Whatsapp, backups started taking up space on Google Drive

As announced last November, WhatsApp backups on Android have gradually started consuming Google Drive storage space. After the first signals arrived at the beginning of the year, the messaging platform is expanding the rollout of this innovation, launched first for beta users, which will affect (in many cases significantly) the 15 GB of free cloud space offered by Google.

The WhatsApp support page states that users should be notified of this change via a banner that will appear in the chat backup settings At least 30 days in advance. However, many users reported that there was a Whatsapp backup entry in their Google account but did not see any warning banner.

To check activation, simply go to Google One, under Space, and display Memory Card where a breakdown of how much storage space is being used by various Google services including Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos will be displayed. WhatsApp data should be foundI'm in a section called “Other”.

Obviously, if the storage limit is exceeded, to resume backups You will need to free up space in your account or Purchase a plan that provides for a larger quantity. The most convenient plan currently is the Basic plan, which Provides 100GB for 1.99 per month.

Given the popularity of the messaging service, in fact, the backup will likely take up a few gigabytes of space, which may be especially problematic for users of the basic 15GB plan who in recent years (the agreement with Google was signed in 2018) have enjoyed the ease of automatic backups. Unrestricted data. However, in recent months, WhatsApp has also implemented important improvements to backups, reducing their size.

If you don't want to back up your conversations to your Google account, You can still transfer everything with “WhatsApp Chat Transfer” or Stop backup from settings. In this case the chats will be stored locally on your device. Currently, Google Workspace users who got their accounts through work or school are not affected by this change.