How to restore deleted WhatsApp messages on Android
As anticipated at the beginning of the post, if you need restore deleted WhatsApp messages by mistake or following the formatting of the mobile phone or, again, if you need to transfer your conversations to a new smartphone, you can use the backup of the famous messaging app.
In the version for Android of WhatsApp, the backup of conversations, which I told you about in detail in my guide on the subject, takes place both in local that on cloud, its Google Drive to be precise. Having made this necessary clarification, what are the main differences between online and local backup? Not to go too far, we can say that online backups are more comfortable, easier to use and more secure than offline ones, but they are also less flexible.
In fact, when you restore WhatsApp using offline backups, you can freely choose which files to feed to the application and, therefore, on which date to report the status of the chats (the backups are stored on the phone or external memory several days). When restoring chats with Google Drive backups, however, the most recent backup is automatically used. All clear? Well, then let's take action.
Restore from Google Drive
To restore WhatsApp messages on Android from a backup on Google Drive, as mentioned before, just install or reinstall the application on a smartphone associated with it telephone number and at the same Google account of the mobile phone used to generate the backup of conversations. Here, in detail, are all the steps to be taken.
- Make sure sync with Google Drive is turned on and create a new chat backup. To do this, open WhatsApp, press the button with i three dots vertically che si trova in alto a destra e seleciona la voce Settings from the menu that appears. Then touch the item Chat, select the dicitura Backup of chats e pulsing sul pulsating Back up. The backup will be saved both locally and on Google Drive (if the option Backup to Google Drive is not set to Mai). If you want to include movies in the backup, check the box next to the item Include videos placed at the bottom (the operation will increase the weight of the backups and slow down the upload).
- Install (or reinstall) WhatsApp on a smartphone associated with the same phone number and Google account as the one you used to create the chat backup. To add a Google account to Android, just go to the menu Settings> Accounts I will select the voice Add account from the screen that opens.
- Start WhatsApp, follow the normally initial configuration procedure application and, after the verify the phone number, accept the restoration of the chats from the backup (which the service will detect automatically) by pressing the button Restore.
Restore from local backup
If, on the other hand, you want to restore WhatsApp chats from a local backup, you need to copy the file msgstore.db.crypt12 from the original smartphone to the target smartphone and install (or reinstall) the application.
If you intend to restore the status of the chats to an earlier date than the last backup, you must take an older backup file (eg. msgstore – 2018–12–16.1.db.crypt12), rename it to msgstore.db.crypt12 and copy it to the target smartphone before installing or reinstalling WhatsApp. Note that it is possible that a previous backup is on a different protocol, such as crypt9 o scrypt10. In this case, do not change the extension number. Here, in more detail, are all the steps to be performed.
- Install (if you haven't already done so) a File Manager on your device, like the very good Google files, which will allow you to easily navigate through the folders of your Android smartphone.
- Start the file manager in use on your smartphone, access the folder with WhatsApp backup e matter the aforementioned file. If you have chosen to use Google files do this: select the item Internal Memory or that relating toSD card (depending on where you have chosen to store the backups) located at the bottom, select the item WhatsApp in the new screen that appears, navigate to the folder Databases and browse for the backup file you want to restore.
- If you want to restore WhatsApp to the latest state, keep your finger pressed on the file msgstore.db.crypt12, presses the button for the sharing located at the top and choose whether to auto-send the file to you via email, selecting the name of your e-mail client, or whether to archive the file on a service of Cloud Storage (Eg. dropbox), by selecting the appropriate icon from the sharing menu.
- If you want to restore WhatsApp to an older date, keep your finger pressed on the file msgstore.db.crypt12, fai tap sul pulsating with i three dots vertically located at the top right, presses on the item Rhinomine from the menu that opens and rename it another way. Then keep your finger pressed on the file you intend to use to restore WhatsApp (eg. msgstore – 2018–12–16.1.db.crypt12 for a backup created on 16/12/2018), tap the button with i three dots vertically located at the top right, presses on the item Rhinomine from the menu that opens and rename it to msgstore.db.crypt12. Finally, auto-sent the file you just renamed away email or save it on a service of Cloud Storage making your choice by tapping the button for the sharing located at the top.
- Now all you have to do is download the file msgstore.db.crypt12 in the folder WhatsApp> Databases of the smartphone on which you intend to restore WhatsApp conversations (you may have to manually create both folders), install a new copy of the application and accept the restore of the backup after the number verification procedure.
Please note: if your Google account supports WhatsApp backups but you still want to restore the chats using a backup created locally, before installing the application on your new smartphone, remove the association between Google Drive and WhatsApp (in this way you will force the app to use offline backups). To do this, press the icon of Settings (the one with the symbol ofgear) present in drawer (the screen where the icons of all the apps are grouped), presses on the item Google, select the voice Linked apps from the screen that opens and first tap on the icon WhatsApp and then on the button Disconnect.
How to restore deleted WhatsApp messages on iPhone
Let's now pass to the side iPhone. The "iPhone by" supports the backup of WhatsApp chats only online, to be precise on iCloud, as I explained to you in detail in my tutorial focused specifically on the issue. This means that you can only restore WhatsApp messages by installing (or reinstalling) the application on a phone associated with it telephone number and at the same Apple ID of the one that generated the backup. Here, in detail, are all the steps to be taken.
- Make sure you have a recent WhatsApp backup on iCloud, or create it. To do this, open WhatsApp, select the voice Settings (bottom right) and go to the section Chat> Chat backup. At this point, press the button Back up now And that's it. If you want to include the video (operation that will increase the weight of the backups and slow down the upload), move up ON the lever next to the wording Include videos located at the bottom.
- Install or reinstall WhatsApp on an iPhone associated with the same phone number and the same Apple ID as the "iPhone by" used to generate the chat backup. You can add a new Apple ID to the iPhone by pressing the icon of Settings (the one with the symbol ofgear) in Home Screen and tapping on the item for log in placed at the top. Then, make sure, by pressing on you don't know at the top of the settings screen and then pressing on the item iCloud, that the switch next to the item WhatsApp sia impostat his ON, otherwise you do it yourself.
- Face the initial configuration procedure of WhatsApp, run the verify the phone number and accept the backup restore (which the service will detect automatically) by pressing the button Ripristina chat timeline.
How to restore archived WhatsApp messages
You would like to understand how to restore archived WhatsApp messages, after having put into practice the instructions contained in my tutorial on the subject, but do not know how to do it? Don't worry, it's child's play. If this interests you, below you will find explained how to proceed both in the case of Android that of iOS.
- If you are using WhatsApp on Android, start the famous messaging app on your smartphone, press the button with i three dots vertically located at the top right and select, from the menu that opens, the item Settings. In the new screen that is shown to you at this point, tap on the item Chat, by your complaint Chat history e scegli l'opzione Extract all chats from the archive. Then confirm what your intentions are by pressing the button OK in response to the on-screen warning and that's it.
- If you are using WhatsApp on iPhone you must, first of all, start the famous messaging app on your device, go to the section Chat of the latter by pressing on the appropriate item at the bottom of the screen, make a slight swipe from top to bottom and select the item Archived chats top appearance. Identify, therefore, the conversation you want to restore from the storage state, swipe from right to left on the latter and press the button Extract appeared laterally.
After doing all the above steps, you will find the restored chats again in the section Chat of WhatsApp. It was easy, wasn't it?
