WhatsApp chats got deleted? Here is how to recover

WhatsApp chats or messages got deleted by you? You can easily restore them by taking a backup.

WhatsApp chats should be backed up in order to avoid losing the chat history. Know how. (Reuters)

People use WhatsApp to communicate not only with friends and families but also for official work. The platform is used for sharing various important information and details. But what happens if your WhatsApp chats are deleted? Will they be gone forever or can you recover them? There are instances when you delete a message by mistake. However, there is nothing to worry or panic about as you can recover your WhatsApp chats on both Android and iOS devices. In order to recover your chats it is very important for you to know about WhatsApp chat backups.

You need to enable the Chat Backup option which you can find in WhatsApp Settings in order to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages. Under the Auto Backup option you will get options to choose backing up your chats daily, weekly or monthly. Also, it is important to remember that only the latest backup will be retained by WhatsApp. If you choose to backup your chats daily then there are more chances that you will not lose your deleted chats forever.

How to restore your WhatsApp Chat history

on iPhone:

If you are an iPhone user then you need to verify that an iCloud backup exists in WhatsApp > Settings > Chats > Chat Backup. If you can see when the last backup was performed, delete and reinstall WhatsApp. After verifying your phone number, follow the prompts to restore your chat history.

It can be noted that you must be signed in with the Apple ID you use to access iCloud and iCloud Drive must be turned on. There must be enough free space on both your iCloud and iPhone. You need to have at least 2.05 times the space available in your iCloud account and on your phone than the actual size of your backup.

The phone number used for backing up and restoring must be the same as you cannot restore the chat history from another WhatsApp account.

On Android:

If you backup your chats daily then you can simply uninstall and then reinstall WhatsApp and select restore. By doing so everything from the latest backup will be restored. However, you need to use the same phone number and Google Account used to create the backup. After the restoration process is complete, tap NEXT. Your chats will be displayed once initialization is complete.

If you install WhatsApp without any prior backups from Google Drive, WhatsApp will automatically restore from your local backup file.

Restore from a local backup

If you want to use a local backup, you'll need to transfer the files to the phone using a computer, file explorer or SD Card.

To restore your backup download a file manager app. In the file manager app, navigate to your local storage or sdcard > WhatsApp > Databases. If your data isn't stored on an SD card, you might see "internal storage" or "main storage" instead. Copy the most recent backup file to the local storage's Databases folder of your new device.

Install and open WhatsApp, then verify your number. Tap RESTORE when prompted to restore your chats and media from the local backup.

It can be noted that your phone will store up to the last seven days worth of local backup files. Local backups will be automatically created every day at 2:00 AM and saved as a file in your phone. If your data isn't stored in the /sdcard/WhatsApp/ folder, you might see "internal storage" or "main storage" folders.

Restore a less recent local backup

If you want to restore a local backup that isn't the most recent one, you will need to do the following:

Download a file manager app. In the file manager app, navigate to your local storage or sdcard > WhatsApp > Databases. If your data isn't stored on the SD card, you might see "internal storage" or "main storage" instead.

Rename the backup file you want to restore from msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12 to msgstore.db.crypt12. It's possible that an earlier backup might be on an earlier protocol, such as crypt9 or crypt10. Don't change the number of the crypt extension.

Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp. Tap RESTORE when prompted.