Fixes to Cannot Backup WhatsApp to iCloud

It is easy to enable iCloud backup in WhatsApp to keep your WhatsApp chats safe. However, you may cannot backup WhatsApp to iCloud for unknown reasons. Just try solutions in this guide to get yourself out.

Demi by Demi Updated April 19, 2023
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If you're having trouble backing up your WhatsApp messages to iCloud, you're not alone. Many users have reported encountering an error message that reads "WhatsApp Backup Failed" or "Cannot Backup" when attempting to backup their chats to iCloud. This can be frustrating, especially if you rely on WhatsApp to communicate with friends and family.

WhatsApp icon

Fortunately, there are several fixes that you can try to resolve this issue. In this article, we will explore some of the most common solutions to the problem - cannot backup WhatsApp to iCloud.

Why is WhatsApp chat not backing up to iCloud?

You may wonder why you can’t backup WhatsApp to iCloud, and the following causes can answer you.

⛔ Insufficient iCloud space. No matter whether you backup WhatsApp or other iPhone data, insufficient iCloud space is always one of the most common reasons that results in backup failed.
⛔ Unstable Internet connection. A stable network connection is required throughout the whole backup process. Or the process will be interrupted or corrupted.
⛔ Incorrect Apple ID. You cannot backup WhatsApp via iCloud if you do not use the same phone number on both WhatsApp and iCloud.

Besides the common reasons that lead to cannot backup WhatsApp to iCloud, you may also should be aware of the proper backup steps shown below.

Full guide to backup WhatsApp to iCloud

Here is the full guide to backup WhatsApp to iCloud. Go through to check whether you have met the requirements and performed properly to backup WhatsApp to iCloud.

Requirements to backup WhatsApp to iCloud
• WhatsApp account. You must be signed in with the Apple ID you used to access iCloud.
• iCloud space. Your free iCloud space is at least twice as big as WhatsApp data that to be backed up.
• iOS version. Your iPhone should be running on iOS 12 or newer.
• Wi-Fi connection. You need to connect your iPhone to a stable Wi-Fi before backing up WhatsApp.

How to backup WhatsApp to iPhone to iCloud
Step 1. Go to the Settings app on your iPhone > Tap [your name] and choose iCloud > From here, toggle on the switches beside iCloud Drive and WhatsApp if they are not enabled.

iCloud Drive

Step 2. Open WhatsApp on your iPhone > Go to its Settings > Choose Chats > Click Chat Backup.

Step 3. You can click Back Up Now to backup your WhatsApp chat history to iCloud right now. You can also enable automatic WhatsApp backup by clicking Auto Backup and set its frequency to daily, weekly, or monthly.

icloud whatsapp backup

Fixes to cannot backup WhatsApp to iCloud

If you still can’t complete backup WhatsApp on iPhone, just try the solutions mentioned in this part. You can also skip to the next part to get a better way to backup WhatsApp with no effort.

Check iCloud status

When it comes to dependability, iCloud isn't the gold standard. If the iCloud servers are down, WhatsApp will not be able to backup chat data to the cloud service.

Therefore, when you find WhatsApp chat not backing up to iCloud, you can visit the Apple System Status page to see if the iCloud Backup service has a green indicator.

system status

Check iCloud storage

Different from Google, every MB of your WhatsApp data will be counted in the iCloud storage. And you should know that iCloud storage comes with only 5 GB for free, which is far from enough for your iPhone.

Thus, you may need to check iCloud storage and how much data WhatsApp will need to complete the backup process. Here are the steps.

To check iCloud storage
Go to the iPhone Settings app > Tap [your name] > iCloud. You can see how much iCloud space you have left from the top of the screen.

icloud storage

To check WhatsApp data size
The steps to check the size of WhatsApp data that to be backed up is the same with the way how you backup it. Just go to the Chat Backup page in WhatsApp, and you can see the total WhatsApp back size.

total WhatsApp backup size

Most likely, you need to buy extra iCloud space to backup WhatsApp and other data on your iPhone.

Keep WhatsApp open during backup process

Although WhatsApp background process on the latest iPhone has improved, you may still cannot backup WhatsApp to iCloud when the app is not actively operating.

Hence, it is suggested that you can directly backup WhatsApp data to iCloud and keep the app open at all times to ensure a smooth procedure.

Disable videos from iCloud backup

If you receive a lot of videos on WhatsApp, the total backup size may increase considerably. Optionally, you can choose to save videos from WhatsApp selectively so that you won’t lose important ones. Then remove them from the iCloud and try again.

To disable video from iCloud WhatsApp backup, go to WhatsApp Settings > Chat > Chat Backup > Toggle off the switch next to Include Videos.

include videos

Bonus: Backup iPhone WhatsApp without iCloud

Even if you can successfully backup WhatsApp to iCloud, you cannot make sure whether iCloud backup everything since iCloud backups are done in the background. Thus, I’d like to recommend you a better way to backup iPhone WhatsApp without iCloud or network.

The WhatsApp backup software - FoneTool provides you with an offline backup service and saves your backup locally with no storage limitations, which somewhat prevents privacy leaking.

You can free download FoneTool  to your computer and follow the three simple steps below to backup WhatsApp on iPhone to PC at a super fast speed.

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Secure Download

Step 1. Launch FoneTool > Connect your iPhone to PC via USB > When prompt, you need to tap Trust on your iPhone to let computer scan your iPhone.

Step 2. On the main interface of FoneTool , click WhatsApp Manager from the left pane > Click Backup WhatsApp > Get Started to confirm.

Backup WhasApp

Step 3. Enable backup encryption and click Start Backup to backup your WhatsApp data to computer.

Start Backup WhatsApp

Step 4. Wait for FoneTool to finish the backup process. When you are shown the message "Backup Completed Successfully", click View, and that's it.

FoneTool backup done

Conclusion

That’s all for the solutions when you cannot backup WhatsApp to iCloud. Hope that the solutions provided in this article have been helpful. If you continue to experience issues with backing up your WhatsApp messages to iCloud, don't hesitate to reach out to WhatsApp support for further assistance or try iCloud alternative mentioned in this guide to backup WhatsApp to PC.

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