Brand phones Honor are known for their reliability and capacious memory, but even they fill up with unnecessary data over time. One of the heaviest and most often forgotten categories of files are old messenger backups WhatsApp. These files can take up gigabytes of precious space, slowing down the device and preventing the installation of new applications or saving photos.
The process of deleting backups on smartphones Honor has its own nuances due to the features of the shell MagicOS and integration with services Google. The user needs to understand the difference between local copies stored in the smartphone’s memory and cloud archives on Google Drive. Incorrect deletion can lead to the loss of important correspondence, so you need to act carefully and consistently.
In this article we will analyze in detail all the ways to clean up excess garbage. You'll learn how to find hidden folders, how to manage autosave in the cloud, and how to get rid of duplicate messages forever. We'll also look at specific security settings Honorthat may affect access to system files.
Differences between local and cloud storage
Before proceeding with deletion, it is critical to understand the data storage architecture of WhatsApp. On Androiddevices, including Honor, the messenger creates two types of backups simultaneously. The first type is a local file that is saved directly to the internal memory of your phone every night at a certain time.
The second type is a cloud copy that is uploaded to servers Google. These two repositories are independent of each other. Deleting a file from your phone will not affect the copy in the cloud, and vice versa. Deleting a cloud copy through the app settings irreversibly erases data from the Google server, it will be impossible to restore it without a local file.
⚠️ Attention: Before starting any cleaning operations, make sure you have an up-to-date copy of important conversations if you plan to save them. Check the date of the last successful backup in the chat settings.
Local files are often accumulated in the form of history for the last 7 days. This means that in your memory Honor there may be 7 different versions of the same correspondence in a week. Cloud storage usually stores only one, the latest version, overwriting the old one with each new update.
Before deleting, copy the WhatsApp folder to your computer or external drive if you are not sure which chats you need to save. This will create a safety archive.
Cleaning local backups through a file manager
The most effective way to free up space on your phone Honor is to manually delete old files through the built-in file manager. In the latest versions Android access to some system folders has been limited, but the path to the messenger data usually remains open to the user.
Open the application Files or File manager on your smartphone. You need to go to section Internal memory. Further, the path may differ depending on the version of the operating system installed on your Honor. In older versions Android the folder was in the root, and in new ones it is hidden deeper in the system directories.
Follow one of two possible paths:
- 📁
Internal memory→WhatsApp→Databases - 📁
Internal memory→Android→media→com.whatsapp→WhatsApp→Databases
Inside the folder Databases you will see files with names like msgstore-2023-10-25.1.db.crypt14. The file with the name msgstore.db.crypt14 (no date) is the most current database that the application is using right now. It cannot be deleted, otherwise the messenger will not be able to start or recover from a failure.
All other files with dates in the name are archives for past days. You can safely select them (long press) and press the delete button. The system MagicOS will ask for confirmation, after which the files will be moved to the trash or will be deleted permanently, depending on your settings.
☑️ Check before deleting local files
Managing backups in Google Drive
If your goal is to delete data from the cloud to free up space in your account Googlethe steps are performed differently. Direct deletion of a file through the app Google Drive on the phone Honor is often impossible, since these files are hidden from direct user access for security.
Cloud backups are managed exclusively through the settings of the application itself. WhatsApp. Go to the messenger, click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select Settings. Next, go to the section Chat and find the item Chat backup.
In this menu you will see information about the last copy: date, time and file size. To delete the current cloud version, you need to click the Delete button (or the trash can icon) located next to the backup information. After confirmation, the system will send a request to the servers Google to clear the data.
| Action | Where executed | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Deleting a file in the folder Databases | Honor phone | Freeing up internal memory |
| Delete button in WhatsApp settings | Whatsapp application | Deleting a copy from Google Drive |
| Disable autosave | Chat settings | Stop creating new copies |
It is worth noting that after deleting the cloud copy, the next time you enable autosave, WhatsApp will create a new copy and download it again. Therefore, if you want to completely stop using cloud storage, you need to change the backup frequency.
Why is the file not visible in Google Drive?
Whatsapp backup files are hidden in a special protected section of Google Drive. They are not displayed in the general list of files and do not take up visible space in the Drive application interface, but are taken into account in the storage quota.
Disable automatic copy creation
Often users want not only to delete an old file, but to prevent the appearance of new garbage in the future. On smartphones Honor this is done through a flexible system of backup frequency settings. You can completely disable this feature or customize it to suit your needs.
In the menu Chat backup find the item Frequency or Backup to Google Drive. By default, the value may be Daily. Click on this item and select the option Never. This action will stop automatic uploading of data to the cloud.
For local copies the situation is more complicated. The messenger itself always creates a local file when closed or at night. However, you can use third-party cleaning applications or settings yourself to automatically clean the folder. Some models allow you to configure automation scripts. Honor to automatically clean up a folder Databases. Some models allow you to configure automation scripts.
⚠️ Attention: The settings interface may vary slightly depending on the version of WhatsApp and MagicOS updates. If you don't find the "Never" option, check for app updates in the Play Market.
Disabling autosave is useful if you only use your phone for work chats that do not require archiving, or if you have limited traffic and cloud space. Remember that if you lose your phone or reset the settings without a cloud copy, it will be extremely difficult to restore the correspondence.
Free up space by clearing cache and media
Sometimes the problem of running out of space on Honor is not related to the message databases themselves, but to the media files that are stored with them. Videos and photos make up the lion's share of the weight of the messenger folder. Before deleting system database files, you should check the contents of the media folders.
Go to the same directory where the databases were located, but go up one level, to the folder WhatsApp. There you will find folders Media. They are stored inside WhatsApp Images, WhatsApp Video and others. Deleting unnecessary videos from these folders can free up more space than deleting text databases.
Use the built-in cleanup feature in the app itself. Go to Settings → Data and storage → Storage management. Here WhatsApp will show you files larger than 5 MB and allow you to delete them selectively. This is a safe and effective optimization method.
Also, do not forget to clear the application cache. Go to Settings phone Honor, select Applications, find WhatsApp and press Memory. The button Clear cache will delete temporary files without affecting your correspondence and media.
Media files (video and photos) take up hundreds of times more space than text databases. Start cleaning with them.
Data recovery after erroneous deletion
If during the cleaning process you accidentally deleted the wrong file, the situation may seem critical. However, devices Android have recovery mechanisms. If you deleted a local copy, but you have a cloud copy, you can restore the data when you reinstall the application.
When you first launch WhatsApp after installation, it will prompt you to find a backup copy. If you chose to restore from Google Drive, the application will download the data from there. If you want to restore a local copy, you will need a file manager with access rights.
The procedure is as follows:
- Delete the current WhatsApp application.
- Use the file manager, find the folder
Databases. - Rename the desired backup file (for example, from yesterday) to
msgstore.db.crypt14. - Install WhatsApp again and, when prompted, choose to restore from a local copy.
It is important to understand that the encryption version numbers (crypt12, crypt14, crypt15) must match. If you try to rename a file from an old encryption version to the new one, recovery will fail. Always check file extensions before manipulation.
What to do if your Honor phone does not see files after updating Android?
In new versions of Android (11, 12, 13+), access to the folder Android/data is limited. The built-in file manager may not show the content. Download a third-party file manager, such as Files by Google or Solid Explorer, and grant it special permissions through the system window when you first launch it.
Is it possible to delete a backup for just one contact?
No, WhatsApp backup only works for the entire database. You cannot exclude individual chats from the general backup. The only option is to delete the correspondence with this contact before the backup is created, but this will also delete it from the current chat list.
How much space does one backup take?
The size depends on the number of messages and media files included in the backup. Text messages take up kilobytes. If you have enabled the "Enable Video" option, the size can reach several gigabytes. Typically, the text base weighs from 50 MB to 500 MB.
Will the copy be deleted when resetting the phone to factory settings?
The local copy stored in the phone memory Honorwill be completely deleted when resetting the settings. The cloud copy in Google Drive will remain unless you manually deleted it earlier. After setting up your new phone, you can restore data from the cloud.