Many people set up WhatsApp backups and then forget about them. Months later, your old messages, photos, and files might still be stored in Google Drive, iCloud, or on your device. Even if you delete chats from your phone, those copies often remain saved in the cloud.
If you are changing phones, selling a device, protecting your privacy, or simply cleaning old data, deleting your WhatsApp backup may be an important step. You should know exactly how to reclaim your privacy without accidentally losing important conversations.
Why People Delete WhatsApp Backups
A backup is designed to protect your messages. However, old backups can become a privacy concern.
To protect your privacy, you should delete your WhatsApp backups before switching or selling your phone.
Deleting unnecessary backups can also reduce the amount of personal information stored online.
However, before learning how to delete backups, you need to ensure you have learned how to backup WhatsApp to MB WhatsApp without data loss.
Delete WhatsApp Backup from Google Drive
Finding Google Drive WhatsApp backups can be tricky because they are kept out of sight. They aren’t listed in your main “My Drive” folder with your other files; instead, you have to look for them within the storage management settings.
Step 1: Open Google Drive
Sign in using the same Google account connected to WhatsApp.
Step 2: Open Settings
Go to: Settings > Manage Apps
Step 3: Find WhatsApp
Locate WhatsApp in the application list.
Step 4: Delete Hidden App Data
Select: Delete hidden app data
This removes the stored backup from Google Drive.
Another method:
- Open Google Drive.
- Select Storage.
- Open Backups.
- Find your WhatsApp backup.
- Delete the backup.
Important: According to WhatsApp and Google, a deleted WhatsApp backup is not recoverable by either party. Google auto-deletes backups that haven’t been updated in 5 months anyway — but if you manually delete, it’s instant and final. Consider carefully before hitting confirm.
Delete WhatsApp Backup from iCloud
Apple buries this one level deeper, but the path is stable across iOS 17/18.
- Open Settings on your iPhone.
- Tap your Apple ID at the top.
- Tap iCloud > Manage Account Storage or “Manage Storage”.
- Scroll down to WhatsApp Messenger in the list.
- Tap it > Delete Backup > confirm.
To stop future backups:
- Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Manage Account Storage > Backups > WhatsApp Messenger > toggle off “Enable” / “This iPhone”.
- Or inside WhatsApp: Settings > Chats > Chat Backup > you’ll see the iCloud link, but WhatsApp itself doesn’t have a toggle to fully disable iCloud backup — you have to do it at the iOS level above.
Deleting the iCloud backup does not delete anything on your phone. Your current chats stay put. You’re only killing the cloud replica. If you reinstall WhatsApp later without making a fresh backup, you’ll start from zero.
One more thing: If you back up your iPhone to a computer using iTunes or Finder, those files also contain your WhatsApp data. Deleting your iCloud backup does not affect these local copies. To remove everything completely, you will need to delete those backups from your computer manually.
Delete Local Backup Files
Many Android phones store local backup files. These files usually remain even after uninstalling WhatsApp.
Android – The Databases Folder
Every night at 2 AM, WhatsApp on Android automatically saves a backup to your phone. These files stay for seven days, but they can clutter your storage if you don’t delete them.
Newer Android (Android 11+) path: Internal Storage > Android > media > com.whatsapp > WhatsApp > Databases
Older Android path: /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/
Inside, you’ll see files like:
- msgstore.db.crypt14 (most recent)
- msgstore-2026-02-05.1.db.crypt14 (dated older copies)
- wa.db.crypt14 (contacts reference)
To delete:
- Launch your file explorer app.
- Go to the Databases folder.
- Either delete the whole folder to wipe your data, or just remove the older .crypt14 files. Keep the most recent one if you want a backup.
Files ending in .crypt14 are locked by a unique key found in WhatsApp’s private storage. You cannot open them with other apps, and they won’t work on a new phone without that specific key. They are only meant for restoring chats on the device where they were created.
iPhone – “Local” Backup Reality Check
iPhone users cannot browse WhatsApp’s private storage. There is no “Databases” folder accessible on iOS devices. The only “local” WhatsApp data lives in:
- The app’s own sandbox
- An iTunes/Finder encrypted backup of the whole phone sitting on your computer
So if your goal is “erase every trace,” and you’ve got old iPhone backups on your laptop with WhatsApp data inside them, you’ll want to prune those too:
- macOS: Finder > select your device > Manage Backups > right-click old backup > Delete.
- Windows: iTunes > Preferences > Devices > right-click > Delete.
What to Know Before You Hit Delete
- If you don’t back up your data, you can’t recover it if your phone breaks. If your device gets damaged, any chat history not saved to the cloud or a computer will be lost forever.
- Save your most important conversations first. Use WhatsApp’s “Export Chat” feature found in the chat settings to email a copy of the thread to yourself. You can choose whether or not to include photos and videos.
- If you use encrypted backups, make sure you have your 64-digit key saved somewhere safe offline. If you lose this key, your backup becomes completely inaccessible.
- Deleting a backup from Google Drive is permanent. According to official support, once a backup is deleted or overwritten, it cannot be recovered by Google or WhatsApp.
- When you delete backups from iCloud, it might take a few hours for your storage settings to reflect the new free space. Don’t worry if the storage still looks full right away.
- Double-check all your Google accounts. You might have a backup linked to a secondary email address that you’ve forgotten about.
How to Restore Deleted WhatsApp Messages Without Backup
Your Best Shot Is the Local msgstore
Even if you deleted the cloud backup, check /Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Databases/ again. If there’s a file like msgstore-2026-06-20.1.db.crypt14, that’s a nightly local snapshot.
To use it:
- Uninstall WhatsApp.
- Copy that dated file and rename it to msgstore.db.crypt14 (remove the date).
- Reinstall WhatsApp, verify your number.
- When prompted “Restore from backup?” → It’ll pick up that local file.
This only works if the file existed before the messages you’re trying to recover were deleted, and only goes back up to 7 days.
Final Thoughts
Deleting old backups is a good privacy habit, especially when changing devices, switching accounts, or removing sensitive information. However, backups remain one of the best protections against accidental data loss.
And before removing anything permanently, always make sure that the conversations, photos, and memories you want to keep are safely stored somewhere else.
