Whatsapp is one of the best messaging and voice calling apps available for both Android and iOS devices. This popular app lets you stay in touch with your families, friends, and colleagues through messages, voice messages, and video calls. The great thing about Whatsapp is its ability to seamlessly let users delete messages and clear chat histories. However, what do you do if you want to recover deleted Whatsapp chats that you accidentally deleted? Luckily for us, there’s a way to recover deleted messages on Whatsapp. It’s pretty simple, and we’ll show you how to do it.
Moreover, this guide includes Whatsapp chat recovery for both Android and iPhone users.
Can We Recover Deleted Whatsapp Messages?
Before we explain how to recover WhatsApp chats, it’s important you understand that you cannot recover specific messages you have deleted inside the chat.
Once you’ve deleted a message within a chat, it’s impossible to view it again. Hence, it’s also important to realize that there are no third-party apps that actually that can help recover deleted Whatsapp chats.
Many app developers will advertise their products as “Whatsapp Recovery Software”, but they are without a doubt a scam. Moreover, these apps may contain malware and harmful viruses that could damage your phone’s software. So heed my warning and stay away from third-party apps and message recovery tools.
How to Recover Deleted Whatsapp Chats?
Although we cant recover specific messages within a chat, it is possible to obtain deleted chat histories in its entirety. There are a couple of ways you can do this, just follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Method #1: Recover Chats From Whatsapp’s Local Backup (Android Only)
This method will allow you to restore all recently deleted apps by recovering from a local backup on Android devices. First, you’ll need a file manager app. Most Android devices come pre-installed with one these, but if you need to download one, we recommend ‘My Files’.
You will also want to clear all existing data from your Whatsapp before you restore a backup. Open your systems Settings app and navigate to Applications>Application Manager>Whatsapp. Under the Application info click on storage, click on CLEAR DATA.
Now follow the steps below to recover your Whatsapp chat.
- Open My Files and select “Device Storage”.
- Then navigate your way through the following file path, “Device Storage>>WhatsApp>>Databases”
- Hold down the file named “msgstore.db.crypt12”
- Rename the file name to “backup-msgstore.db” and Click on “Rename”
- Now open Whatsapp, enter your phone number, and received OTP to login.
- Once your phone number is verified click on the RESTORE button.
- Now the messages that you had deleted will be restored.
Method #2: Recover Whatsapp Chats From Google Drive (Android Only)
Another way to recover your Whatsapp’s chat history on Android is by using Google Drive’s backup. For the latest Android operating system, Google Drive will automatically be selected as the backup’s locations. Please note, if you have not made a previous backup of your chat, the instructions below will be for future references only.
- First, you’ll want to back up your existing data before you attempt to recover any previous Whatsapp messages. You can do this by clicking on the Whatsapp Settings icon, then navigating through Chats>Chat Backup, and clicking on the green BACK UP button. Choose your Google Account when prompted to.
- Now, all there’s left to do is recover the backup you had saved previously. Delete and reinstall Whatsapp and follow the instructions to verify your phone number. Once Whatsapp has confirmed your number, if there is a backup, a page saying “Backup found” will appear. Click on the RESTORE button.
- Once you complete the remaining setup, your previous chats will appear on Whatsapp.
Method #3: Recover Whatsapp Messages From iCloud (iPhone Only)
For iPhone users you can recover your Whatsapp messaged from iCloud backups. Please note if you did not have iCloud backup enabled before you won’t be able to recover deleted Whatsapp chats. These steps are for future reference only.
- In order to be able to recover a backup from iCloud, you need to have Whatsapp backup enabled. You can do this by opening the Settings app, click on your Apple ID icon at the top, and selecting iCloud. Then ensure that Whatsapp is toggled on.
- Next, before you perform any restoration of previous backups, you’ll want to back up your Whatsapps current state. To do this open Whatsapp, tap on Setting in the bottom right corner, then click on Chats. Now press the Chat Backup tab, and select Back Up Now. This may take a moment depending on your chat history’s size.
- The last step is to delete and reinstall Whatsapp. You can do this by long-pressing the Whatsapp application icon on the home screen and selecting “Delete app”. After this, reinstall Whatsapp and follow the instructions to set up your phone. Once done setting up you’ll be asked if you want to restore your chat data from iCloud, select “Restore Chat History”. Whatsapp will take a moment to restore your Whatsapp to a previous backup and your old deleted chats will reappear once you complete the setup process.
Final Words:
Recovering your Whatsapp chat history is a very easy process. However, it requires that you have either a local, Google Drive, or iCloud backup enabled. In most cases, these settings are automatically enabled, and you will be able to recover that chat you accidentally deleted a week ago. On the other hand, if you didn’t have your Whatsapp backed up, you can still use these guides for future reference and recover deleted Whatsapp chats that you thought you had lost forever.