How to check old whatsapp conversations
How to Retrieve Old WhatsApp Messages [2022 Updated]
"How can I recover old WhatsApp messages? The thing is that I have used WhatsApp for quite a long time, but I delete some old WhatsApp chat history for storage space. But right now for some reason I need them back. Is there any way to find WhatsApp messages from a couple years ago? Even without backup?" —By WhatsApp User
If you are facing the same problems and seeking for methods to solve it, keep going. You will find the best ways of how to recover old WhatsApp messages in 2022 below.
Part 1. Why Do We need to Recover Old WhatsApp MessagesPart 2. How to Retrieve Old WhatsApp Messages from BackupPart 3. How to Recover Old WhatsApp Messages without BackupVideo Guide: How to Recover Old WhatsApp Chats from Android
Part 1. Why Do We need to Recover Old WhatsApp Messages
Much like brands, apps are in a fierce battle to claim some coveted space on your mobile phone, vying for your affection and memory space. Among the many choices for gaming, messaging, social media, education, videos and so much more, there is an app that many of us are familiar with: WhatsApp.
However, right now the most pressing is that the need for space has led you to remove some messages from WhatsApp you didn't really intend to and now you won't have a way to recover those deleted text messages. Course you could have lost the message for the following reasons too:
- Accidental deletion - While technology is great and easy, it's just as easy to suddenly lose something you meant to keep, like some messages that you've been saving.
- Transferring woes - This is rather rare but it still happens, when you upgrade to a new Android phone, you could be overwriting or leaving behind some messages on your WhatsApp.
- Reformatting - Much like transferring, it's almost like you are transferring to a brand new phone! Only it's the same phone, but just wiped off pretty much everything else.
- Broken Android - A busted phone is nothing to be ashamed of, but at the end of the day is, you need your messages one way or another and a broken phone is stopping you from doing that. Or is it?
At this point in time, you are wondering is it at all possible to recover the messages on your WhatsApp? The truth of the matter is, despite being deleted or removed from your phone, and this does not only pertain to your WhatsApp messages but to all the other details such as messages, contact numbers, call logs and so forth, this information will still be somewhere on your phone just not accessible right away. Thankfully, there are a couple of options to make sure that you somehow get the missing data back onto your Android phone.
Tips: You might be interested in another post if you need to get data back from your Android after a factory reset.
Part 2. How to Restore Old WhatsApp Messages from Backup
WhatsApp has an automated backup system that usually works great on Android phones and this is something you'll really want to use assuming everything went according to plan.
Follow these steps and you should be able to restore your old WhatsApp messages and chat history from backup:
- Uninstall WhatsApp from your Android phone. Don't worry this is really part of the process, you didn't read wrong.
- Download and install WhatsApp on your Android phone.
- Make sure to go through the registration process and the very important part is to register the same number as your previous account. From there you will be given the option to restore your backup, simply click on "Restore" or "Yes" and you can proceed to the next step.
- Wait for it to restore, this may take some time, depending on the amount of data it needs to reset.
And done, you now have the restored data back on your Android phone and it didn't need to even be connected to a computer.
Tips: WhatsApp Being Uninstalled, How to Recover Messages?
On the other hand, assuming things did not go as planned and you need a message that was deleted longer than yesterday, you will need the next option below.
Android Data Recovery Recover deleted messages, photos, contacts, videos, WhatsApp and so on. Quickly Find Lost and deleted data on Android with or without root. Compatible with 6000+ Android devices. Free Download Free Download
Part 3. How to Recover Old WhatsApp Messages without Backup
You will be needing the help of FoneDog Android Data Recovery to be able to restore the message that you cannot find using the method above. This software enables you to recover not only WhatsApp messages from 2 years or 5 years ago but also other deleted data from you phone. Click the button to try it for free now!
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Follow these steps, then you will be able to recover the information with FoneDog Android Toolkit:
Step 1. Download and Install FoneDog
Make sure to properly download and install FoneDog Android Data Recovery onto a computer or laptop, preferably one that has been connected to your Android phone and has had no connection problems from the onset.
Connect your Android phone using a USB connector and then run the FoneDog Android Data Recovery in order to proceed to the next step.
Step 2. Allow USB Debugging
You will get a prompt asking to be placed in "Debugging Mode" but this is standard procedure no need to be alarmed. Follow the instructions to switch the Android unit into "Debugging Mode" in order to proceed to the next step.
Note: If no prompt comes up, it is likely that you have already placed your phone into "Debugging Mode" at some point and have not removed it since this is alright as Fonedog Android Data Recovery will recognize this automatically.
Step 3. Choose The File Type to Scan
Choose what you want to recover, the choices are quite a bit: Contact numbers, Photos, Call Log and so forth. Right now, you can tick off "WhatsApp" as your option of choice. You are more than welcomed to tick any other option if you feel you need to recover more than just the messages on WhatsApp.
Step 4. Start Scanning Old WhatsApp Messages
Please wait for the scanning process to finish, this may take some time but this is fairly standard and the time it takes to finish may vary due to the amount of data FoneDog Android Data Recovery will need to sift through. The more tick boxes you've clicked on in Step 3, the more likely it will take longer.
Please make sure your Android phone has more than enough battery life to finish this scanning process, the minimum suggested battery life is 20% but if you can keep it above that, it would be ideal.
Note: Please, under no circumstances, remove the Android phone from the laptop or computer, as this could cause an error or corrupted data, which you would want to avoid despite having the ability to recover said information.
Step 5. Recover The Old WhatsApp Messages
After the scanning process is done, you can check the retrieved data in a preview window. You can review each recovered information and simply choose, the data that you may want to recover.
Highlight which items you want to regain and press the "Recover" button to proceed. Wait for this process to end and then move forward.
Disconnect properly from the laptop or computer, best to be safe and follow the right process in order to avoid any problems. And now you have the information or data that was missing on your WhatsApp back on your Android phone.
All you needed to do was get FoneDog Android Data Recovery and follow the steps above, despite not having a proper backup, you should have no issues recovering the information.
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Video Guide: How to Recover Old WhatsApp Chats from Android
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One of the most famous messaging apps available on the market today, for both Android and iOS users, WhatsApp continues to dominate and is found in virtually every smartphone available.
The free price tag is something that no one can ignore, the features that come with it and the user-friendly interface is something most people like using.
The best part is, without any fees to send a message, video, photo or such, it's become used almost more than text messages and emails, all you need is an active data plan or wifi and you can pretty much send messages back and forth, and nowadays who doesn't have access to the internet?
As amazing as that is, it's easy to get the virtual inbox pretty full, especially if the memory of your phone is already in the red and when that happens, you tend to start deleting indiscriminately.
This doesn't just happen for WhatsApp, it can also be done to your regular messages, photos, videos and so much more.
Plus, with the steps of how to recover old WhatsApp chats in 2022 mentioned above, you will have a better experience on the app.
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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
How to recover deleted correspondence in WhatsApp
WhatsApp is an extremely illogical messenger. At least for those who have ever used Telegram. I don’t know what its developers were guided by, but many functions and interface elements in WhatsApp seem to be specially designed so that a minimum number of users understand them. Take at least end-to-end encryption, even editing and deleting messages, even restoring backups - in any case, you will have a lot of questions. Well, who better than us to give answers to them?
It is possible to recover deleted messages in WhatsApp, but with a number of reservations
Wrong date and time in WhatsApp. What to do? It would seem that where is Telegram, and where is WhatsApp ... But, apparently, users themselves understand that they are unlikely to be able to find the answer to their question on WhatsApp, but here at least there is a chance that they will help you. In general, it is.
How to get back a deleted message in WhatsApp
I suggest starting with the fact that WhatsApp messages are deleted in two ways.
The first method (I talked about it in this article) involves direct deletion by the sender himself, who can do this only in the first hour after sending. And the second is to automatically delete all your chats when you reinstall the application, when you move to a new smartphone, or when you change the phone number to which the account is linked.
If the message is deleted by the sender himself, there is usually no way to restore it. Unless you have time to make a backup copy before he decides to delete it. Therefore, if you suspect that the message that was sent to you can be deleted, do the following:
- Launch WhatsApp and open the context menu;
- Go to "Settings" and open the "Chats" section;
Back up before deleting the message so you can restore it
- Here, select the Chat Backup tab;
- Click "Backup" and wait for saving.
Your WhatsApp account may be blocked without your knowledge
Now, if your interlocutor decides to delete one of his messages and you notice this, you will have the opportunity to return it by restoring a backup copy.
Since the copy was saved when the deleted message was not yet deleted, when it is restored, it will also be restored. Another thing is that it is usually not possible to predict in advance that the interlocutor will decide to delete something from what he wrote, unless you have some particularly strong premonition.
How to restore a backup copy in WhatsApp
Much easier things are with restoring the entire correspondence, which is deleted when you reinstall the application or change the device. Oddly enough, the technique here is about the same, only you don’t have to predict anything in advance. The main thing is to set up automatic backup in advance by linking Google Drive storage to your WhatsApp account if you have Android, and iCloud if iOS.
- Download WhatsApp and run it on your smartphone;
- Enter your phone number to which the account is linked;
You can only restore a WhatsApp backup if you reinstall the application
- Confirm the restore from the backup and select the one you want;
- Wait until all messages are restored and start chatting.
The security code has changed on WhatsApp. What to do
It is very important to enable automatic backup in advance so that you can restore all your correspondence if it becomes necessary. By default, backups include text messages, voice messages, photos, but not videos. This is done to save space in the cloud. But if you want, you can enable saving videos if you think they are important to you, or if you have an active Google Drive subscription.
How to restore WhatsApp conversations on iPhone using Tenorshare UltData or backups
WhatsApp is one of the largest instant messengers. Through it, people around the world communicate both at work and on personal matters. But whatever the subject of conversation, the loss of correspondence is unpleasant. However, this still happens, so it is useful to know what are the ways to recover deleted messages in WhatsApp. Here's how to do it on iPhone.
Method 1: Restore deleted messages from WhatsApp iCloud 9 backup0067
WhatsApp conversation history is not stored on the servers of the service itself, but you can use the backup that the application places in the iCloud cloud to backup and restore the chat history.
But you need to understand that in this case it will not be possible to preview the correspondence and select the necessary elements.
Step 1: Enable automatic backup
First of all, you need to make sure that automatic backup is enabled. You can check that this is the case by going to WhatsApp > Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
Step 2: Restore your chat history
Now uninstall WhatsApp on your iPhone and reinstall it from the App Store, then verify your phone number. After a successful login, a welcome notification will appear asking you to restore your chat history. Just select the "Restore Chat History" option and the recovery process will begin. When it completes, the number of recovered messages will be displayed.
Method 2. Selectively recover deleted WhatsApp messages on iPhone even if there is no backup
Tenorshare UltData is a powerful data recovery tool not only for WhatsApp but also for many other types of data.
Whether it was lost due to accidental deletion or malware attack, Tenorshare UltData can perfectly recover lost data. In addition, you can recover deleted data both directly from iPhone and from iCloud and iTunes backups.
This tool is compatible with Mac and Windows operating systems and supports more than 20 types of data, including WhatsApp deleted data.
How to Retrieve Deleted WhatsApp Messages on iPhone with Tenorshare UltData:
Step 1. Launch the program
If you don't have UltData, please download and install it on your computer. Then connect your iPhone with a USB cable. Click "Recover from iOS Device" and let the program detect your iPhone. After a successful discovery, all types of data on your iPhone will be displayed on the screen.
Step 2: Scan
In the list of data types displayed on the screen, select "WhatsApp and attachments". At the bottom of the screen, click the "Start Scan" button.
Step 3: Restore
After the scanning process is completed successfully, the interface will display a list of deleted items. Tick the WhatsApp related options in the left panel (messages and/or attachments) and then view those deleted messages. Select what you want to restore and click the desired Restore button at the bottom of the screen.
Method 3: Restore deleted WhatsApp chat from iTunes backup
This method is suitable for those who regularly back up their iPhone to iTunes. The process of restoring WhatsApp messages from iTunes backups is quite simple, but only the last three backups are available for restoration.
Step 1. Open iTunes and connect your iPhone.
Step 2. Click on the iPhone icon and select the "Restore from Backup" option.
Step 3. Select the backup file containing the desired WhatsApp messages and click "Restore"
Method 4.
Restore deleted WhatsApp chat from iCloud backup for the entire iPhone Unlike the very first method, here we will talk about restore all iPhone data from iCloud copy. But at the same time, you will need to reset the smartphone and restore all data from the cloud.
The first step is to make sure that these backups are created. To do this, just go to Settings > iCloud > Backup. If iCloud backup is activated, you can recover deleted WhatsApp messages as follows.
Step 1. Go to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings.
Step 2. Follow the on-screen instructions until the Apps & Data option appears. Select the "Restore from iCloud Backup" option.
Step 3. Select the appropriate iCloud backup and wait for the restore process to complete successfully. It is important to note that an internet connection is critical throughout the entire process. Therefore, make sure that the Wi-Fi network is not disabled during the process.
