have a lot of data in their Google account, such as emails with attachments, documents, or photos, this can cause a problem. The storage limit of the free version of Google Cloud is only 15 GB. When your cloud fills up, new backups can no longer be saved.
What happens if your Cloud is full?
When your Google Cloud is full, you cannot create new backups until you free up space or expand your storage. This can be an issue if you regularly save large amounts of data, such as videos, high-resolution photos, or files with many attachments. It is important to check your storage regularly to prevent your backups from failing. Fortunately, there are several ways to resolve this issue.
Options to free up space
If your Google Cloud is full, you can consider freeing up space. You can do this by:
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Cleaning up large files in Gmail: Search your Gmail inbox for emails with large attachments. You can do this by typing the following in the search bar:
size:10M(for files larger than 10 MB). Then, delete any emails you no longer need. -
Managing WhatsApp media: Go to WhatsApp settings and see how much space your chat history is taking up. Delete old chats, large videos, or photos that you no longer need. WhatsApp has a handy tool that allows you to filter media files by size, so you can quickly find the biggest space-hogs.
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Managing photos and videos in Google Photos: Use the "storage management" feature in Google Photos to delete duplicate or blurry photos. This can save quite a bit of space.
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Deleting other files: Check your Google Drive for large or redundant files and delete them to make more space.
Upgrading storage: a paid solution
If you find that there is still not enough room even after cleaning up your Google Cloud, you can consider expanding your storage. Google offers various subscriptions through the "Google One" program. With this program, you can choose from several options, depending on your needs:
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100 GB: For €1.99 per month or €19.99 per year, you get access to 100 GB of storage. This is often more than enough for most users.
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200 GB: For €2.99 per month or €29.99 per year, you can upgrade to 200 GB.
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2 TB: For intensive users who need a lot of storage space, there is a 2 TB option for €9.99 per month.
With a paid subscription, you no longer have to worry about storage issues, and you also receive extra benefits, such as access to premium support and the ability to share your storage with family members.
Tip for using WhatsApp
To prevent running into storage problems in the future, here are some useful tips:
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Back up regularly: Set up WhatsApp to create automatic backups, but keep an eye on the frequency. If you back up less often, it takes up less space.
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Manage your media files: Turn off the automatic download of media in WhatsApp to prevent your phone and cloud from unnecessarily filling up with large files.
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Monitor your storage usage: Use the Google One app or the storage overview in your Google account to see which files are taking up the most space.
Conclusion
The recent change in Google's policy regarding WhatsApp backups means that Android users need to keep a close eye on their storage management. Although the free version of Google Cloud still offers 15 GB of storage space, this can fill up quickly, especially if you save a lot of media files. By actively managing your storage and upgrading if necessary, you can ensure that you always have access to a reliable backup of your data. This way, your precious memories and important chats will always remain safely preserved.