Everything You Need to Know about WhatsApp iCloud Backup

iCloud brings WhatsApp users an easy way to save conversations on their iPhone. In just a few steps, you can back up all of your chats, including photos and other media files to iCloud. As a result, you can access and restore these backups from iCloud when you need them. Whether you want to backup or restore WhatsApp to/from iCloud, we've got you covered. In this tutorial, we will tell you everything you need to know about WhatsApp iCloud backup, ranging from how to backup WhatsApp to iCloud, how to find and restore WhatsApp backup in iCloud, to how to backup iPhone WhatsApp without iCloud. Plus, we also prepare some additional fixes to solve "can't back up or restore an iCloud backup" issue.

Part 1. How to Back Up WhatsApp to iCloud

Technically, iCloud offers two options for you to back up WhatsApp messages. One is to do an iCloud backup of the entire iPhone/iPad. Another is to enable in-app chat backup in WhatsApp. They may be similar, but there are some differences between them, as listed below.

iCloud backup of the entire device: Back up the device will back up WhatsApp. When you restore this backup to a new phone, it will perform a full iCloud restore.

WhatsApp iCloud backup: Backup only WhatsApp data. When you restore your data to a new phone, it will only restore WhatsApp messages.

If you have both backup options enabled on your device, your iCloud will make a double backup of your WhatsApp. Also, it will take double the space of your iCloud space. Hence, we advise you to keep the built-in WhatsApp backup enabled and untick it from the iPhone backup. But if you stick to make an iCloud backup of your device, you can also do it.

Option 1. How to backup only WhatsApp to iCloud

To use this method, first of all, you'll need to enable iCloud Drive.

Steps to Enable iCloud Drive

Step 1. Go to the Settings app on your iPhone > [your name] > iCloud.

Step 2. Scroll down to find "iCloud Drive," make sure this option is turned on.

Steps to Back up WhatsApp Chat History

Step 1. Go to WhatsApp > Settings > Chat.

Step 2. Tap on "Chat Backup."

Step 3. From the Chat Backup page, you can choose to manually backup by tapping "Back Up Now" or choose to automatically backup by tapping "Auto Backup" and choosing your backup frequency. Additionally, you can choose to include or exclude videos from the backup.

Option 2. How to backup the whole device to iCloud

This method requires you to enable iCloud Backup, which means you will backup all of your iPhone data, including photos, messages, contacts, videos, etc. Tons of data you're going to back up to iCloud will soon eat up the limited iCloud storage space (only 5GB for free), so you may have to buy more storage space. And it is worth noting that this method won't let you restore WhatsApp messages only when you need to restore.

Step 1. Go to the Settings app on your device > iCloud. If you're using a new iOS version, tap on the Apple ID and then tap iCloud.

Step 2. Tap "Backup" > Turn on "iCloud Backup."

Note: If you don't want to backup WhatsApp to iCloud, you can also backup WhatsApp without iCloud.

Part 2. How to Restore WhatsApp from iCloud

Once you've backed up WhatsApp messages to iCloud, you can restore them whenever you want. If you have no idea how to restore, you can follow the steps below to do it.

Step 1. Delete and reinstall WhatsApp on your iPhone or iPad.

Step 2. Log in to WhatsApp with the same account you use to make a backup. Also, make sure that the device logs in the same iCloud account.

Step 3. Then, WhatsApp will automatically detect the existing backup and show you an available backup > Simply tap "Restore Chat History" to get it back.

If you want to restore your whole device from an iCloud backup, you can follow the steps listed below.

Step 1. Factory reset your iPhone or iPad to take it to its original state.

Step 2. Set up your iPhone from scratch. First, choose "Restore from iCloud Backup," then enter your Apple ID and password. Finally, select the relevant backup to restore.

Part 3. How to Find My WhatsApp Backup in iCloud

Want to access your backup and see the contents you backed up to iCloud? Here is a feasible way to do it. But this method only works for Mac.

Step 1. Launch Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities folder) on your Macbook and type the following commands:

cd ~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/

find *whatsapp*

Step 2. Then, you'll see all the files related to your WhatsApp backup. And the documents, images, and videos are stored in separate, unencrypted archives: Documents.tar, GIF.tar, Media.tar, Picture.tar, Video.tar.

Note: If you don't see anything, just make sure your iCloud Drive has been enabled. If you only see *.icloud files, then turn off “optimize mac storage” in the icloud system preferences.

Step 3. To extract what's inside, you can copy these files to your desktop via the following terminal command:

cp *whatsapp*/Accounts/*/backup/*.tar ~/Desktop

Step 4. After exporting, double-click on the .tar files to extract a folder structure contains the files organized by conversation.

Part 4. Fixes to "Can't Back Up or Restore a WhatsApp iCloud Backup" Issue

Many reasons might cause "can't back up or restore a WhatsApp iCloud backup" issue. It is possible that your iCloud is running out of storage, or your network works improperly. Regardless of the reasons, here are two solutions you can try to fix this issue.

1. Manage your iCloud storage

If your iCloud is running out of storage, then you need to manage it by deleting some iCloud backups and buying more storage space.

2. Check your network

Unstable internet connection is another factor that may cause this issue. To solve this, you can go to your Settings app > General > Reset and choose to Reset Network Setting.

The Bottom Line

Thank you for reading our post. That's all information about WhatsApp iCloud backup. If you have many other good ideas related to this topic, don't hesitate to share them with us. We hope this guide is helpful to you. If it indeed helps you, you can share it with your friends who are facing the same problem.