How to Download WhatsApp Backup from Google Drive

Currently, WhatsApp is the world’s largest messaging app that has more than 2 billion active users. Facebook Messenger has 0.8 billion users less than WhatsApp, which goes to show you just how popular this app has become. These statistics indicate that vast numbers of Android and iPhone users produce an immense amount of data through WhatsApp. Fortunately, WhatsApp lets you create backups of your entire chat history and all media files you produce or receive on Google Drive.

You are at the right place if you are looking for a way to access your WhatsApp data. Because in this article we are going to show you how to download WhatsApp backups from Google Drive.

Can You Download WhatsApp Backup from Google Drive?

You can keep track of your backups on Google Drive but you won’t be able to download them. Backups you stored on Google Drive can only be accessed directly from WhatsApp, as there is no other way to gain access to these files.

For the latest WhatsApp updates, you could head over to Google Drive and then click on the Settings menu to find. Then click on the Manage Apps option and browse to the WhatsApp section.

Clicking on the Options drop-down menu will enable you to delete a backup you created, but you won’t be able to read or extract the data as it is encrypted by WhatsApp. However, the Google Drive backup can also be accessed from the Backups folder that can be accessed from your Android’s internal storage.

Can You Restore WhatsApp Backup from Google Drive?

Sure, you can restore WhatsApp backup to your device from Google Drive. First of all, you need to make sure that the backup is up to date. Afterward, you can reinstall WhatsApp. During the setup process, you will be asked if you want to restore the data that is backed up on Google Drive so just tap Yes and chat history will be restored.

For iPhone users, on the other hand, cannot gain direct access to the WhatsApp backups, but there are a few workarounds that enable the users to view the data backup on iCloud.

How to Download WhatsApp Backup from Google Drive?

The process of downloading WhatsApp backups from Google Drive and iCloud is not the same. It is much more technical on iOS-based devices. However, it is highly unlikely that you are going to lose any data if you backed up the app regularly. Let’s take a look at how you can get WhatsApp backup from Google Drive.

Directly Download WhatsApp Backup from Google Drive to an Android Device

As we already pointed out, you first need to uninstall WhatsApp from your Smartphone and ensure that the backup on Google Drive is up to date. When ready, you can start the reinstallation process. Here’s what you need to do.

Step 1: Go to the Google Play Store, locate the WhatsApp messaging app, and tap on the Install button. Launch the app and tap on the Agree & Continue button at the bottom of the screen.

Step 2: You will be asked to provide the phone number that is associated with your WhatsApp account, so simply insert your phone number.

The app will send you a verification code in an SMS message immediately after you insert a phone number. Once the new window pops up on the screen, you should provide the six-digit code that was sent to your phone.

Step 3: A prompt asking you to give the app permission to access your contacts, photos, media, and files will pop up on the screen. Tap on the Continue button and then choose the Restore feature. WhatsApp will automatically restore the data you backed up on Google Drive.

Step 4: Type in your name into the appropriate box and proceed to customize the app in accordance with your needs, after the backup data is successfully restored. You don’t have to change the username or the password in order to continue using WhatsApp normally, since the app will remember your account even if you changed the device from which you are using WhatsApp.

Download WhatsApp Backup from Google Drive to iPhone via AnyTrans

AnyTrans provides a quick and effective way to download WhatsApp backups from Google drive. Before starting to restore WhatsApp backup from Google Drive to iPhone, please make sure that the Android device has already restored the latest backup. Then follow the steps listing below to figure out how would this happen.

Step 1. Run AnyTrans on the computer

Download AnyTrans and launch it on your computer. And then connect both your Android device and iPhone.

Step 2. Start to download WhatsApp backup

Click on the Social Messages Manager on the left panel on AnyTrans and then you would see there are 3 options, then tap on the WhatsApp to Device.

Step 3. Transfer the backup from Android to iPhone.

Follow the instruction on the screen to go on the data transfer from Android to iPhone.

Minutes later, you will see all these WhatsApp backups on Google drive are restored to your iPhone. That’s how you download WhatsApp backups from Google Drive to iPhone.

Download WhatsApp from Google Drive to an iPhone Using Email

You cannot download a WhatsApp that is stored on Google Drive directly to an iPhone. Apple’s devices are not compatible with Google Drive’s encryption protocols. However, there are still a few methods you can use to access a WhatsApp backup from an iPhone.

The fastest and the easiest way to do this is to send an entire chat you had with a particular contact to your email and then open that email from an iPhone. Here’s how you can do this.

Step 1: Open WhatsApp from an Android device and make sure that none of your data is missing. If you notice that some parts of the chats, photos, or videos are missing you can restore them by following the process of downloading WhatsApp backup from Google Drive to an Android phone.

Step 2: Locate the contact whose chat history you would like to share, and then tap on the Settings icon in the upper right corner of the screen. Tap on the More option and select the Export Chat feature from the menu.

Step 3: You will be asked to provide the email address to which the exported chat is going to be sent. And then open the email from an iPhone.

Keep in mind that the exported chat is saved in the TXT format and that you cannot open it in WhatsApp. Consequently, you will not be able to use this file to restore old messages in this messaging app.

In case your WhatsApp backups were stored on iCloud you won’t be able to extract them from this cloud storage service. Optionally you can try to back up your WhatsApp data with iTunes and use an iTunes backup extractor to extract the chats or media files from WhatsApp.

Conclusion

Downloading WhatsApp backup from Google Drive with an Android phone is a straightforward process that doesn’t take more than a few moments of your time. However, you should keep in mind that you cannot access a WhatsApp backup file directly from Google Drive and that you have to go through this process from the app.

iPhones are still not compatible with Google Drive’s encryption protocols and that is the reason why you must use an alternative method to extract chats, documents, videos, or photos from the app. Did you find this article helpful? Let us know in the comments.