Back Up WhatsApp Chats Before You Lose Your Phone

WhatsApp can save your chats, photos and voice notes to the cloud, so losing a phone does not mean losing your history. Android phones back up to Google Drive. iPhones back up to iCloud. There is one catch worth knowing before you switch phones: the extra privacy lock for backups comes with a password that WhatsApp cannot reset for you.

How the lock works

Your live conversations are protected by end-to-end encryption, which keeps them readable only to you and the person you are talking to. Cloud backups typically do not have that protection. WhatsApp offers it as an option on both Google Drive and iCloud, but it is not turned on by default.

To switch it on, go to Settings, then Chats, then Chat Backup, then End-to-end Encrypted Backup. You can protect the backup with a password or a 64-digit encryption key that only you know.

What to do first

• Write down the password or key, or save it in a password manager, before you turn the feature on.
• Do not rely on memory. WhatsApp cannot reset the password or retrieve the backup.
• When you set up WhatsApp on a new phone, or reinstall it, the restore option appears during setup.
• If the backup is locked, WhatsApp will ask for your password or key at that point.

The source material does not say how often backups run, how much cloud storage they need, or whether chats can move between Android and iPhone. Check those details in the app before you rely on it.