How to retrieve missing whatsapp messages
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 WhatsApp Messages
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- Android
- iPhone
- Device Missing?
Over the past few years, WhatsApp has established itself as the go-to social media platform, helping people connect with friends and family. One feature that endeared users is being able to send or receive an unlimited number of messages that don’t autodelete, as happens with some other social media platforms.
However, WhatsApp allows you to delete the messages you don’t want to keep. This option means there’s a possibility of deleting something accidentally. You might also lose your messages inadvertently, for example, when switching to a new device or even while resetting your device.
But does that mean you lose those messages forever? The answer is no. If you have accidentally deleted messages from your WhatsApp account, there is still a chance to recover them.
How to Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages
If you’re an avid WhatsApp user, there’s a good chance you’ve had the unfortunate experience of losing some of your messages.
It could be a funny text from a friend, contact information shared with you by a colleague, or even an exchange you could present as evidence in court.
Although WhatsApp doesn’t provide a direct built-in tool to help you retrieve deleted messages, you can still recover them in several ways. However, recovery methods generally depend on the type of device you’re using. For example, what works for Android devices may not work for iPhones.
First, let’s dive in and see how to recover your old WhatsApp messages on an Android device.
Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages using Android
Android devices often get praised for their affordability, large display, open-source programs (which makes them highly customizable), and an incredible app selection in the Google Play Store. It’s no wonder that most Android devices today are fully compatible with WhatsApp.
But as with other devices, you can lose your WhatsApp data in a matter of seconds. Losing your data can happen if you accidentally hit the “delete” button or switch to a new device.
Luckily, WhatsApp comes equipped with a cloud-based backup solution that can save the day if you lose your messages and want to retrieve them. But how exactly does it work?
Once you’ve enabled backup in the settings section of your WhatsApp account, the app starts to store copies of all your messages in WhatsApp’s servers at regular intervals. When a backup process begins, the app checks for message duplicates on its server. If it doesn’t find one, a copy gets created immediately. The app also saves any new photos or videos automatically.
Therefore, your backup should be the first place you look when you delete a message accidentally.
Note: To see if your messages are backing up, go to Settings>Chats>Chat Backup. Then, verify that the email listed is one that you can access.
Here’s how to recover deleted WhatsApp messages on an Android device when you’ve backed up your data:
- Delete WhatsApp from your device.
- Download and install a new copy of WhatsApp from Google Play.
- After installation, open WhatsApp and enter your details, including your name and number.
- During installation, a prompt will appear on your screen asking whether you’d like to
Restore your chats from your Google Drive. Tap on Restore to initiate the recovery process. - After recovering your data, follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.
All your old messages and media should now be available in your chats.
Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages on an iPhone
Like Android, the WhatsApp application for iPhones supports backup to the cloud at regular intervals. So long as your backup is enabled, WhatsApp will store copies of all your messages in the iCloud Drive. You can even see when the last backup was performed by opening the settings section of your account.
Recovering deleted messages from iCloud is straightforward:
- Uninstall WhatsApp from your device by choosing Delete App.
- Visit the App Store and download a new copy of WhatsApp.
- After downloading the app successfully, install it on your device.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to recover all the deleted messages.
Now, WhatsApp displays all your deleted messages in your chat.
It’s crucial to ensure enough space in your local storage before the recovery process starts. As a rule of thumb, the available local storage should be twice as much as the size of your backup. For example, if your backup is 1 GB, there should be at least 2 GB of free storage space on your device.
How to Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages without a Backup
Although data recovery from your WhatsApp backup is fast and convenient, you may have forgotten to enable it when setting up your account.
The good news is that you can still recover lost messages and media thanks to your device’s local backup or third-party software.
Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages without a Backup on Android Devices
Apart from cloud-based backup, all Android devices come with Android Local Backup—the default data backup service for many Android devices.
The application typically gets included in nearly every new Android smartphone with Google Mobile Services (a collection of Google apps that help support functionality across devices).
If you haven’t enabled cloud backup on your WhatsApp account, you can still recover the data stored in your device’s local backup. Here’s how to go about it:
- Open your device’s File Manager and tap on WhatsApp.
- Select the Database folder.
- Look for a file named msgstore.db.crypt12 and change its name to msgstore_BACKUP.db.crypt12 without quotes.
- After that, look for the file named msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12 and rename it to msgstore.db.crypt12 without quotes.
- Now, delete WhatsApp from your device, download a new copy from the Google Play store, and install it.
- Since you don’t have any files backed up in the cloud, you get prompted to restore your chats from the local phone backup.
Tap on Restore to initiate the recovery process.
Now, you can view most deleted messages in your chats.
The downside to this local backup method is that you can only recover the most recent messages. That’s because the amount of backup space available for each app is limited.
Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages without a Backup on iPhone
If you run WhatsApp on iOS and cloud backup isn’t enabled, you can only recover deleted messages via a third-party tool.
Although there are several options to choose from, MiniTool Mobile Recovery for iOS stands out because it doesn’t require you to uninstall WhatsApp.
Here’s how to use it:
- Download and install MiniTool Mobile Recovery for iOS on your PC.
- Connect your phone to your PC via a suitable USB cable.
- Launch MiniTool Mobile Recovery for iOS on your PC.
- Click on Scan to initiate a thorough search through all the social media and communication apps installed on your iPhone.
- At this point, select WhatsApp from the menu displayed on the left side of your screen. All messages, including the ones that got deleted, should appear.
- Select the messages you’d like to recover and then hit the Recover button in the lower right corner.
In closing, WhatsApp is a great way to communicate with your friends and family. Regardless, there can be moments when you accidentally delete messages or lose them while switching devices. If this happens to you, don’t panic. You now have multiple ways to recover the deleted messages and view or share them as you like, whether you had backups enabled in WhatsApp or not. Give the above options a try!
WhatsApp Message Recovery FAQs
Does WhatsApp keep your messages?
When you delete a message on WhatsApp, it disappears. However, it isn’t gone forever. Your messages get stored in the cloud (Google Drive or iCloud). They also get stored on your device.
For these reasons, you can recover your deleted WhatsApp messages even if you need a third-party service.
I reinstalled the app, but none of my messages appeared. What’s happening?
When you follow the instructions above to uninstall the app and reinstall it, you must log in to the correct account. Using a different email, phone, or phone number is the likely culprit of your missing messages.
As shown above, open the WhatsApp Settings and tap on Chats. Then tap on Chat Backup. You can verify the last time WhatsApp saved your chats and the email address associated with that backup.
How to restore correspondence in WhatsApp (Watsap)
Deleted a message or chat and don't know how to restore your WhatsApp conversation? It's pretty easy if you follow our instructions, but you should hurry up, you have only a week left, if you use Android, then it will be too late.
You can restore the correspondence only for the last week, if you deleted the chat correspondence later and did not make backup copies yourself, then alas it is lost forever.
- The first thing to do is uninstall whatsapp! Do not worry, all correspondence will be saved, moreover, there will be 7 more backup copies for the last days. We have already written how to uninstall WhatsApp, delete only the application in Settings phone in section Application Manager .
- After deletion, use the file manager and go to the folder WhatsApp/Databases . You can use the standard file manager "My Files". Depending on the version of Android, it may differ and is located in different places, for example, in modern Samsungs it is in the Samsung folder (picture on the right), and in old ones it’s just in applications (picture on the left)
- The folder is most likely located on the internal memory of the phone, although it may also be on the memory card
- There are only 8 files in the folder, 7 of which are backups of all chats created at 3 o'clock in the morning, the last seven days and one is the application's current database.
- Rename the current database in order to restore if necessary. Select the file msgstore.db.crypt8 , click on the button " menu ", in the window that opens, select " Rename "and write any file name, for example" msgstore.db .1 "
- Next, rename the backup in the same way, for the day you need in msgstore.db (just erase the date from the name file)
- Then re-install WhatsApp, through the Play Market
- After installation, at the first start, you will be asked to enter a phone number, enter the same one as it was, and in the next step Votsap will offer to restore the correspondence.0007
- That's it! After some time, you will see a congratulatory message, and by clicking "Next" and your remote correspondence.
To get started, just look at the archive, you may not have deleted the correspondence, but simply poisoned it gathering dust until better times.
To do this, in section Chats , drag the list of chats down, a search and archive will open, go into it, you can find the deleted one.
In order to restore messages from iCloud, you need to make sure that it is turned on and that a backup has been made.
- Go to Settings -> iCloud
- Click on your iCloud account, and check if it is enabled and if WhatsApp is allowed to use it
- Settings -> Chats and calls -> Copying
- Check if there is a backup, if there is a copy and the date of its creation suits you, then you can proceed to restore. If there is no copy, then it may be time to make one or set up automatic backup.
- After we have made sure that everything is included and a copy exists in iCloud, we will proceed directly to restoring the correspondence. To do this, reinstall WhatsApp and during installation click on " Restore from a copy of "
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask them in the comments, we will definitely answer them.
How to view and recover deleted calls in WhatsApp: instructions
How to view deleted calls in WhatsApp if the message history has been cleared, but there is a need for call details? There are not very many options, but we will try to find an effective way to solve the issue!
The question to which this review is devoted is how to recover deleted calls in WhatsApp? But we will start with a small introductory part and try to figure out where to find the audio call details in general.
Viewing the call history in the messenger is very easy - you don’t have to look for special features, set settings ... Just open the tab of the same name (on Android on the top panel, on iPhone - button from the bottom left).
Here you can see a kind of details of conversations - who called you and when, who you called. Separately highlighted tab with missed calls!
If you click on the information icon, or simply click on the line with the call, you can see what time the call was made and see its status (missed or accepted).
Very convenient! Information is stored here indefinitely, unless you manually delete some data. In addition, the history will be cleared when the data is transferred or the account is deleted. Is it possible to recover deleted calls on WhatsApp?
Unfortunately, there is no separate special option! There is no button, when you click on it, you can see all the previously deleted information about audio calls.
Many users believe that it is possible to get back the history by using the backup function. We are forced to disappoint you, you should not look for an answer to the question of how to restore WhatsApp calls through a backup.
Undoubtedly, this is a great option - you can easily return correspondence, contacts, media files if the messenger was deleted, if you deleted individual conversations, if you transferred the application to another device. But the possibility of returning the call history in the backup is not provided! Only correspondence (messages, attachments and much more) can be restored.
