WhatsApp To Charge For Google Drive Storage: Tips For Managing Your Files
WhatsApp, owned by Meta, is stopping the free Google Drive storage it previously gave Android users for saving chat history, pictures, and videos. This change means that the data stored on Google Drive will now count towards the 15GB storage limit. Users will need to either manage their storage or subscribe to Google One for extra space.
WhatsApp Ends Free Google Drive Storage for Android Users
In a post from November, Google warned about the upcoming changes, stating, “As an important heads up, WhatsApp backups on Android will soon start counting toward your Google Account cloud storage limit, similar to how WhatsApp backups are handled on other mobile platforms. This change will first start rolling out to WhatsApp Beta users starting in December 2023, then gradually to all WhatsApp users on Android starting early next year.”
WhatsApp has announced that the new changes will begin rolling out to all users in 2024, and the company will notify users 30 days in advance with a banner in WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
Our version of the WhatsApp Beta app now displays the message, “Backups will start using your Google storage in the next few months.”
How to Manage Your WhatsApp Storage Without a Google One Subscription
If you hit the 15GB storage limit and don’t want to subscribe to Google One, there are still ways to manage your WhatsApp data. WhatsApp allows users to transfer files between Android devices, offering an alternative to storing chats on Google Drive.
For instance, if you don’t want to store your WhatsApp chats on your Google account, you can use the WhatsApp chat transfer feature when switching to a new Android device. This way, you can keep your chats without needing additional storage space.
It’s important to note that these changes will only impact Android users, as WhatsApp doesn’t offer free storage on iOS. Additionally, Apple provides just 5GB of free storage to non-paying users, whereas Google offers 15GB of free storage.
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