How to bring back archived messages in whatsapp
Accidentally archived your WhatsApp chat? Here’s how to unarchive
By: Tech Desk New Delhi | Updated: November 24, 2022 09:04 IST
WhatsApp lets users hide conversations using the 'Archive' feature. (Express Photo)
WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging platforms. With billions of users worldwide, people use it for both personal and office work. But at times, some of us might accidentally end up adding a group or individual chat to the ‘archived’ feature. The end result: Finding that chat can prove to be a challenge, especially if you are a senior citizen or someone who is not familiar with all of these features. We explain how to take these chats out of the archive and ensure they appear in the main tab once again.
First, what is WhatsApp archive?
WhatsApp will let users ‘Archive’ a chat when they no longer wish to receive alerts from a person or a group. The ‘archive’ button hides the conversation from the main chat window without deleting it. However, you can view them by simply scrolling to the top of the ‘Chats’ tab and tapping on the ‘Archived’ section. By default, archived chats will stay archived even if you get a new message from that individual or group chat.
Also Read |10 Android apps that will change how you use WhatsApp
But you can change this behaviour by heading over to ‘Settings’, tapping on ‘Chat’ and toggling the ‘Keep chats archived’ option. This automatically unarchives the chat when you receive a new message.
How to archive and unarchive chats
If you want to hide a particular chat or don’t want group messages to pop up in the chats tab, you might find the archive feature useful. However, the process to archive and unarchive chats differs on Android and iOS.
If you are using an Android device, long press on the chat you want to hide and tap on the box-like icon with a downward arrow next to the sound icon. This will move the conversation to the archived section.
To unarchive the chat, simply head over to the archived section at the top of the conversation list, long-press on the chat you want to unarchive and press the box icon with the upward arrow and you are good to go.
Also Read |WhatsApp desktop beta gets a screen lock feature to improve user security
For those on iOS, swipe left on the chat or group and tap on the box icon with a downward arrow to archive the conversation. Unarchiving a chat requires users to head to the archive section and swipe left on the chat. Here, tap on the box icon with an upward arrow and your chat will again appear in the WhatsApp chats tab.
Advertisement
Alternatively, you can also search for the conversation you want to archive or unarchive, long press it and WhatsApp will let show you the option to archive or unarchive it.
Also Read
In case you want to archive all chats, simply head over to the app settings, tap on ‘Chats’, navigate to ‘Chat History’ and you will see an option that says ‘Archive all chats’.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
First published on: 23-11-2022 at 18:14 IST
- Tags:
- WhatsApp Messenger
How to Recover Deleted or Missing WhatsApp Messages
Do you need to recover deleted or missing WhatsApp messages? It's certainly possible, depending on the situation.
Below, you'll learn how to recover deleted WhatsApp messages on your iPhone or Android device. We'll then teach you how to set up an advanced WhatsApp backup plan to ensure you never lose any of your WhatsApp messages again.
Understanding WhatsApp Chat Backups
In order to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages, you must have enabled Chat Backup in the app's settings. To reach this, tap the Settings tab. It's on the bottom bar of the iPhone app; on Android, open the three-dot menu at the top-right and choose Settings.
From there, head to Chats > Chat backup. Here (under Auto Backup on iOS and Back up to Google Drive on Android), the app offers several backup frequencies (along with the option to encrypt your WhatsApp backups):
- Daily
- Weekly
- Monthly
- Off
2 Images
On Android, WhatsApp makes a local backup every night, but this won't help you if you lose your phone.
This is why cloud backups are vital.
WhatsApp deletes older backup files as you create new ones. The iPhone app only keeps the latest backup file, while the Android version keeps "up to the last seven days' worth" of backup files. Keep that in mind as you choose the right backup frequency for your needs.
By having daily auto-backups, you'll be able to easily recover WhatsApp messages soon after deleting them. On the other hand, weekly auto-backups will allow you to go further back in time to recover deleted WhatsApp messages, at the expense of losing recent chat messages.
For a more advanced backup plan for Android devices, scroll down to the "An Advanced WhatsApp Backup Strategy for Android" section below.
How to Recover Archived Chats in WhatsApp
Before we look at recovering deleted WhatsApp messages, there's a chance that you might have just archived a missing chat, not deleted it. But what's the difference?
Archiving removes the chat from your list, allowing you to hide conversations that you're done with for now.
You can unarchive a chat at any time to access it again, and archiving doesn't delete anything in the chat. Conversely, deleting a chat erases its contents, so they're no longer accessible to you.
On iPhone, when you archive a chat, you can immediately reverse the archival by shaking your device and choosing Undo to recover the archived chat. But even if you miss this, it's easy to retrieve archived WhatsApp chats later.
To unarchive a WhatsApp chat on iPhone:
- Scroll up in the chat list (swipe from top to bottom) until Archived Chats appears.
- Tap on it, then swipe from right to left on the chat you want to restore.
- Hit the Unarchive button that appears.
2 Images
To unarchive a chat on Android:
- Scroll to the bottom of the chat list and tap Archived chats (X).
- Press and hold on the chat you want to recover.
- Tap the unarchive icon at the top-right, which looks like a box with an upward-facing arrow.
How to Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages
Wondering how to get back deleted WhatsApp messages after backing them up? You can restore your WhatsApp backup by simply uninstalling and reinstalling WhatsApp on your device.
When you reinstall the app, you will be prompted to restore your message history from the backup file. Tap Restore and you'll retrieve everything from the latest backup. Make sure to do it when prompted, as you can't restore the backup file later.
This method of recovering deleted WhatsApp messages works on both Android and iPhone, as long as you have a backup. Keep in mind that you can only recover backed-up messages within your selected auto-backup frequency, however.
For instance, if you've set the app to back up daily, you can recover any deleted chats before the next daily backup occurs. But if the app has made a new backup since you deleted certain messages, they're lost for good.
How to Recover Deleted Media on WhatsApp
Hopefully, restoring your backup file allowed you to retrieve any deleted media from your chats. If that didn't work, however, read our guide to recovering deleted photos from WhatsApp.
On Android, you can simply open a file explorer app and navigate to /WhatsApp/Media. From there, simply sift through the folders until you find the deleted photos you want to recover.
On iPhone, you should have a backup copy of images saved to your device if you have the Save to Camera Roll option enabled at Settings > Chats in WhatsApp.
Check the above guide for additional methods of media recovery.
How to Recover Older Deleted Chats in WhatsApp
Getting deleted messages back after a new WhatsApp backup has run is slightly more difficult. Your success will depend on your selected auto-backup frequency.
Note that the below strategy only works on Android devices, since the OS lets you access local backup files.
If you're using an iPhone, your only other method is to restore an iPhone backup that you made before deleting the WhatsApp chats. There are third-party apps that claim to help you recover WhatsApp chats, but they aren't cheap and offer no guarantees. Whether you use these is up to how much you value the missing messages.
Before we dive into the process, here's an overview of restoring older WhatsApp chats on Android:
- Open a file explorer app on your Android device.
- Navigate to /WhatsApp/Databases.
- Rename msgstore.db.crypt12 to msgstore-latest.db.crypt12.
- Rename msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12 to msgstore.db.crypt12.
- Uninstall WhatsApp.
- If Google Drive backups are enabled, open Google Drive, slide out the left menu, tap Backups, and delete the WhatsApp backup file.
- Reinstall WhatsApp.
- When prompted, restore from the backup file.
How to Restore Older Deleted WhatsApp Chats on Android
As mentioned before, WhatsApp on Android retains several days of chat backup files. One is, of course, the latest chat backup. The others, depending on your auto-backup frequency, could be one day or many days old. In addition to the Google Drive cloud backup, WhatsApp stores these backups on your device's local storage.
Open your device's file explorer app (Files by Google is a good option if you don't have one installed), and navigate to /WhatsApp/Databases. Depending on your device, the WhatsApp folder may appear under /sdcard/, /storage/, Internal Memory, or similar.
Within that WhatsApp folder, you'll find the various chat backup files. The latest one is named msgstore.db.crypt12, while the others look like msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12. As you'd expect, YYYY-MM-DD represents the year, month, and date (respectively) that the backup file was created.
To retrieve WhatsApp messages deleted sometime between two backups, simply do the following:
- Rename msgstore.db.crypt12 to msgstore-latest.db.crypt12. This changes the latest backup file, since you're about to give an older backup its name in order to restore it.
- Next, rename the msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12 file that you want to restore to msgstore.db.crypt12.
3 Images
After this, uninstall WhatsApp. If you've enabled Google Drive cloud backups, open the Google Drive app, slide out the left menu, and select Backups. You'll see a WhatsApp backup file with your phone number in it. Tap the three-dot Menu to the right of this and choose Delete backup to erase it.
Doing this prevents WhatsApp from using the backup file in Google Drive instead of the local file you want to restore.
3 Images
Now, reinstall WhatsApp from the Play Store. During the setup process, you'll be prompted to restore from the backup file you've just tweaked—it will show as X days old instead of the most recent backup file. Confirm restoration from this file.
That's all you have to do in order to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages from older backups. Once you've restored those messages, feel free to start using WhatsApp as normal again.
How to Export Retrieved WhatsApp Messages and Return to the Latest Backup
When you walk through the above, you'll lose any messages created since the backup you restored. If you only performed that process to restore a few deleted messages, and don't want to lose recent messages, you can export the retrieved chat messages and then restore WhatsApp to the latest backup. You'll have to run through the entire process again, but it's not difficult.
To export messages, open the chat containing the messages you want to save.
Tap the three-dot Menu button at the top-right, followed by More > Export chat. If the chat has media, you'll see an option to export Without media or to Include media.
Including media will add all recent images as attachments, which obviously increases the size of the export file. You can export up to 10,000 messages with media, or 40,000 messages without media.
After you make your choice, choose an app on your phone to share the text file (and attachments, if applicable) containing your messages. You can email this to yourself, add it to cloud storage, or similar. Repeat this for any other chats with messages you want to save.
3 Images
Once you're done exporting, follow the steps in the above section again to access your WhatsApp backups. When you come to renaming the backup files, reverse the process:
- Rename the existing msgstore.db.crypt12 (which contains the messages you retrieved) to msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.
1.db.crypt12, using today's date. In case there's already a file with today's date, use DD.2 instead. - Next, rename msgstore-latest.db.crypt12 (the latest backup created when you started) back to msgstore.db.crypt12.
Uninstall WhatsApp, delete your Google Drive backup again if needed, and reinstall the app. After you restore from backup, your latest chats will reappear. The messages you exported won't appear inside WhatsApp, but you can at least see them in the text file whenever you need them.
An Advanced WhatsApp Backup Strategy for Android
Because you can easily view and edit WhatsApp chat backup files on Android, it's easy to manipulate them. Renaming them allows you to keep as many backup files as you want.
All you need to do is rename a backup in the msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12 format to something else, such as oct11.db.crypt12 or 2021-June-Backup.
Because this file doesn't use WhatsApp's naming convention, it's now protected from WhatsApp overwriting it.
Consider creating your own backup file in this way once every month or so. That way, you won't lose tons of messages if you have to restore from an older backup. For even more safety, you should copy these backup files to cloud storage or your computer so that they're safe in case your phone stops working or you lose it.
Recover WhatsApp Messages to Preserve Memories
As you can see, it's fairly easy to recover deleted WhatsApp messages. However, this is only the case if you've backed up your messages ahead of time. This is why the advanced backup strategy is worth setting up if you're an Android user. iPhone owners don't have as many options.
Now that you know you won't lose any WhatsApp messages in the future, it's a good idea to discover some of WhatsApp's other cool features that aren't immediately visible.
| Why recover deleted messages from messenger? It is possible that instead of archiving a WhatsApp chat, you accidentally deleted it. But rest assured, it is possible.
Below we will show you how to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages. And then we will teach you how to create an advanced WhatsApp backup plan so that you never lose your WhatsApp messages again. What are WhatsApp chat backups and why do you need them in principle
To recover deleted WhatsApp messages, you need to enable "Chat Backup" in "Settings". In the "Startup" section, WhatsApp offers several options for the frequency of backups:
WhatsApp backup settings page - WhatsApp backup frequency setting It is also important to note that WhatsApp will only save the latest backup file for iOS and the last two backup files when you archive it if your operating system is Android. With automatic daily backups, you can easily restore messages soon after they are deleted. On the other hand, weekly automatic backups will allow you to go back to recover deleted WhatsApp messages from less than seven days ago at the cost of losing recent chat messages. That is, if the backup operation is performed on Mondays, and the failure occurs on Wednesday, then the data for Tuesday will be lost. Select the automatic backup frequency that best suits your needs. For a more advanced backup plan for Android devices, scroll down to the Advanced WhatsApp backup strategy .”
Restoring WhatsApp chatsTo restore WhatsApp messages, you will first need to determine how the messages were deleted.
Restoring archived WhatsApp messagesIf the messages have been archived, you can simply restore them from the archive by pointing your smartphone to the desired archive and issuing the Restore “UNDO” command
However, even if the chat was archived a long time ago, you can still restore the messages. On Android, tap the "Archived Chats" text at the bottom of the chat list. Tap and hold on the chat you want to restore and then tap on the "Unarchive" icon. Click to view and restore archived chats
How to Retrieve Deleted WhatsApp MessagesIt's surprisingly easy to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages if the records are within the automatic backup frequency you choose. For example, if your automatic backup frequency is set to daily, then you can easily restore any deleted chats before your next backup. Just uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp. When you reinstall the application, you will be prompted to restore the message history from the backup file. Just click "Restore" and everything from the last backup will be restored. Done.
Restoring old chat entriesRetrieving deleted messages after a backup is a bit more complicated. This will depend on the automatic backup frequency you choose and will only work on Android devices. As mentioned earlier, WhatsApp records two chat backup files. One of them will be the latest version of the chat; the other, depending on your auto backup frequency, could be daily, weekly, or monthly. And they are all located on the local storage of your Android device.
If you also backed up to Google Drive, then open the Google Drive app, click "Backups" and delete the WhatsApp backup file. Reinstall WhatsApp. Again, you will be prompted to restore data from the backup file you just edited.
This method will allow you to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages from the second most recent backup. You can continue to use WhatsApp from now on. Or you can export the received chat messages and restore WhatsApp back to the latest backup by starting the whole process again. This time, in your smartphone's File Explorer, do the following:
Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp, restore your backup and your latest chats will reappear! Search for deleted images, videos and audiosIt may come as a surprise, but when you delete images and videos from WhatsApp, they are not deleted until you delete them. Therefore, restoring WhatsApp images and videos that you have deleted from a chat is quite easy. Open your device explorer, go to WhatsApp > Media . There, browse the folders carefully until you find the deleted files you want to recover. Accidental deletion of messages is a common problem across all messaging platforms, not just WhatsApp. Even worse, you may accidentally delete some important documents such as Microsoft Office files. Fortunately, it is also possible to recover deleted Microsoft Office files. Advanced WhatsApp backup strategy Based on the fact that you can easily view and edit WhatsApp chat backup files on Android devices, it is quite easy to manipulate them to your advantage. Although WhatsApp will only store the last two backup files, you can increase the number of backup files so that you have as many as you want. All you have to do is rename msgstore -YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12 to something else, perhaps n2.db.crypt12 . Thus, this file is now protected from being overwritten by WhatsApp. In the next backup, WhatsApp will create a new file msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12 . And now you will have three restore points. Create whatsapp for youAs you can see, it is quite easy to recover deleted WhatsApp messages. However, you pay with your time for this opportunity. That is why the right strategy - performing backups - proves its worth. You can repeat the specified backup settings as many times as you like. And without much effort, you will be able to go back to recover your deleted WhatsApp messages. Share:
Leave your comment!
Tags:
|
Who cares? Well, archived chats can be restored very easily in WhatsApp; recovering deleted messages is not so easy. 
On iOS, scroll through the chat list until "Archived Chats" appears. Click on it, then swipe on the chat you want to restore and click Unarchive. 
This WhatsApp deleted message recovery method works on both Android and iOS. 
db.crytp12 to msgstore-latest.db.crytp12 
db.crytp12 back to msgstore.db.crytp12 
2021 All you need to know about WhatsApp archives
Some unimportant chats messing up your chat list can be a little annoying.
WhatsApp introduced a feature - Archive chat. According to the patch notes, the WhatsApp archives help us organize our inbox. Just as archives help us organize our files in the real world, the purpose of an archive in WhatsApp is to hide a private or group chat from our chat list in order to better organize our list. Let's move on to what exactly is happening with your archived chat!
- Part 1: What happens when you archive a WhatsApp chat
- Part 2: How to Archive WhatsApp Chat on Android and iPhone
- Part 3: How to know if someone archived you on WhatsApp
- Part 4: How to delete archived WhatsApp chats
- Part 5. How to retrieve archived messages on WhatsApp
Part 1: What happens when you archive a WhatsApp chat
You may often wonder what happens when you archive a WhatsApp chat. Obscure knowledge leads to unnecessary rumors. Contrary to popular belief, archiving a particular chat does not mean that you block or delete the content of the chat.
You just take messages out of sight.
You don't have to worry about how to find archived WhatsApp chats. Chat archives can be easily accessed by scrolling to the bottom of the chat list. The Archived Chats (number) option shows the number of chats you have archived so far. By clicking on this particular option, you will see the contents of the archived chats.
Part 2: How to Archive WhatsApp Chat on Android and iPhone
If you are new to WhatsApp archives and want to use this feature, follow the steps below to learn how to archive a WhatsApp chat.
For Android users
1) If you want to archive one or more chats.
2) If you want to archive all your chats instead of manually selecting them and repeating the above steps, follow these steps.
-
While still in the CHATS tab, tap on the three dots and then tap on Settings at the top of the screen.
- Now follow the path "Chats - Chat History". In this section there will be a button for creating a hide of all correspondence.
-
Whatsapp archive on Android can be easily restored. To do this, scroll to the end of the general list of correspondence. At the very bottom is the column "Archived chats". From there, the dialogues can be returned. Select the ones you need and click on the restore icon.
For iPhone users:
1) If you want to archive any number of chats,
- Go to a specific chat.
- Swipe left on this chat and click Archive.
2) If you want to archive all your chats,
Go to Settings. In Settings, click Chats and then Unarchive All Chats.
Part 3: How to know if someone archived you on WhatsApp
WhatsApp has a strict two-way privacy policy whereby the other user is not informed of your activities. WhatsApp does not tell you if someone archived your chat on their mobile device or not.
WhatsApp archives - it's all for memory. Chat archiving does not affect the user's online status. This means that the person whose chat you have archived can still see if you are online or not.
Part 4: How to delete archived WhatsApp chats
Users sometimes panic when they don't find an important chat and assume they deleted it. However, there is a chance that you archived the chat. Don't worry, chats can be easily found at the bottom of the chat list.
Scroll down and click Archived Chats. All chats that have been archived are shown here.
Searching for "how to retrieve archived messages on whatsapp" returns too many results. However, an archived chat is automatically unarchived after something is received in that chat. If you want to unarchive chats from the WhatsApp archive, iPhone users need to swipe left on the chat and tap "Unzip". For Android users: Tap and hold on a chat. Now click on the "Unzip" icon at the top of the screen.
Sometimes you may want to delete archived chats that you no longer need. We also have instructions on how to delete archived chats on WhatsApp. After going to Archived Chats, select the chat you want to delete and click the "Delete" icon at the top to permanently delete the chat.
Part 5: How to retrieve archived WhatsApp messages
Having learned what "archive" means in WhatsApp, you probably know that archiving a chat is just using the accessible disappear feature to your advantage. People mistakenly delete important chats instead of archiving them to regret later. Now Tenorshare has successfully solved this problem.
Tenorshare UltData for Android allows users to recover deleted messages, audio recordings, videos, pictures and documents for Android. The step by step guide below will help you recover deleted messages.
-
After installing the software, launch UltData. Select Restore WhatsApp Data.
-
Connect your WhatsApp device to your computer with a USB cable.
-
Open the developer option on your mobile phone and enable USB debugging. If you are not familiar with the section, follow the instructions displayed on the screen.
-
If the window does not appear, click Show Again in the program.
