WhatsApp is the primary source of communication for many, and therefore losing all the chats accidentally is out of the question. There are a few ways this could happen – when you intentionally delete a chat or when you switch to a new phone and forget to restore from the backup or from your old smartphone. Either way, here's how to recover deleted WhatsApp chats with ease.
Prerequisites for WhatsApp chat recovery
Before we begin, here are the prerequisites for Chat Recovery to successfully restore your WhatsApp messages:
- Have the same Phone Number: You must verify the exact phone number that was used to create the original backup.
- Make sure you're using same account: You must be logged into the exact same Google Account or Apple ID where the cloud backup was saved.
- A stable Wi-Fi connection: Connect to a reliable Wi-Fi network to prevent running out of mobile data or corrupted downloads. WhatsApp backups tend to be at an upwards of 4 GB.
How to Recover a Deleted WhatsApp Chat on Android
If you had Backup & restore enabled on your old Android device, you can restore the chats by using the Restore feature while setting up WhatsApp. If you never used the Backup & restore feature and still have your old phone around, it's a good idea to pop your SIM back into it and create a backup.
Go through the setup process and all your chats stored in your phone's storage should show up. Use the Backup & restore option to back them up and then follow this process:
- On your phone, head over to Settings > Apps.
- Now, tap on See all apps and choose WhatsApp.
- Then select Storage & cache and hit Clear storage.
- Once done, launch WhatsApp and tap on Agree and continue, enter your phone number and hit Next.
- Tap on Continue for Contacts and media permission, and then hit Allow.
- If you have all your chats backed up, WhatsApp should automatically take you to the Restore screen.
- Here, tap on Restore and continue with the setup process, as WhatsApp restores all the messages for you in the background
- By the end of it, all your WhatsApp chats including Photos and Videos (if you had chosen to back them up) will also be restored.
How to Recover Deleted WhatsApp Chat using Local Backup
IF you do not have a Google Drive backup, you can rely on the automatic local backups that Android creates daily and stores in your phone's memory. Here is how to restore chats from these files:
- Open the Files app on your phone, tap on Internal storage and navigate to the WhatsApp database folder.
- The folder can be found in Android > media > com.whatsapp > WhatsApp > Databases.
- Inside this folder, you will see files named with specific dates, ending with "..db.crypt14". Find the corresponding date before you lost your chat and rename it to "msgstore.db.crypt14".
- Uninstall WhatsApp from your Android phone and reinstall it from the Play Store.
- Open the app and verify your phone number. When it searches for backups, it should find the local file you just renamed.
- Tap Restore to pull your chats and media from that local save, and the deleted message should now be recovered.
How to Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages on iPhone
Recovering deleted WhatsApp chat on an iPhone is just as easy as doing it on Android with iCloud backup. Here's how to do it:
- If you've already set up WhatsApp on iPhone, long-press on the app icon and tap on Remove app. Then choose Delete app.
- Reinstall WhatsApp from the App Store and tap on Open
- Enter your phone number and tap Next.
- Wait for the Restore from iCloud screen to load and tap on Next.
- Go through the rest of the setup process while WhatsApp restores your chats and media in the background.
- Once done, all your deleted chats will be restored.
You can use these methods even if you've lost chats for particular contacts, as long as WhatsApp hasn't backed up after you lost them. If it hasn't, make sure to follow the instructions quickly for a better chance at getting those chats back. That said, recovering chats is just one way to see deleted messages on WhatsApp, as you can also use Notification history function on Android to check them.
FAQs
1. Can I recover chats without a backup?
Unfortunately, no. WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, and your message history isn't stored on its servers. Therefore, if you don't have a local or cloud backup saved, the deleted chat is permanently gone. The only minor exception is using Android's Notification History to read recently received text.
2. How far back can I recover messages?
This depends on your backup method. If you're using Google Drive or iCloud, you can only recover messages up to the exact date and time of your last successful cloud sync. If your using the local backup method, your phone saves the last seven days of chat history.
3. Will uninstalling WhatsApp delete my messages?
No, simply uninstalling the app from your phone does not wipe your backups. Your backups remain safe in the cloud. The same goes for chat backups stored in the internal storage. When you reinstall the app, you can easily restore your history.
