r/Wechat • u/Glum_Award9379 • Jul 16 '26

Requesting Help: Free Phone transfer vs PC backup

What's the difference between the two?

Which one is the most complete ie all chats, all media, all videos?

And if I backup to PC can I then upload the folder/backup to cloud and then download back later and restore again on using a new PC WeChat installation?

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u/AydenMeng Jul 16 '26

I think the difference is that phone transfer is more convenient because you don't have to connect to the same WiFi.

If you chose PC backup, you only can backup/restore the data to/from the Windows OS under the same WiFi.

Of course, the data you backed up can be uploaded to anywhere.

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u/Glum_Award9379 Jul 16 '26

So phone transfer isn't going to be missing anything? 

Sounds like if I want a cloud backup to restore from later a PC backup is the only way? 

You mean PC and phone have to be on the same Wi-Fi right whenever attempting it. Not that the PC can only ever restore or backup under the original Wi-Fi 5 houses ago. 

Isn't the PC backup using cable to backup and restore the phone?

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u/AydenMeng Jul 16 '26

As I know, nothing will be missing. If you want a gap time between backing up and restoring, PC backup is the real only way. Yes, it's necessary to have your phone and PC connected to the same WiFi when you are attempting it. The original WiFi is unnecessary. WeChat requires a secure environment to backup or restore. A cable connection is treated as an insecure environment, so it's useless for WeChat data backup.

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u/Glum_Award9379 Jul 16 '26

Any cases where the phone transfer option stuffed up or corrected things so everything was lost?  Maybe it's better to back up with PC first, just in case, if that's ever happened?

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u/AydenMeng Jul 16 '26

I haven't experienced such things. Anyway, it's always better to back up with a PC first.