How to manage WhatsApp backups in Android settings after Play services update

Google is moving WhatsApp backup controls out of WhatsApp's own menus and into Android's system settings. A Play services update rolling out today, v26.23, will let users manage WhatsApp chat backups in Android settings directly, placing those controls alongside the phone's other backup options rather than buried inside the app, Android Authority reported.

The rollout is still in progress. Not every device has v26.23 yet, and the Android Authority reviewer who broke the story had not received it on their Pixel phone at time of writing. What follows covers what the update changelog confirms, what is expected based on WhatsApp's existing menus, and what remains unverified until the interface can be independently tested.

What's confirmed and what's still expected

The Play services v26.23 changelog confirms one thing clearly: users will be able to manage WhatsApp chat backups from device settings. The update also notes an improved experience for viewing and updating the Google Contacts sync setting, per Android Authority. That's the extent of what the changelog specifies.

The expected location is Settings > System > Backup, which would place the WhatsApp controls directly alongside Android's existing backup options. That placement hasn't been independently verified yet, since the update hadn't appeared on a Pixel device at the time of reporting.

As for what the new page will actually contain: based on WhatsApp's existing backup settings menu, Android Authority expects it to include options for choosing which Google account to back up to, setting backup frequency, selecting which data types to include, and configuring Wi-Fi versus cellular preferences. Those are the options currently available inside WhatsApp. Whether the new system-level page will replicate all of them, or only a subset, is not yet known.

One gap worth flagging: whether the new page will include end-to-end encrypted backup controls, such as enabling encryption for the first time or managing a password or passkey, has not been confirmed. WhatsApp supports end-to-end encrypted backups protected by a password, a 64-digit key, or a passkey, according to Cryptography Engineering. Whether those controls surface in the new Android settings page remains an open question.

The core point stands regardless: backup controls that currently require opening WhatsApp, finding the right submenu, and knowing to look there will become reachable from a place most users already check when managing their device.

How to manage WhatsApp backup settings in Android settings

To check whether v26.23 has arrived on a device, go to Settings > System > Software updates > Google Play system update. If the update is available, it can be applied from there. Once installed, the WhatsApp backup management page is expected to appear under Settings > System > Backup, per Android Authority.

For users who don't have the update yet, the existing path through WhatsApp still works: open WhatsApp, go to Settings, then Chats, then Chat backup. Everything currently available there remains available there. The Play services update adds a second access point; it doesn't replace the existing one.

The update coincides with this week's combined rollout of Android 17 stable and the June 2026 Pixel Drop, though the WhatsApp backup change is not specific to Pixel devices or Android 17. Because it arrives through Play services rather than an OS update, it can reach a broader range of Android devices on its own schedule, without depending on what version of Android a given phone is running.

Why Google is pushing WhatsApp functions into Android's system layer

This is the second notable move in recent months to bring WhatsApp-adjacent functionality into Android's own infrastructure. Last month, Google announced that Quick Share, Android's native file-sharing tool, would become available directly inside WhatsApp, describing the broader effort as helping users "share files and switch devices with ease and keep your chats secure," per the Google Blog.

The pattern suggests Google is treating certain WhatsApp functions, particularly those that feel more like device management than messaging, as natural candidates for Android-level integration. Backup configuration fits that logic well. Deciding how often your messages back up, over which network, to which account: these are the kinds of decisions users make when setting up a new phone, not when opening a chat. Surfacing them in Android settings, where users already handle storage and backup for the rest of their phone, reduces the number of places a user has to look.

Whether this continues with other WhatsApp features is speculative. Two examples establish a direction but don't define its limits.

Why backup settings matter more than most users realize

WhatsApp's in-transit encryption is well established. The messages traveling between devices are end-to-end encrypted, and even law enforcement cannot access them through Meta, Cryptography Engineering notes. Backups are a different matter.

Before WhatsApp introduced end-to-end encrypted backups in late 2021, chat history stored in Google Drive was unencrypted. Google could access it. As EDRi noted at the time, WhatsApp itself didn't have access to those backups, but both Google and Apple did. Encrypted backups closed that gap: the backup is now protected by a 64-digit key generated on the user's device, stored in a way that neither WhatsApp nor Google can access.

The catch is that encrypted backups are opt-in and have to be actively enabled. The encryption key can be a password chosen by the user, a 64-digit key that can be saved in a password manager, or a passkey, per Cryptography Engineering. A formal security analysis published in 2023 confirmed the protocol provides strong protection for chat history and passwords, though it also found that a corrupted server could under certain conditions attempt more password guesses than prior analysis had suggested, according to IACR ePrint.

None of that matters if users don't know the option exists. Settings buried inside an app's submenu are settings most people never touch. The v26.23 update doesn't change how encrypted backups work, but if it surfaces the backup page somewhere more visible, more users may encounter those options for the first time.

What to check now, regardless of the update

With roughly three billion WhatsApp users globally, Cryptography Engineering reports, even marginal improvements in how easily users can find and configure their backup settings have real aggregate effect.

For now, the most useful step is to check current WhatsApp backup settings through the app's own menus. Open WhatsApp, go to Settings, then Chats, then Chat backup, and look at what's configured. Specifically worth checking: whether end-to-end encrypted backup is enabled, which account the backup is going to, and how often it runs.

When v26.23 arrives, check Settings > System > Backup to see what appears there and whether it matches what's in the app. The confirmed and expected details above should give a reasonable baseline for what to look for, with the caveat that the full interface hasn't been independently verified yet.

The update doesn't add new backup capabilities. It moves existing ones somewhere easier to find, which for a setting this consequential is not a trivial improvement.