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How to recover a whatsapp conversation


How to recover WhatsApp messages

The more we use WhatsApp in our daily communications, the more chance we are storing crucial information in those chats. It could be something mundane like a doctor’s appointment time or something serious like an agreement to buy a high-value item or proof of a debt from someone. It could even be chats from a now-deceased loved one that you don’t want to lose. Whatever it is, if you accidentally delete any of it, you need to be able to recover those WhatsApp messages.

Read more: How to use WhatsApp — a step-by-step beginner’s guide

QUICK ANSWER

The answer to recovering WhatsApp messages is a bit drastic, but the only effective method nonetheless. You have to uninstall WhatsApp from your phone, reinstall it, then restore all of your messaging history from a backup. Assuming you haven't backed up after deleting the crucial messages, WhatsApp will reload all your messages, including the deleted ones.

JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS

  • How to recover deleted messages on Android
  • How to recover deleted messages on iPhone

Note: Before proceeding, remember that if you delete a message — and then back up your archive — those deleted messages will then be wiped in that backup. At that point, the messages will be unrecoverable. So if you have deleted a message you need to recover, make sure any automated backups are immediately canceled — and don’t back up anything manually!

How to recover deleted messages on Android

First, delete WhatsApp from your phone, then reinstall it. You will have to do the whole setup again with your phone number and verify the number. You also need to have your two-step authentication number ready if you had that set up with the previous installation.

Once you have verified your number, it will tell you if it has detected a backup on Google Drive. If it has, it will invite you to restore it. If you tap SKIP, bear in mind that you will not be able to restore from Google Drive without uninstalling and reinstalling again. But you can select SKIP if you intend to restore from a local backup. More on that in the next section.

Your backup will now be downloaded to your phone and restored. How long it takes will depend on the size of your archive and your internet connection speed.

Once the backup has been completed, you’ll be asked to fill in your display name and enter your two-factor authentication code again. Then your messages will appear on the screen.

Restoring from a local backup

If, instead, you have backed up your WhatsApp archive to your device’s local storage, or an SD card, this is how you can restore it.

Use a file manager such as Google Files to access your phone’s internal storage. Find the WhatsApp folder — the location varies from device to device, so you may have to do a bit of hunting. When you find the folder, go to Databases, and you should see a file named like this. The name of your file will vary slightly.

Change its name so it has the word BACKUP in it, so msgstore_BACKUP.db.crypt14. Find the file in that folder that you want to restore (likely the most recently dated one) and change its name to the previous file. In this case, it would be msgstore.db.crypt14.

Now uninstall WhatsApp, reinstall it, and go through the initial setup again. When it comes time to restore a backup, since there’s no Google Drive backup to detect, it will detect the local storage version instead.

Restoring from an earlier backup

If you have more than one backup stored on local storage or SD card, you can opt to leap-frog over the most recent backup and choose an earlier one instead.

The method here is virtually identical to the previous method, except each file in the Databases section will have a date attached, such as msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt14. Earlier backups may have crypt13 or crypt12 at the end, but you shouldn’t change this number.

All you need to do is select the one you want to restore and remove the date so it is renamed, in this case, msgstore.1.db.crypt14. But before you do that, make sure the file that already has that name has BACKUP added to the name. You obviously can’t have two files with the same name.

Now go through the reinstallation process of WhatsApp, and select Restore.

How to recover deleted messages on iPhone

Since an iPhone doesn’t support SD cards or restoring from local storage, the only way is through an iCloud backup. In many ways, this greatly simplifies the whole process.

It is the same as restoring an Android phone from Google Drive. Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp on the iPhone. Set up and verify your number again. Select Restore, and it will detect your iCloud backup, where you can then get everything to reset.

Read more: How to find and change your WhatsApp phone number

FAQs

There is no official method from WhatsApp, as Google Drive-based WhatsApp backups are incompatible with iOS devices. Again though, many paid third-party apps claim to be able to do it. Take these claims with a pinch of salt, though.

You need to have a backup of some description. Because of end-to-end encryption, WhatsApp doesn’t keep copies of your messages on its servers. Plus, from a cost point of view, it’s cheaper to leverage Google Drive or iCloud as backup options. If you haven’t backed up to the cloud, you’ll need to have a backup in your internal storage or SD card. But this only applies to Android devices.

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:

  1. Scroll up in the chat list (swipe from top to bottom) until Archived Chats appears.
  2. Tap on it, then swipe from right to left on the chat you want to restore.
  3. Hit the Unarchive button that appears.

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To unarchive a chat on Android:

  1. Scroll to the bottom of the chat list and tap Archived chats (X).
  2. Press and hold on the chat you want to recover.
  3. 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:

  1. Open a file explorer app on your Android device.
  2. Navigate to /WhatsApp/Databases.
  3. Rename msgstore.db.crypt12 to msgstore-latest.db.crypt12.
  4. Rename msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12 to msgstore.db.crypt12.
  5. Uninstall WhatsApp.
  6. If Google Drive backups are enabled, open Google Drive, slide out the left menu, tap Backups, and delete the WhatsApp backup file.
  7. Reinstall WhatsApp.
  8. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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 WhatsApp chats

October 15, 2022 Likbez Technologies

Quick ways through backups or third party software.

How to restore chats on Android

From a Google Drive backup

You can fully restore deleted WhatsApp chats from Google Drive only if you first activate the backup function. To do this, in the application settings, you need to go along the path "Chats" → "Backup of chats", and then set the frequency of creating a backup: daily, weekly or monthly. nine0003

The backup will only be stored on the Google account that originally started the backup. To restore correspondence, you need to use the same phone number to which your account in the messenger is registered.

  1. Install or reinstall WhatsApp. Open the app and verify your phone number.
  2. Confirm the request to restore chats and media files from the Google Drive copy.
  3. When the process is complete, click Next. nine0016
  4. If there were media files in the backup, the application will continue to restore them in the background after the chats are returned.

From a local backup

Your device stores local backup files from the last week. To recover deleted messages, you need to transfer these entries to the folder with the WhatsApp chat database using a file manager.

  1. Start the file manager on your smartphone.
  2. The files you need are located in the local storage or on the SD card. To find them, follow the path Android → media → com.whatsapp → WhatsApp. This folder contains three directories: Backups, Databases, and Media. Migrate content from Backups to Databases. nine0016
  3. Reinstall and open WhatsApp. Verify your phone number.
  4. The application will offer to restore chats and media files from a local backup if it does not find a backup in Google Drive. Click Restore.

With a specialized application

There are a large number of WhatsApp data recovery tools. For example, Tenorshare UltData, Wondershare MobileTrans, iMyFone D-Back and similar programs. They should pull up deleted chats and other information both from the smartphone’s memory and from backups. nine0003

Almost all apps require a subscription to enable WhatsApp data recovery. At the same time, they do not have extraordinary algorithms for rolling back deleted files. For example, the mobile version of the UltData for Android application uses the same reserves as the messenger itself. Therefore, it is not worth placing high hopes on such programs. But you can use one of these PC utilities if other methods have not worked.

In most cases the sequence is very similar:

  1. Connect your smartphone to your computer with a cable and open the recovery program.
  2. On the main screen, select Restore WhatsApp Data or similar.
  3. Put the device into USB debugging mode. The application will display the appropriate instructions.
  4. After connecting your smartphone, proceed to the next step by clicking the Next or Start button. Most often, at this point, a window appears with a description of paid features and a call to purchase. Pay for a subscription or one-time cost. nine0016
  5. Next, the program may offer to make a copy of the data just in case.
  6. The application will search and after a few minutes will display a list of found chats. Check all the ones you need and click "Restore".
  7. Select a location to save data on the device.

How to restore chats on iOS

From an iCloud backup

You can use auto-save to iCloud to back up and restore your chat history. As in the case of Android, you must first activate the backup in the WhatsApp settings. nine0003

You can only start recovery with the same Apple ID that you use with iCloud. At the same time, the amount of free space in the cloud and in the memory of your device must be at least twice the size of the backup.

  1. Make sure you backed up your chats in iCloud. To do this, follow the path WhatsApp → "Settings" → "Chats" → "Backup". The date and time of the last save should be entered here.
  2. Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp. nine0016
  3. After verifying your phone number, follow the instructions on the screen to restore your chat history.

Using third party software

For iOS, there are versions of the same software as for Android. All of them require payment, but they do not give guarantees for the full restoration of correspondence. Rather, it's just a more convenient way to selectively search for backups in local storage or the cloud than the full processing of all chats saved in iCloud.

If you decide to use this method, the procedure is almost the same as with Android. nine0003

Read also 📱

  • 10 useful tips for every WhatsApp user
  • 7 useful WhatsApp features you might not know about
  • How to add a contact on WhatsApp

5 Best Ways to Restore Whatsapp Android

Communication via the Internet is very popular these days - you can easily send a message or make a video call to a person who is on the other side of the globe using a messenger Whatsapp. One of the advantages of WhatsApp is that there is no user fee, you can share files, chat and much more for free. Is it possible to restore whatsapp correspondence if you deleted it? Definitely yes. Don't worry about lost WhatsApp messages on Android. Check out this article and you will find out 5 effective ways to help you restore chat on Android. nine0003

  • Method 1. Restore WhatsApp correspondence using the interlocutor
  • Method 2. Restore WhatsApp chat from Google Drive
  • Method 3. Restore WhatsApp correspondence from a Google backup via the official website
  • Method 4: Restore WhatsApp from a local backup
  • Method 5. Recover deleted WhatsApp messages using Tenorshare UltData WhatsApp Recovery

Method 1. Restore WhatsApp correspondence using the interlocutor

Let's start with the simplest way, for which we do not need to use third-party programs. During the dialogue, you can accidentally delete a message - this happens quite often and there is a solution to this. Your correspondence is saved not only with you, but also with your interlocutor. Therefore, you can ask him to redirect those messages that you have deleted.

To restore WhatsApp correspondence, you must do the following:

Done. We restored messages very quickly and easily without using additional third-party programs. This method can be applied if your interlocutor has saved your correspondence. nine0003

Method 2. Restore WhatsApp chat from Google Drive

The service offered by Google Drive is very popular among gadget users. You can store data, create and edit documents for free. Also, with Google Drive, you can create backups. If you haven't already, enable this feature: Tap More options > Settings > Chats > Chat backup > Backup to Google Drive

To restore whatsapp android chat, follow these steps:

Method 3. Restore WhatsApp correspondence from a Google backup through the official website

Is it possible to restore correspondence in WhatsApp? Of course yes. In this method, we will look at how to do this from a Google backup through the official website. In order to recover deleted messages in WhatsApp Android through the official Google website, you need to remember the phone number and Google account that you specified when creating the backup. This method will help restore your contacts if no more than 30 days have passed since they were deleted. nine0003

Perform the following steps:

  • Step 1. Open a browser on your computer or phone and go to https://contacts.google.com/. Enter login and password.
  • Step 2. Open the left sidebar and click on "More" in the list of available options.
  • Step 3. In the expanded list, select the Revert Changes option.
  • Step 4. Next, specify the time period for which you need to restore device contacts. You can choose one of the suggested options or customize your own. Then click on the "Confirmation" button. nine0016
  • Step 5. Wait for the contacts to sync with your Android phone book, then the names of the number owners will appear in the Contacts application and therefore in the WhatsApp application.

Method 4: Restore WhatsApp from a local backup

Make sure you have a file manager. It will be needed in order to rename backups. Please note that if more than 7 days have passed since the deletion of the correspondence, then it will be impossible to restore the WhatsApp correspondence from the backup. nine0003

Method 5. Recover deleted WhatsApp messages using Tenorshare UltData WhatsApp Recovery

Consider the method - how to recover deleted WhatsApp Android conversations using a program such as Tenorshare UltData WhatsApp Recovery. It is impossible not to note the advantages of this utility: support for recovering almost all types of WhatsApp Android / iOS data, such as contacts, sms, call history, photos, videos, notes and much more. The program works on many models of Android smartphones, such as Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, LG, Sony, Google. Even if you deleted the correspondence a long time ago, the program will be able to detect and restore it in a matter of minutes. The utility is fully compatible with Android 12/11/10/9/ 8.1/ 8/7/6/5/4.4.

Follow this manual: