How to Recover Deleted Messages in WhatsApp

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Last Updated: March 29, 2019 Tested

If you accidentally deleted or somehow lost your WhatsApp chat history, you can restore it. WhatsApp automatically stores your chats from the last seven days, creating a backup every night at 2am and saving that to your phone itself. It's also possible to set up your phone to back your chats up to the cloud. If you just need to restore deleted chats from your most recent backup and you already had your information backed up to the cloud, uninstalling and reinstalling the app is the easiest way. However, since your device stores seven day's worth of nightly backups, it's also possible to go back to a specific day during the last week, using those backup files.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Restoring Your Last Backup

1
Check your lost data was backed up. Do not create a new backup now, or it will override the most recent version of your backup file and you'll lose the deleted messages in the backup, too.
- Open WhatsApp and tap Settings .
- Tap Chats and Chat backup .
- Look at the Last backup date and time. If the given backup would include the messages you want to recover, keep going with this method. If not, try the other methods.
You need to remove the entire app first before you can restore deleted messages.

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Then enter your mobile phone number.
6
Restore your messages. The next screen will notify you that a message backup is found for your phone. Click on “Restore” and wait for the recovery process to finish.
- By default, WhatsApp automatically creates a backup of all your message threads every day at 2 o’clock in the morning. The latest backup saved there will be the one that loads up.
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Restoring a Less Recent Backup on Android

By default, your phone has local backup files from the past seven days while Google Drive only has the most recent.
If your data isn't stored on your SD card, it might be on your phone/internal storage instead.
6
Rename the backup file you want to restore. Change the name from msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12 to msgstore.db.crypt12.
- Earlier backups might also be on an earlier protocol such as crypt9 or crypt10.
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Restoring a Less Recent Backup on iOS

Download File Manager from the App Store.
If your data isn't stored on your SD card, it might be on your phone/internal storage instead.
7
Rename the backup file you want to restore. Change the name from msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12 to msgstore.db.crypt12.
- Earlier backups might also be on an earlier protocol such as crypt9 or crypt10.
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Question

Can I restore messages back as far as 13 months ago? I use an iPhone.

Community Answer

No, unfortunately, you can't if you didn't save it. If you did save it, it would already appear there when you open the chat.

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Question

Can I get the old WhatsApp chat from the phone now I am using another SIM card?

Community Answer

You cannot, unless you change the phone number on the SIM.

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Question

What can I do if my phone number has changed since I last used the WhatsApp?

Community Answer

Nothing, sorry. Messages are unable to get back. All you can do I guess is talk to the people again and it will be as though the messages were always there.

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Tips

The ability to completely restore deleted chat history is only a function of the Blackberry 10.

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It might take some time for your first backup to complete. To prevent your phone from shutting down in the middle of backing up, keep your phone connected to a power source.

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Do not create a manual backup after accidentally deleting a message. Doing so will replace the old backup file (containing the thread you want to restore) with a new one.

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How to Recover Deleted Messages in WhatsApp

Steps

Restoring Your Last Backup

Restoring a Less Recent Backup on Android

Restoring a Less Recent Backup on iOS

Community Q&A

Tips

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