As an administrator, you can decide which users in your organization can use Google Drive to back up third-party app data. By default, users with the Drive service can back up third-party app data.
Currently, the third-party app backups include only WhatsApp data, but other apps may be added in the future. WhatsApp backups can be used to restore WhatsApp conversation and message history if a user gets a new phone or deletes WhatsApp data from the device (for example, with a factory reset).
Before you begin
Before using the Third-party App Backups service, you should understand:
- Third-party backups are only available for Android devices that aren't under advanced mobile management.
- You can't choose to store backup data in a specific geographic location by using a data region policy.
- If you enable Drive, users can view, manage, and delete Android device backups from the Backups view in Drive. The Backups view includes third-party apps data only if you also enable Third-party App Backups.
- The Backups view always displays in Drive on desktop and Android devices, even if the user doesn’t have any backups.
- If you enable Third-party App Backups but disable Drive, users can’t view, manage, or delete their third-party app backups through Drive. Backups will continue to be deleted automatically upon expiration.
- WhatsApp chat and media can be backed up to Drive.
- WhatsApp backups are deleted after 5 months of inactivity.
Add and enable the Third-party App Backups service
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Sign in to your Google Admin console.
Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).
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In the Admin console, go to Menu
Apps
Additional Google services.
- Click Add Services.
- Find "Third-party App Backups," then click Add It Now.
- Turn on the Third-party App Backups service for everyone in your organization, or for a specific organizational unit or access group. See Turn services on or off for users.
Tip: You’ll probably have to scroll to find Third-party App Backups on the Additional Google services page.
Train your users
After you’ve added and turned on the Third-party App Backups service, refer people who have the service to the WhatsApp Android Help on backing up to Drive. For more information, see Manage & restore your mobile backups in Google Drive.
User error notifications when service is off
If you turn off the Third-Party App Backups service, users may be notified that their backups aren’t working properly. Users might be able to avoid these errors if they can do one of the following:
- Turn backups off on the device
- Back up to a different account on the device (such as a personal Gmail account)
