By Kajari Bhattacharya
Restoring WhatsApp history is relatively easy on the same OS platform, but gets complicated when switching from Android to iPhone or vice versa
WhatsApp is one of the most commonly used social messaging apps for voice, video calls and messages, thanks to its ease-of-use and cross-platform compatibility. When you want to switch phones, it’s easy to move chat history from an Android to another or from an iPhone to an iPhone. However, things get a little more complicated when changing from Android to iPhone, and vice versa.
Owned by Facebook, the messaging service had two billion worldwide users, as of February of this year. That's an increase from the 1.5 billion in 2018 and the one billion users in 2016. With so many using the platform, and its requirement that a phone number be linked to the service, the issue of keeping chat history while switching phones is likely a very common problem.
Related: WhatsApp: The Difference Between One & Two Check Marks Explained
The company is reportedly working on a feature that would allow WhatsApp users to log in on multiple devices, without logging out from the previous device. However, until the feature is available, users will need to transfer chat history using Google Drive or iCloud. To back up to Google Drive, the user needs to first open WhatsApp and then tap settings, followed by chats, chat backup, and then 'back up to Google Drive.' From here, the user will need to select a backup frequency, other than “never,” and select their Google account. The next step is to choose a network and tap Back Up which will complete the backing up of the WhatsApp chat history to Google Drive.
After backing up WhatsApp chat history to Google Drive, the user will need to install WhatsApp on the new Android phone and verify their number. When prompted, they need to tap Restore to restore chats and media from Google Drive.
After the restoration process is complete, tap next. If WhatsApp is installed without any prior backups from Google Drive, the app will automatically restore from the user’s local backup file.
Those who have turned off the Google Drive backup option will need to visit WhatsApp settings, followed by chats, chat backup, and then select the Back Up option. This will generate a chat backup that is stored on the phone in the database subfolder. The backed up file then needs to be transferred from the old device to the new one. Ensure that the WhatsApp folder is saved under the root folder of the internal storage of the new phone and once WhatsApp is downloaded on the new phone, the app will automatically search for and locate the manually added files.
When moving from one iPhone to another, the first thing to do is make sure the user is signed in with their Apple ID and then back up WhatsApp messages to iCloud. Similar to Android, iOS users can make a manual backup of their chats by heading to the same 'Back Up Now' option mentioned above.
It is possible to enable automatic, scheduled backups by tapping Auto Backup and choosing the backup frequency as this will also back up the user’s chats and media to their iCloud account. To take advantage of this, the device must be running iOS 9 or later, iCloud Drive must be turned on, and there also must be enough free space on both iCloud and the iPhone.
The next step is to restore chat history on the new iPhone from the iCloud backup. The user simply has to sign in to their Apple ID on the new iPhone and download and install WhatsApp. Once the app has been opened and phone number verified, a prompt will ask if the user wants to restore chat history. After the chat history is restored, and a display name chosen, chats will be visible once again.
Things get complicated when the user wants to move from Android to iPhone. In this case, the only way to transfer WhatsApp chats is by using a third-party app. When switching from an iPhone to Android, the WhatsApp chat history cannot be transferred in one go.
In fact, the user might find the best option is to send each and every chat as an email attachment to themselves from the iPhone, download WhatsApp on the new Android phone, and then import those chats to the new device.
More: GroupMe Vs. WhatsApp: Which Is The Best Messaging App?
Source: WhatsApp
WhatsApp has seen outstanding success since its release in 2009, and it continues to grow and boom.
This year (2022), WhatsApp is THE most used Messenger app, above even WeChat and Facebook Messenger (source: Statistica)
So when you get a new phone, how do you take all these precious conversations with you? You don't want to start afresh and lose all those memories, so let's see how to take your WhatsApp messages with you wherever you go, whatever device you have!
Before we get into how to transfer WhatsApp messages to a new phone, let's see how to backup iPhone WhatsApp messages to your computer.
This is essential if you want to save messages as PDF to send to somebody, or if you need to print out a WhatsApp conversation. You can do all of this and more with TouchCopy - let's see how:
Receive an email with a link so you can download the free trial on your computer:
Email Address:Note: We respect your privacy. We won't share your Email address with anyone else, or send you spam.
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WhatsApp have kindly provided all the tools you need to be able to do this.
First, create a backup of your WhatsApp messages, then restore the backup to your new device. Easy, right? Let's see how:
Great! You now have a backup of your WhatsApp conversations stored in your Google Drive. Next, you'll need to restore this backup on your new phone.
How to restore WhatsApp chats to new phone:
Transferring WhatsApp messages from iPhone to iPhone is very similar to the Android method above, except that you'll back up to iCloud rather than to Google Drive.
Step 1: First of all, make sure that you're signed into iCloud on your iPhone, and that WhatsApp has permissions to use iCloud:
Step 2: Now you're all set up to backup WhatsApp chats to iCloud:
Step 3: Great! So, your WhatsApp chats are safely backed up in your iCloud. Now is time to transfer WhatsApp messages to your new iPhone. Grab your new iPhone and let's get started:
If you're switching from Android to iPhone, you'll need to use the "Move to iOS" app, as you cannot do this using the WhatsApp app alone. To be able to use Move to iOS, your iPhone must be new (not set up yet) or has been factory reset.
To do this, you'll need:
Let's see how to transfer WhatsApp from Android to iPhone:
Let's finally take a look at how to transfer WhatsApp from iPhone to Android. Like method 4, this will require the Android device to be factory new, or reset to factory settings.
To do this, you'll need:
Let's see how to transfer WhatsApp from iPhone to Android:
If your new device is a Samsung, you may alternatively wish to use Samsung's own transfer app, Smart Switch, to migrate from iPhone to Samsung.
Publisher: Wide Angle Software
Read Next: How to Print out Text and WhatsApp Messages >
The structure of the article is as follows: first, we answer the question “how to restore WhatsApp correspondence” in the simplest way, then, if it doesn’t help, we delve into the details: check the settings for automatic message backup - this will help you understand how work wonders to recover deleted chats (instructions included). In the end, we will figure out how to get correspondence from broken phones or transfer to a new one.
Attention! Read to the end only if you want to know everything about data recovery in the messenger. Ever understand? Click on the link to go to the right section.
Even if you delete the message thread from your account, the data will be stored on the server for 7 days.
During this time, you will be able to recover lost data. They will be displayed again in the user account.
The backup does not take up space on the client device and it can be restored both from a smartphone and using the web version of the messenger.
Default backup function in any version of the program. Also, at night, all messages sent during the day are sent to the developer's server.
Other recovery methods:
After seven days, virtual chats are deleted. You can return it only if you previously backed up data to your cloud storage or made a system backup as a result of connecting your phone to a computer. Let's consider in more detail all the above methods of returning a chat.
According to TechWorm, Android users have recently discovered another non-standard way to restore individual messages in a conversation. It works only when Notification History is installed - that is, you cannot return chats deleted up to this point.
The method is great if you want to be safe from accidental loss of individual messages - for example, if the interlocutor decides to cover his tracks in two-way mode.
You can get deleted messages from the Android notification log. How the method works:
After installing such an application, you must allow it access to notifications. Then, in the history, after an incoming WhatsApp message is deleted by the sender, two notifications will be displayed - the original message and the information that "message was deleted."
Users can create backup copies of chats themselves. Copies are stored:
Please note that your account can only be synced to the OneDrive cloud. For iPhone, iPad, MacBook only with iCloud . Follow instructions to enable automatic copy function:
1Open the messenger;
2In the main menu, click on "Settings" ;
3 In the new window, select the field "Chats" - "Chat backups" ;
4Press the Backup key . Now all the chains of letters will be archived and saved to the device memory. To set up cloud copying, click on item "Copy to Google Drive" - log in and select the frequency of sending information to the cloud.
Fig.2 - enable backup
We recommend using cloud copy only when the device is connected to a Wi-Fi network, because the mobile operator's traffic may not be enough to synchronize data.
To do this, in the field "Usage" , select "Wi-Fi only" .
To synchronize more than just text data, check the checkbox for the type of content you want (videos, images, or documents).
Fig.3 - setting up a backup for cloud storage
Block the SIM card. Install Whatsapp on another device with a restored SIM card. When registering an account, indicate the phone number used in the deactivated profile.
Restore the profile using the copy on Google Drive. The saved backup contains all the necessary settings, text messages and multimedia files. The recovery procedure takes no more than a minute - after completing all the necessary steps, you will enter the profile that you used earlier.
To return an email thread containing messages written no more than 7 days ago , simply delete the messenger and reinstall it on the device.
All deleted content will be returned to the device memory and the missing dialogs will appear in the program window.
Immediately after the first launch of the program, Whatsapp scans the memory card for saved backups.
The message shown in the figure appears in the application window. Click on "Restore":
Fig.4 - returning recently deleted chats
to memory card ;
2Open folder WhatsApp/Databases ;
3The window that appears will display databases of saved conversations. Each of these files is encrypted and has the date the backup was added in its name. Thus, you can restore only the chats you need.
Fig.5 - folder with copies of chats
4 Find the file with a suitable date and rename it to db.crypt12 so that the application recognizes the document and restores the messages. The renamed file must remain on the memory card in the Databases folder;
5Next, remove the messenger from the gadget and install it again using the official app store or the developer's website https://www.
whatsapp.com//;
Fig.6 - reinstalling the application
6After restarting the program, confirm your number and log in. Next, a window will appear "Backup Found" - the program points to a previously renamed file. Click on "Restore" ;
Fig.7 - login to the account
7 The procedure for returning chains of letters may take several minutes. Do not close the program during the recovery process. Next, you will see a message that the process completed successfully and the number of recovered chats, attachments, or individual text messages.
Fig.8 - successful return of deleted chats
Important! Restoring the smartphone deletes the msgstore.db.crypt12 file and all other documents in the Databases folder. To save a new copy, enable the backup option in the phone settings (Figure 2).
Text messages and other data are stored on the SD card.
In cases where the storage medium fails for one reason or another, chats can only be restored using a copy saved on Google Drive. In the absence of such, recovery is really impossible.
If you want to restore chats in Whatsapp, but have already formatted the memory card or deleted the contents of the Databases folder, you can return messages only using a computer and third-party software.
The Hetman Partition Recovery utility has the highest recovery success rate.
With it, you can return almost all the letters that have ever been stored in your account.
Follow the instructions:
Fig. 9 - connecting a smartphone to a PC
Fig.10 - scanning the memory card
We advise you to copy the database to a computer, because often an error in copying data can occur on a smartphone. With Hetman Partition Recovery you can recover any files in the Android operating system.
After using the program, try to restore the backup copy of chats, as described in the previous section of the article - delete the messenger and install it again, log in, rename the file in the Databases folder , open the backup selection window in the application and click on the restored file.
Some messages or threads may be displayed in an unreadable format. This means that when trying to restore them, an error or encoding failure occurred.
Try all the steps again or use any other program to recover memory card files - CC Recovery, ES Recovery and others.
If a copy of the chats was stored in the internal memory of the device, try to find the files using Undeleter.
She scans the phone's memory and pulls out all the files she can get access to. For the program to work, you need to activate root access (superuser rights).
Install SuperSU on Android
Note . In some instructions they write that through Undeleter you can find the history of Whatsapp calls. Actually it is not. All the application can do is recover lost backup files deleted by the user.
An alternative utility for finding deleted chats is DiskDigger for Android. It scans both sd and internal memory. Best for recovering photos and videos, but Whatsapp user files may also be found (we haven't tested it, so we suggest you explore the method and share your experience).
If you change your smartphone, you can easily copy all chats and messages to a new gadget.
To do this , install the messenger on the second device and log in (on both smartphones you need to log in to Whatsapp under the same cell numbers).
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Then move the files from the Databases directory from the old gadget to the new one. Next, restore from an existing backup.
As a result, all your dialogs with other users will appear on the new gadget, the phone book, attachments and program settings data will be saved.
Fig.11 - transfer of message history to a new phone
Whatsapp's standard backup contains only text content, that is, simple messages and chains of related letters indicating the author and date of sending.
Attachments of media files and office documents are not saved, and often because of them there is a need to return chats.
Follow instructions:
If you have deleted the chat, but have not yet closed the program, this file will still be in the Media folder - minimize the messenger and find the picture, video or office document through the PC;
Fig. 12 - File search using PC
Fig.13 - Retrieving deleted media
The main ways to restore Whatsapp correspondence: EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
0031, a file with the extension LOG is saved in the PC memory.
If you were unable to restore messages from a backup, you can try to open this file and view the correspondence not in the program itself, but in a text editor.
Open the LOG document in standard Notepad or Notepad++.
Correspondence will be readable. If the encoding is incorrect, change it to UTF-8 or Unicode in the program settings.
The LOG file itself is saved to C/Program Files/Whatsapp/Backup directory.
Errors may occur while restoring emails or attachments.
If you were unable to return the chat or its content is not displayed correctly, take the following measures:
Otherwise, failures may occur during the transmission of packets over the network, which will lead to an error in displaying messages; Thematic videos:
« Previous Post Android phones such as Samsung galaxy, LG, HTC, Lenovo, Motorola, you can restore them. In this article, we will show you different ways to recover deleted WhatsApp data. We will explain how to get back your deleted WhatsApp messages or chat history along with the app, we will also recommend a more powerful Android data recovery that is easy to use and free to download.
Restoring WhatsApp Chat History from Latest Backups If you have backups of your WhatsApp chat history, you can restore them from the backup. If you have deleted any history or messages without backup, you can recover lost WhatsApp messages, attachments from automatic backups. Because WhatsApp automatically creates backups every day at 4am (your local time) and saves them to your phone's internal storage (assuming there is enough free space) or to your Android phone's external microSD card. What you need in order to recover whatsapp messages is uninstall whatsapp then reinstall the chat app again. During the installation process, you will be prompted to restore your message history. Just press
Restore and all messages from the last 7 days will be restored.
You can follow the instructions below to restore WhatsApp messages or chats from a backup:
You can find the WhatsApp backup files in the /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases folder and you will see that they are saved with the name "msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt7". Please note that the WhatsApp backup folder may be in your phone storage or external storage.
That is, you will lose all messages that you have sent or received since the backup was created. We know that new messages sent/received after a backup and deleted before the next backup cannot be restored. If you want to keep a copy of new WhatsApp messages, you can create a copy manually via WhatsApp > Menu Button > Options > Chat Options > Backup Conversations . Typically, a manually created backup file is saved as "msgstore.db.crypt7" in the /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases folder. Rename this chat backup file to something like "msgstore.db.crypt7.newest" or "msgstore.
db.crypt7.current". However, there is no easy way to merge your new, old and restored messages.
If you just delete some very important messages without a backup, how can you get them backed up? We recommend this android data recovery, which is easy to use and you can download it for free. You can recover whatsapp messages without backup with this android data restorer as follows.
Now download the Android mobile phone data recovery software below and follow the steps below to recover deleted WhatsApp messages without backups on Samsung or other Android phones. Note : This is a desktop program for Windows and Mac and you will not be able to download it to your phone or other computers. This file contains both the trial version and the full version of the program. You can order a license key online to receive it by email and then unlock the full version by entering the already purchased key.
Here is a step by step guide showing you how to enable USB debugging on Android phones, or if you are a Samsung Galaxy phone user, let's see how to enable USB debugging on Samsung Galaxy phones.
Launch Android Data Recovery on your computer.
Use your USB cable to connect your mobile phone and computer. The data recovery program can automatically detect your mobile phone and establish a connection between the data recovery application and your phone.
Android Data Recovery will now analyze your phone. It will check your Android version, driver support, etc. Before allowing the Android data recovery program to scan your phone, you can select the file you would like to recover. But this is not necessary, you can leave the default settings, then the data recovery assistant will scan all the files and data on the phone. It is recommended to select files of a specific type that needs to be recovered, in this case WhatsApp messages and documents, as this can narrow down the search and save you a lot of time. See screenshot below. You can also use this program to recover lost photos, videos, contacts, text messages, call history, music, etc.
Now click the Next button in the lower right corner of the screen at the top to allow the Android data recovery tool to scan your Samsung smartphone or other Android device. This tool can find lost files and data in internal storage or external storage. The results page will be grouped into different categories and you can open any of them to view and find data, and restore any item or data to your computer and mobile phone.
You can choose to recover certain WhatsApp data, chat messages, photos, videos, attachments. You can select and export any of them or all at once to your computer. The data recovery program is compatible with almost all Samsung smartphones and other Android phones like HTC, Motorola, Sony, Lenovo, Huawei and ZTE, LG.
