How to Backup WhatsApp Photos to Google Photos on Android/iPhone

The possibility to use visual media when chatting with friends is one of the primary reasons why mobile applications like WhatsApp represent a massive improvement on earlier chat systems. Of course, it’s very convenient to have all the media files including high-resolution images saved to the cloud, so that they can remain safe even if the phone is lost or damaged. Ideally, transfers should be frequent and automated, so that the user has his complete WhatsApp history at his disposal at every moment.

Therefore, it’s essential to ensure that all the photos you share and receive on WhatsApp conversations can be properly backed up. And it’s also very important to make sure they are all available whenever you might happen to need them. This article will show you how to solve some of the common problems that occur while you are saving or retrieving your images with Google Photos.

How to Transfer WhatsApp Photos from Android/iPhone to Google Photos

Learning how to backup WhatsApp photos to Google Photos can be very useful, especially if you are chatting a lot and receiving a lot of images. Of course, the procedure for backing up photos depends on the operating system of your phone, so we prepared complete step-by-step guides for Android as well as iOS users. Just follow those instructions and your photos will always be properly backed up.

Transfer WhatsApp Photos to Google Photos on Android

Since Android is Google’s native mobile operating system, transferring photos from Android can be accomplished straightforwardly. Just enable automatic synchronization of the image folder in WhatsApp and the Google Photos account. Then you will need to adjust some settings.

• Open your Google Photo app and look for the options menu, then select Device folder and pick WhatsApp.
• On this screen, you can activate the option ‘Backup & Sync’ by moving the slider button next to it.
• Once you toggle this slider, you will ensure that photos are saved to the cloud as soon as you receive them on your phone and available whenever you need them.

A good alternative way to permanently solve Google Photos WhatsApp synchronization is to schedule regular backups of your media files whenever you are under a WiFi network. This can be accomplished by enabling synchronization in the Settings menu of your phone, but you need to make sure that you specified WhatsApp as a source of images for backup among the applications on your phone by checking the slider next to this option like shown in the image.

Transfer WhatsApp Photos to Google Photos on iPhone

As known for all, transferring iPhone WhatsApp to an Android device is not easy. However, there are numerous software products that can be used to coordinate the transfer of WhatsApp photos to the cloud that works really well with Google Photos, with AppTrans as one of the most commonly chosen and most widely respected tools.

As a professional phone apps transfer tool, AppTrans can transfer, backup, and restore all the apps and app data on your phone to anywhere you want. Not just iPhone, your Android device is also supported. Besides, you can even install apps through this application. The .ipa files, .apk files, .xapk files, and .apptrans files are all supported. Check some of AppTrans’s main features below.

Now you can follow the steps below to transfer WhatsApp photos to Google Photos.

Step 1. Connect iPhone and Android, and choose to transfer WhatsApp

1. Get AppTrans installed on your computer > Launch it and choose Transfer to Phone from App Transfer.

2. Connect your iPhone and Android, and select Android as the target device, iPhone as the source device. You can click the Switch button to exchange their position.

3. Choose WhatsApp and head to the Next button.

Step 2. Follow the on-screen instructions to authorize AppTrans

1. Choose and back up the WhatsApp data you want to transfer on your Android phone first. Then click on the Next button to continue.

2. Install WhatsApp Custom Version on your Android device and click on Next to proceed. Here we take Samsung as an example.

3. Go to Settings and click Apps > Find WhatsApp > Tap on App Permissions > Toggle Storage on.

4. Log into your original WhatsApp account on the custom version and choose to Restore backup data.

Step 3. Transfer WhatsApp now

Once you finished the on-screen steps above, you can click on the Transfer Now button to start transferring. Wait for the transferring process to finish and click on Ok when it’s done. You will see the transfer succeeded page below. Then you can transfer the photos on iPhone to Google Photos via this Android device now.

Solutions to Photos Not Showing in Google Photos Issue

While the methods described in previous chapters are usually effective, on rare occasions it might happen that your images from WhatsApp are not properly displayed when you open Google Photos.

Fortunately, there are some troubleshooting techniques that can be used in such a situation to regain full access to your media and see all the thumbnails on your screen again. Here is what you should try in case of WhatsApp photos not showing in Google Photos.

Solution 1. Enable Backup on All Devices

If you are using WhatsApp on multiple devices (i.e. phone and tablet), you need to make sure that automatic backup to the cloud is turned on on all of them. Failure to do so might result in some photos not appearing in your Google Photos folder. The solution to this issue is very simple, as you need to check the settings on your devices and ensure that full synchronization is enabled. After that, open Google Photos to see whether the fix was successful.

Solution 2. Clear Cache to Free up Some Space

Another common reason for WhatsApp photos not showing in Google Photos is the lack of memory to transfer them all. This occurs primarily to heavy social media users who are still relying on older phones to handle all the incoming media.

You can clear out your cache to resolve this issue by selecting the Settings menu on your phone, and then choosing Application Manager and then Storage. By clicking on Photos and then Clear data, you should be able to restore the normal display of all images from the cloud.

Solution 3. Check Your Archive And Trash Folders

In some cases, your WhatsApp photos could be moved from Google Photos to the archive, or accidentally erased. That would cause them to disappear from the preview screen on your phone or PC, but they would still not be permanently lost. Photos from the archive can be easily moved back to the active storage, while deleted photos can be restored within the period of 60 days, giving you some options if you happen to misplace some images you care about.

Also Read: Ways to Delete Photos from Google Photos without Deleting from Phone >

Tip: How to Transfer WhatsApp Photos from Android to iPhone

If you also want to know how to transfer WhatsApp from Android to iPhone, then AnyTrans can help you!

AnyTrans is a professional data transfer and backup tool, which allows you to transfer data from an Android device to a new Apple device (iPhone 14 supported), including WhatsApp data. And, it provides you to transfer WhatsApp without Android backup, or you can choose to transfer from Android to iPhone by restoring WhatsApp from Google Drive backup. What’s more, it enables you to back up all WhatsApp data safely and quickly.

Step 1. Download AnyTrans on your computer > Connect your Android and iPhone to the computer via USB cables > Click on the “Social Messages Manager” mode.

Step 2. Click on WhatsApp to Device > Then tap on the “Transfer Now” option to go on.

Step 3. Select your Android to be the source phone and your new iPhone to be the target phone > Click on the “Next” button to transfer WhatsApp messages to your new iPhone.

Step 4. Then follow the pop-up instructions in AnyTrans to continue: Backup your WhatsApp on your Android > Install the enhanced version WhatsApp on your Android > Allow access to the Phone Storage in WhatsApp.

Step 5. Log in to your WhatsApp on your Android and Tap the Restore button (this will restore the backup you just made to the current enhanced version of WhatsApp) > Then click Next in AnyTrans.

Step 6. AnyTrans will start to transfer WhatsApp data to your iPhone.

The Bottom Line

Google Photos is an excellent cloud-based storage solution and it can be very useful for keeping large collections of photos originating from WhatsApp and other mobile applications. For this data to be transferred to the cloud, a backup routine should be set up to handle this task automatically. If you need to transfer the photos on WhatsApp from iPhone to Google Photos, you may download AppTrans to do so right now!