WhatsApp chat history backup on Android will soon count towards Google Account storage limit

Instant messaging app WhatsApp allows Android users to back up their chat history data to Google Drive without using their Google Account cloud storage limit. However, this will change soon, and WhatsApp backups will count towards the Google Account storage quota. WhatsApp backup on other mobile platforms already counts towards the storage cloud storage space.

“Going forward, WhatsApp backup experience on Android will be in line with how it works on other platforms, with the added benefit of Google’s 15 GB of storage available at no charge. We’ll continue to work with WhatsApp to provide you with reliable and secure backup support,” said Google in the community help forum.

Google Accounts offer 15GB of free storage space for Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. Android Users can use this free storage space to back up their WhatsApp chat history, and the backups on Android will continue to work as long as the storage space is available. After hitting the storage limit, users either need to free up some space by deleting unnecessary files or subscribe to Google One, which offers more storage space to continue backup.

This change will roll out to beta users starting December 2023 and will gradually roll out to all Android users in early 2024. To help users with the transition, Google will provide eligible users with limited, one-time Google One promotions. Moreover, WhatsApp will show a banner in Settings -> Chats -> Chat backup 30 days before this change happens to let users know. Users who don’t want to use the Google Drive chat backup feature can still transfer their chats between Android devices using the WhatsApp Chat Transfer feature.