Unless you like chaos, it’s always good practice to keep your online chats organized. This means archiving old conversations when they are no longer needed to make your messaging inbox look cleaner and easier to look at. But what does it mean to archive something on WhatsApp? How do you archive WhatsApp messages on Android and iPhone?
Read more: How to use WhatsApp — a step-by-step beginner’s guide
QUICK ANSWER
To archive a message in WhatsApp, select it. On Android, tap the Archive icon at the top of the screen. On iPhone, select it by sliding left on the message and choosing Archive.
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Archiving messages on Android WhatsApp is extremely easy. Long-press on the chat you want to archive until you see a small green tick appear next to the user picture. Then tap on the Archive button at the top of the screen.
The chat will now disappear from the screen. If this is the first time you have archived something, a new Archived section will appear below. This is where all of your archived chats will now live. Simply tap on it to open it.
To archive all chats on WhatsApp Android simultaneously, long-press on one until you see the green arrow appear. Then tap all of the others one at a time. Then tap the Archive button at the top of the screen for all conversations to be moved to the Archived section.
Archiving a WhatsApp conversation on an iPhone is slightly different, but the method is still easy.
Go to the main WhatsApp screen and slide from right to left the conversation you want to archive.
This will make two buttons appear, one of which is Archive. Tap that, and the conversation will disappear from the screen.
To archive all chats on the iPhone, tap the Edit button in the top-left-hand corner.
This will make small check circles appear next to each name.
Tap all the ones you want to be archived, then tap Archive at the bottom of the screen. When done, tap Done at the top to return to the normal screen.
Another way is to go to Settings >Chats and select Archive all chats.
As we’ve previously explained, you can find your archived conversations in the Android app by tapping on the Archived link on the main screen. Find the conversation you want and simply continue it to bring it back to the main screen.
You can unarchive a message on the iPhone by going to the main screen and pulling it down.
This will reveal the Archived section just below the search bar. Alternatively, you can search for the person.
When you have found the conversation, either send a message to pull it out of the Archive or slide left on it to reveal the Unarchive button.
On Android and iPhone, you can change the settings, so the conversation stays archived, even if that contact sends a new message. You can find this setting at Settings >Chats >Keep chats archived.
Read more: How to delete WhatsApp messages
Yes, you can archive a WhatsApp group. It works on the same principle as archiving a normal chat.
Deleting it removes the message entirely, never to be seen again. Archiving the chat is just like filing it away in a cabinet. You can pull it out in the future if you need to refer to it again or continue the conversation.
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Did you accidentally archive a WhatsApp chat? Now you are puzzled about how to bring back the archived chats? Don’t worry.
It’s easy to retrieve archived WhatsApp chats. For the unaware, the archive is one of WhatsApp’s useful features to hide individual or group chats from the chats list without deleting them.
So if you unintentionally hit the archive button on WhatsApp, this post will guide you to get back the archived chats in WhatsApp on Android, iOS, web, and Desktop.
It’s important to mention that the archived chat will be automatically unarchived when you receive a message on such a chat. In normal cases, there are two ways to bring back archived WhatsApp chats to the main chats list.
Firstly, using WhatsApp’s search, look for the archived contact/group name or any message from the chat. You will notice the Archived label on the chat in the search results. Touch and hold the chat. Select Unarchive chat from the menu.
In the second method, scroll down to the bottom of the WhatsApp chat list.
You will see the Archived section. Tap on it. Here you will find all the archived chats. Long touch the chat thread that you want to unarchive and tap on the Unarchive icon to unhide it.
Similar to Android, WhatsApp chats can be unarchived on iPhone using two methods. The first method involves taking the help of WhatsApp’s search. Type the group or contact name or a message present in the chat. When the required archived chat appears, swipe left on it to unarchive it or hit the Unarchive option.
Alternatively, go to the Chats tab in WhatsApp and swipe down from the top. The Archived chats option will appear below the search bar. Tap on it.
Now touch and hold the chat that you want to unarchive and select Unarchive, or simply swipe left on the chat to bring it back to the main list.
On WhatsApp Web and desktop app too, chats can be unarchived using the search feature.
Search for the archived chat’s contact or group name. When the required chat appears, hover your mouse over it.
A small down arrow will show up on the right side. Click on it. That will bring up a menu. Choose Unarchive chat from the list.
In case you want to see all the archived chats, click on the three-dot icon at the top of the chats list. Select Archived from the menu.
Move your mouse pointer over the chat that you want to bring back to the main chats list. Click on the small down arrow at the extreme right corner of the chat. Select Unarchive chat from the menu that shows up.
When you unarchive a chat, it will again show up in the WhatsApp chats list. Do note that the chat will not appear at the top of the chats list, instead, it will appear at its original position or the last message date. Meaning, if it’s an old chat that you have unarchived, you might need to scroll down in your chat list to view such a chat.
As mentioned earlier, archive doesn’t impact your old messages. So all your messages will show up in the chat after unarchiving it.
Also, the chat that you unarchive on mobile will be unarchived on PC as well and vice versa. You don’t need to unarchive the chat separately for mobile and desktop.
Lastly, in case you want to delete a chat, it’s not necessary to unarchive it first. You can delete an archived chat directly as well. Find the archived chat and touch and hold it. Tap on the Delete button. Want to restore deleted WhatsApp messages? We have a solution for that as well. Check our guide on how to restore deleted WhatsApp messages on Android and iPhone.
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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!
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.
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.
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,
2) If you want to archive all your chats,
Go to Settings. In Settings, click Chats and then Unarchive All Chats.
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.
Users sometimes panic when they don't find an important chat and assume they've 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.
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 WhatsApp Recovery allows users to recover deleted messages, audio recordings, videos, pictures and documents for Android/iOS. The step by step guide below will help you recover deleted messages.
After installing the software, launch UltData. Select Restore WhatsApp Data.
Connect the device on which WhatsApp is installed 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.
Now click "Start" to continue restoring messages.
Sign in to your WhatsApp and back up your WhatsApp data to prevent data loss. Once the backup is complete, click "Backup! Proceed".
After a few minutes, click Back Up My Data.
Your wait is almost over now. Preview the displayed media and messages to recover the data you need. Once selected, click Restore.
This brings us to the end of the WhatsApp archived chat article. You are now expected to know everything there is to know about archived chats and how to find archived chats on WhatsApp and even how to recover deleted data.
Whatsapp is an application that we all actively use and thanks to which we save significant amounts on calls and SMS. Not surprisingly, the number of people who have downloaded it to their phones has already exceeded one billion.
Today we will learn where the messages sent and received by us are stored, how to hide them from the screen, and also how you can view the archive in WhatsApp.
All messages received and sent using this service are exclusively on devices, and are deleted on the company's servers immediately after they reach the addressee. But what to do when there are too many chats on the screen? They can be archived, that is, temporarily hidden from the screen.
It's very easy to archive a WhatsApp chat. You can remove those chats that you do not use very often, as well as some group correspondence. Then, when necessary, you can view the archived chats and return them to the main page of the application again.
You should know that archiving in this case means only temporary hiding of correspondence with any person. In this way, you can neither save your correspondence as a backup copy, nor delete it.
You can read about how to delete an archive in WhatsApp in our other article.
On different phone models, archiving is carried out with slight differences. Below we will provide ways to archive and then search for archives on iPhone and Android. Keep in mind that when you receive a new message from a hidden contact, the archived chat will reappear on the screen.
Select the chat you want to hide and long press on it to bring up the menu at the top of the screen. The archive icon looks like a white square with a green arrow pointing down inside. Touch it and the correspondence with this contact will be hidden.
To hide all chats at once, go to the WhatsApp menu and select settings. After opening the "Chats" item, tap the "Chat History" line, then "Archive all chats".
To find out what kind of conversations are hidden in your application, scroll to the end of your chat list and, when you see the inscription "Archived chats", tap it.
To hide all conversations from the WhatsApp screen, go to the application settings and tap the "Chats" line.
Select the "Archive all chats" option.
If you want to hide a conversation with a specific person from the screen, select the chat you want to hide and swipe it from right to left with your finger. From the options provided, select the "Archive" option.
You can understand where the WhatsApp archive is on your iPhone by simply scrolling through the list of chats to the end, and then sliding your finger down the screen. When you see the inscription "Archive", click on it.
Several chats can be distinguished:
To learn how to transfer WhatsApp archive to another phone, you can read our other article.
If you want to extract the chat from the WhatsApp archive again, then the following instruction will be relevant for the iPhone:
Also, you can enter the content of this chat, the application itself will search.
Another method can be used:
To understand how to open and read the message archive in WhatsApp on Android, follow the instructions below:
To find out if you can access WhatsApp from another phone, read our other article.
good morning! Can I track the child's correspondence in WhatsApp as well as see the details in my personal account? Reply ↓
Users often have questions after activating the Archive function in WhatsApp, how to view the correspondence and how to return it to the main screen. The procedure, as well as instructions for deleting messages, differ depending on the operating system of the gadget.
The term "archive" in WhatsApp has a different meaning than the generally accepted one. Activating this function does not compress the data, which frees up space in the device's memory. This action only allows you to hide the dialog from the main page of the application.
Archiving in WhatsApp is useful when many chats have been created in the application. It makes it possible to remove rarely used conversations, which makes it easier to find the necessary dialogues. At the same time, the text of the hidden correspondence is saved, it can be returned to the active list at any time.
The contents of the conversations hidden in the WhatsApp archive remain in the gadget's memory. They are not transferred to cloud servers, so the correspondence can be pulled out even when offline. Videos and other files that were downloaded from this conversation will still be available in the media gallery.
To archive a conversation when using a gadget on Android, you need to:
For iPhone owners, the sequence is as follows:
In addition, on Apple gadgets, you can tap the "Chats" icon, select several conversations and click "Archive".
To remove all groups and individual conversations from the main screen on Android, you need to:
You can read hidden messages without extracting them to the main screen. It is enough to go to the section containing hidden conversations and open the one you need.
If the person with whom the chat was archived sends a new message, the conversation will be automatically retrieved by the messenger and moved to the active list.
To independently transfer the archived correspondence to the list of active ones, the iPhone user needs: ;
If a user wants to return an archived conversation to the WhatsApp home screen, they need to:
Deleting conversations moved to the WhatsApp archive and dialogues from the main screen is done according to the same principle.
If you want to delete the WhatsApp group chat, you must first exit it. This can be done through the main menu or through an open conversation. In both cases, you will need to click the ellipsis icon and select the desired item. After that, the "Delete group" button will be available in the same menu.
To delete a conversation on a gadget with the Android operating system, you need to:
Users of iOS gadgets can delete an unwanted chat as follows:
Although the dialogue with this contact can be created again, the lost information cannot be recovered. Re-downloading it from the application servers will also fail.
All data is deleted immediately after delivery to the addressee.
WhatsApp provides users with the "Archive Chat" feature, which will allow users to save conversations and read messages later. This will make it possible not to lose important information and received content. This function is offered to owners of iPhone devices (the operating system iOS 7 must be installed), Android, Windows Phone, Nokia S40, BlackBerry, Nokia S60, BlackBerry 10. How to read the archive of messages in WhatsApp, and how to add new information there?
There are two ways to add information to the archive:
