How to Turn Off WhatsApp Backup on an iPhone

Apart from a slew of beneficial features, WhatsApp provides a clever way for recovering deleted chats. All of your chats are backed up and uploaded to the cloud with this backup option. This makes it easier to recover WhatsApp messages if you swap phones or accidentally erase them. While this is a useful function, it can quickly use a lot of storage space, especially on an iPhone.

By default, every iOS user gets 5GB of free iCloud storage, which may be increased based on the user's needs. This 5GB of space can soon fill up if WhatsApp is backed up to iCloud. Especially if you receive a large number of photos and videos.

If your iPhone's iCloud storage is running out, or you simply want your chats to stay on your device for privacy concerns, here's how to turn off WhatsApp Chat Backup on your iPhone.

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN WHATSAPP CHAT BACKUP?

WhatsApp backs up all media files (photos, videos, GIFs, documents, and so on) you receive via direct messages and groups, in addition to your communications. This contains images, movies, and GIFs, among other things. These files gather over time and grow in size, consuming a significant portion of your iCloud Storage.

Other apps will be unable to back up their data to iCloud as a result of this. You also won't be able to save any files to your iCloud Drive. This is why turning off WhatsApp chat backup on your iPhone may be a good idea. You can still take a manual backup now and then to ensure that you have something to restore if the need arises.

HOW DO I Know How Much Storage Whatsapp Backup Has Used on My iPhone?

Here's how to see how much storage your WhatsApp backup is using up on your iCloud account.

Step 1: Open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap on your name displayed at the top. This will open up your iCloud settings.

Step 2: Now, tap on iCloud.

Step 3: Select the Manage Storage option.

Step 4: You'll now see a list of apps and services sorted by the size of the space they take up on iCloud. Look for WhatsApp in this list, and you'll notice how much space it takes up next to it.

ON YOUR IPHONE, HOW DO YOU DISABLE WHATSAPP CHAT BACKUP?

If you think WhatsApp is using up a lot of space on your device, you can prevent it from taking up extra iCloud storage by stopping automatic backup in the app. Here's how to go about it.

Step 1: Open WhatsApp on your iPhone and tap on the Settings option on the bottom-right corner.

Step 2: Tap on Chats.

Step 3: Next, select Chat Backup.

Step 4: Select the Auto Backup option and change it to Off.

Step 5: Return to the previous menu and toggle the Include Videos option off if you don't want to totally disable the backup but still want to save some space. Videos (the primary source of huge files) will thus be excluded from the backup.

Step 6: Your iPhone's WhatsApp chat backup is disabled. Return to the same menu and manually pick the Back Up Now option if you wish to take a backup every now and then.

HOW DO I DELETE AN EXISTING ICLOUD WHATSAPP BACKUP?

Let's say you've already backed up a lot of videos and other media items on your iPhone, and your WhatsApp backup is taking up too much space. In that scenario, you can erase your old backup and create a new one before turning off auto backup. Here's how to do it.

Step 1: Open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap on your name displayed at the top. This will open up your iCloud settings.

Step 2: Now, tap on iCloud.

Step 3: Select the Manage Storage option.

Step 4: On iCloud, you'll see a list of apps and services organised in descending order of the size of the space they use up. Look through the list for WhatsApp and tap on it. It's a safe bet that it's the best option.

Step 5: Confirm the process by selecting Delete Data. iCloud will now destroy your existing WhatsApp backup.

DISABLING WHATSAPP BACKUP WILL FREE UP ICLOUD STORAGE.

This is a wonderful method to preserve some extra iCloud capacity for your images and other files if you don't want WhatsApp to back up your chats and media on a regular basis. Before switching to a new phone or uninstalling WhatsApp, you may always make a manual backup. If you're switching from an iPhone to an Android device, your WhatsApp conversations will be automatically transferred.