WhatsApp backups will no longer count towards your Google Drive quota

If you need more than 15GB of storage space for all those reaction GIFs, cat pictures and birthday party videos, Google and WhatsApp has some good news.

“Starting November 12, 2018, WhatsApp backups will no longer count towards the Google Drive storage quota,” alerts the messaging service in an update to its FAQ.

Previously, WhatsApp backups — essential when transferring accounts across phones — counted towards Google Drive’s 15GB storage quota. If your Drive didn’t have any free space, you couldn’t complete a backup.

This is no longer the case.

With that said though, Google will now delete backups that are older than a year, also beginning in November.

“To avoid the loss of any backups, we recommend you manually back up your WhatsApp data before November 12, 2018,” the company adds.

“We recommend connecting your phone to Wi-Fi prior to backing up your chats via Google Drive, as backup files can vary in size and consume mobile data, causing additional charges,” it concludes.

Feature iamge: Andy Walker/Memeburn