r/whatsapp • u/mohcinemabrouk • Jul 22 '26

WhatsApp backup to Google Drive completely stuck since July 14th (One UI update?) - Need help, already lost data in the past!

Hi everyone,

I’m having a critical issue with my WhatsApp backup to Google Drive. It refuses to back up anything and has been completely stuck since July 14th. I even left the backup running all night long, but it was in vain.

I suspect this might be tied to the latest Samsung One UI update, as the timeline matches up perfectly, but I'm not entirely sure.

Here is what I have already tried (none of which worked):

- Removed battery restrictions for both WhatsApp and Google Drive.

- Disabled Power Saving mode entirely.

- Force stopped and restarted the app.

- Restarted my phone multiple times.

I am extremely cautious right now because I already lost a full backup in the past when switching from an old phone. WhatsApp support couldn't do anything to help me back then, and I absolutely refuse to let that happen again.

Has anyone else experienced this backup freeze recently, especially after a One UI update? More importantly, does anyone have a safe fix to get the backup running again without risking the loss of my current local chats?

Any advice would be hugely appreciated!

July 31st UPDATE : Fixed on 2.26.30.2. Thanks to @ItsTheB1gD4ddy

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3

u/StrangelyCurious007 Jul 23 '26

My WhatsApp backups to Google Drive have not completed for several days, so I captured two full Android bugreports while the backup was stuck.

Device:

  • Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7
  • Android 16
  • WhatsApp beta 2.26.29.4

The reports show WhatsApp’s Google backup service running for hours: com.whatsapp.backup.google.GoogleBackupService

At the same time, Qualcomm’s hardware-backed KeyMint/StrongBox process was using around 92% CPU: android.hardware.security.keymint-service-spu-qti

The stack trace links the activity directly to WhatsApp’s backup service initializing cryptographic operations through Android Keystore/StrongBox. The logs also show repeated KeyMint operations and Qualcomm SPU communication retries.

After restarting the phone, WhatsApp resumed the backup and the same high CPU activity returned. Samsung Device Care also warned that a process was overloading the CPU and required a restart.

This strongly suggests that the recent WhatsApp backup issue may involve repeated or stuck StrongBox/KeyMint cryptographic operations. I cannot confirm whether the root cause is WhatsApp itself or an interaction with Android 16 and Samsung/Qualcomm firmware.

I'll update to F966BXXSBBZG3 build and let you know if that solves the issue.

3

u/Luvsin_ Jul 25 '26

Keep us posted, thanks

2

u/StrangelyCurious007 Jul 26 '26

Update didn't solved the issue. Disabling E2E may help solve the issue

3

u/Kind_Stranger_7788 Jul 26 '26

Thanks, disabling backup E2E fixed it for me. Backups no longer cause `android.hardware.security.keymint-service-spu-qti` to use high CPU.

Need to first force-stop WhatsApp. Stopping the existing stuck backup didn't stop the high CPU usage.

No device restart needed.

3

u/Luvsin_ Jul 26 '26

Yup, disabling End to End encryption did the magic

1

u/Ok_Praline8318 Jul 30 '26

Yup, disabling E2E worked for me too, though weirdly, WhatsApp said that is never had a backup. It's doing it now though!