WhatsApp Announces Expiry of Free Storage by 2024
WhatsApp data will start counting in Google Drive storage from the beginning of 2024, while WhatsApp beta users on Android will start seeing the changes this month.
We managed to get the latest WhatsApp beta version for Android and noticed that the message now pops up in the chat backups section of the WhatsApp settings. A new popup says that WhatsApp backups will start using your Google Drive storage over the next few months. The message is coming this week to WhatsApp beta version 2.23.26.7 for Android.
As you can see from the two message boxes below, WhatsApp gives people plenty of time to manage their conversations, photos, and videos within the messaging app. WhatsApp also has its own help page that includes surveys and gives people a rough timeline for when these changes will take effect.
WhatsApp even has a storage check option that tells users how much storage their WhatsApp data is already using. It’s important to note that users can continue to back up their data at no additional cost as long as they have free storage space within the 15GB of free cloud storage included with their Google Account or any additional storage space, such as through Google One.
WhatsApp also says in a note that people need to start managing their WhatsApp data storage or prepare to pay extra for Google Drive to keep all their data in place. Google Drive plans start at 100GB, and if you’re into photos and videos, it might be a good idea to invest in Drive storage.
However, WhatsApp doesn’t limit your options and suggests that if you don’t want to backup your chats to your Google account, you can transfer chats between Android devices using the WhatsApp Chat Transfer tool.
