How to Recover WhatsApp Messages on Android

If you want to restore your WhatsApp messages on your Android device, you can follow these steps:

First, make sure you are signed into a Google Account on your Android device. If you haven’t done so already, you can set it up on the Google Accounts page.

Next, check if you have Google Play Services installed from the Google Play Store. This app is different from the Google Play Store. Google Play Services automatically backs up data from other apps on your device.

Ensure that your phone has enough storage space available on the SSD or local drive.

Make sure you have a stable internet connection.

Open WhatsApp on your device.

Tap on the three dots icon in the upper right corner of the screen to access the menu.

Select “Settings”.

Tap on “Chats”.

Scroll down and tap on “Chat backup”.

Under “Last Backup”, tap on the “Backup” button.

In the “Google Drive Settings” menu, you can adjust the frequency at which WhatsApp automatically saves your messages. You have the following options:

1. “Back up to Google Drive” – You can choose the intervals for WhatsApp to back up files. Options include Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or manual backups. Selecting “Never” will disable automatic backups.
2. “Google Account” – You can select which Google Account to save the files to. Keep in mind that if you change your Google Account, any backups on the old account will not be accessible. If you delete your old Google Account, backups from that account will be lost.
3. “Back up over” – You can choose whether to allow backups only on Wi-Fi or to use cellular data as well. Please note that enabling cellular data may result in additional data charges.
4. “Include Videos” – If enabled, videos sent through WhatsApp will also be saved to Google Drive. Remember that the free version of Google Drive only provides up to 15GB of storage, so make sure you have enough space available if you intend to save videos.

Once you have set everything up, your phone will automatically back up your files at regular intervals.

Getting Your Chat History Back

Bringing back your chat history on WhatsApp is easy. You can either restore it from Google Drive or from your phone’s storage. If you want to bring back your old messages on WhatsApp, just follow these steps:

Restoring from Google Drive

1. First, reinstall WhatsApp from the Google Play Store. Once it’s done, open the app.
2. Next, verify your phone number.
3. If you have a backup saved on Google Drive, you’ll see a prompt to restore your files. Just tap on “Restore”.
4. After the process finishes, tap on “Next”. Once the initialization is complete, WhatsApp will bring back your previous chats on your current device.

Restoring from Phone Storage

1. If you’re using your old phone and reinstalling WhatsApp, your messages that were saved on your phone will be automatically restored. This happens if you don’t have a backup on Google Drive or if your local backup is more recent than the one on Google Drive.
2. If you’re using a new device, you’ll need to transfer the files from your old phone. You can do this using Bluetooth, a computer, or an SD card.
3. Your local files are usually found in the /sdcard/WhatsApp folder. If you can’t find it, try looking for a /WhatsApp folder in your phone’s memory.

Restoring Older Files

Both Google Drive and internal memory backups will only restore the most recent backup file. If you want to restore chats from an older backup, you’ll need to rename the local backup file. Here’s how:

1. Get a file manager app or use a computer to edit the file.
2. Find the older backup file you want to restore from. Older files in WhatsApp are usually located in the /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases folder. If you can’t find it on your SD card, try looking for it in your phone’s internal memory.
3. Once you’ve found the file, rename it from msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD-1.db.crypt12 to msgstore.db.crypt12. This tricks the app into thinking it’s the most recent backup. If the backup files are from older versions of WhatsApp, the save protocols may be crypt9, crypt10, or crypt11. Don’t change them, as that will cause errors. For example, if the old backup is crypt9, save it as msgstore.db.crypt9, and so on.
4. If you have a Google Drive backup, delete it. You can download the file to another device for safekeeping, but if WhatsApp detects a cloud backup, it may choose to restore files from there instead.
5. Uninstall WhatsApp and then reinstall it.
6. When prompted, tap on Restore after reinstalling WhatsApp.

A Very Useful Feature

Backing up your conversations is important if you don’t want to lose any of them by accident. The ability to restore them locally or from the cloud is a very useful feature.

Do you have any other tips and tricks for restoring WhatsApp messages on an Android? Feel free to share them in the comments section below.