Many Android users are faced with a situation where The storage Google Drive is full, and the main culprit is the messenger. Backups chats can take up gigabytes of free space, especially if you are an active user exchanging media files. Over time, this data becomes irrelevant, but continues to consume the precious limit of cloud storage.
Deleting a backup may be required not only to free up space, but also for reasons privacy. For example, when selling a device or transferring an account to another person, it is important to make sure that the chat history is not saved in the cloud. The cleaning process is not complicated, but it requires care so as not to accidentally lose the necessary data in the process.
In this article we will analyze in detail all the ways to delete backups: through the interface of the application itself, Google Drive settings and file managers. You'll learn how to find hidden folders on your internal storage and completely erase traces of old chats. This guide will help you take control of the space on your smartphone and cloud account.
Managing copies through application settings
The most obvious and safest way to delete old data is to use the built-in tools of the messenger. The developers have provided a convenient interface for controlling the frequency of creating archives and deleting them. To get started, open the application and go to the main menu by clicking on the three dots in the upper right corner of the screen.
In the drop-down list, select the item Settings, and then go to the section Chat. Here you are interested in the subsection Chat backup. It is in this menu that information about the last save, its size and automatic update frequency is displayed. If you want to stop creating new archives, set the value Never in the "Backup to Google Drive" item.
To delete an existing cloud backup, find the button Delete backup. The system will ask you to confirm the action, since this process is irreversible. Once you click the button, your Google account data will be erased, but your local files on your phone will remain untouched for now. This is the first step to a complete system cleanup.
⚠️ Attention: Deleting a backup through the app settings only affects Google Drive cloud storage. Files saved directly in the phone memory are not automatically deleted and must be erased separately.
☑️ Preparing for deletion
Cleaning Google Drive storage
Sometimes it happens that the delete button is inactive in the WhatsApp settings or you want to manage the storage centrally. In this case, you need to go directly to the application Google Drive or use the web version of the service from your computer. This allows you to see the actual amount of space occupied and delete data, even if the messenger is installed on another device.
Launch the Google Drive application on your smartphone and click on the menu icon (three horizontal bars) in the upper left corner. Select section Backups. In the list that opens, you will see all devices and applications that save data in your account. Find the entry corresponding to your phone number and WhatsApp application.
Click on the three dots next to the name of the backup and select the option Delete backup. Confirm the action in the pop-up window. After this, the file will be moved to the Google Drive trash, from where it will need to be permanently deleted to free up space. To do this, go to the menu, select Trash and click Empty Trash.
| Action | Where running | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Disable autosave | Whatsapp settings | No new copies are created |
| Deleting a file | Google application Disk | The cloud archive is erased |
| Emptying the Recycle Bin | Trash section in Disk | Full freeing up space |
| Deleting local files | File manager | Erasing data from the phone |
Deleting local files through a file manager
In addition to the cloud, WhatsApp creates local backups that are stored directly in the internal memory of your device. These files take up space on the smartphone’s disk and can be restored even if there is no Internet connection. To remove them, you will need any file manager, for example, built-in Files by Google or third-party ES Explorer.
Open the file manager and go to the root directory of the internal drive. The path to backup folders has changed in recent versions of Android. On modern devices (Android 11 and higher), look for the folder along the path Android → media → com.whatsapp → WhatsApp → Databases. On older versions of the system, the folder WhatsApp may be located directly in the root of the internal storage.
Inside the folder Databases you will see files with names like msgstore.db.crypt14 and files with dates in the name. File msgstore.db.crypt is the latest current copy, and files with dates are old archives. Select all the files in this folder and click the delete button. The system may request permission to access system folders, which must be provided.
⚠️ Attention: Deleting files from the Databases folder will make it impossible to restore correspondence history when you reinstall the application without connecting to the Internet and a cloud backup.
If you want to delete only old copies, leaving a fresh one, carefully look at the date in the file name. Files without a date in the name are usually the most recent. However, for complete cleaning, it is recommended to delete the entire contents of the folder in order to be guaranteed to free up space.
Features of deletion on different versions of Android
The structure of the Android file system has undergone significant changes with the release of the eleventh version of the operating system. This is due to Google's security policy restricting app access to shared folders. Users of older smartphones may encounter that the path to the files differs from what is described in the current instructions.
On devices running Android 10 and below, the messenger data folder is usually located in a simple path: /WhatsApp/Databases at the root of the internal drive. Access to it is open to any file manager without additional permissions. Deleting files here occurs instantly and does not require superuser rights.
Starting with Android 11, the folder has been moved to the system directory Android/media. To access it, some file managers require special permission, which is requested when you first enter this directory. If your Explorer does not see the folder, try using the standard Files application from Google or granting advanced rights in the storage access settings.
⚠️ Attention: On some smartphones from Xiaomi, Samsung or Huawei, access to the Android folder may be further limited by proprietary shells. In this case, use only the manufacturer's regular file manager.
How to prevent the creation of new copies
After you have deleted all the old data, the logical step would be to configure the system so that garbage does not accumulate again. By default, WhatsApp is set to perform a daily backup at 2 am. If you do not plan to restore chats in the future, it is better to disable this function.
Return to the messenger settings along the way Chats → Backup of chats. In the "Backup to Google Drive" item, select the value Never. This action will completely stop uploading data to the cloud. It is also recommended to disable the "Backup via mobile network" option if you suddenly decide to enable backups in the future, so as not to waste traffic.
In addition, it is worth checking the media autoload settings. Often it's not text messages that take up space, but photos and videos. In the Data and storage section, configure media auto-download only via Wi-Fi or disable it altogether. This will prevent the gallery from becoming clogged and reducing the speed of the smartphone.
Data recovery after deletion: is it possible?
Many users are concerned about the question: is it possible to return a deleted backup? The answer depends on which file was erased and whether enough time has passed. If you deleted data from the Google Drive Recycle Bin more than 30 days ago or emptied the Recycle Bin manually, recovery through standard means is not possible.
In the case of local files, the situation is a little more complicated. If you accidentally deleted a folder Databases from your phone, but you have superuser rights (Root), you can try using specialized data recovery utilities, such as Dr.Fone or DiskDigger. However, success is not guaranteed, especially if a lot of new information was written to the disk after deletion.
The only reliable recovery method is to have a current copy before it was deleted. If you deleted your backup in the cloud, but the file remains on your phone msgstore.db.crypt, you can rename it, removing the date from the name (if there is one), and reinstall WhatsApp. When you first set it up, the application will offer to restore a local copy.
Is it possible to delete a copy for only one specific chat?
Unfortunately, WhatsApp does not provide a feature for selectively deleting backup copies of individual conversations from the cloud. A backup is created for the entire correspondence history. To remove a specific chat from the archive, you must first delete the chat itself in the application, wait for a new backup to be created (which will no longer be this chat), and only then delete the old backup file.
Does the backup copy take up space in the tariff of your mobile operator?
No, backup copies are stored on Google servers and are not taken into account in the tariff of your mobile operator. However, the process of creating and downloading a copy consumes Internet traffic. If you are not connected to Wi-Fi, make sure you have enough packet data, otherwise the download may be interrupted or cause additional charges.
What should you do if the Delete button is grayed out or grayed out?
This can happen for several reasons: no Internet connection, logged into a Google account different from the one where the copy is stored, or temporary Google servers crash. Check your Wi-Fi settings, make sure your WhatsApp settings are set to the correct Google account, and try rebooting your device. If the problem persists, try deleting via the web version of Google Drive from your computer.
Will conversations on my phone be deleted if I delete the copy from Google Drive?
No, deleting a backup copy from the cloud does not in any way affect the current conversation history that is stored in the memory of your smartphone. You will be able to continue using the messenger as usual. The risk of data loss arises only when reinstalling the application or resetting the phone to factory settings, when the same deleted copy is required to restore the history.