• How to Recover Chat History and Media Files on WhatsApp. Backup and restore WhatsApp chats to Google Drive

    Active WhatsApp users will probably be interested in the ability to backup data. This function will ensure the safety of all correspondence and chats, and will also protect the person from the impossibility of restoring them if the phone is lost. It will also be useful when transferring information from an old device to a new one.

    Saving WhatsApp

    You can make a WhatsApp backup both internally on your smartphone (the methods differ for iOS and Android) and using special applications. Let's look at each option in a little more detail.

    Option 1: Android

    In the WhatsApp settings menu, in the “Chats” section, open “Backup…”. There, click on the “Backup” item. The current status of all chats and correspondence will be recorded on your Google Drive account. You can restore it when you reinstall the application or launch it on a new device.

    Attention: at the bottom of the copy section there is an “Add video” item. If you activate it, a backup will also be made for video recordings.


    Option 2: iPhone

    WhatsApp backup on iPhone is saved to iCloud. This function is activated in the messenger settings. In the menu, find the “Chats” item, then tap on “Copy”. The action is confirmed by clicking the “Create a copy” button.

    Option 3: Special Applications

    There are a large number of programs for iOS and Android that can be used to backup data. They save the state of an application at a specific point in time by storing it in the device's memory. And if such a need arises, the user can restore his data at any time. iPhone owners are recommended to use WhatsApp Recovery, for Android - Titanium Backup.

    Important: if you use such an application, it will overwrite WhatsApp files. This means that new correspondence that was later than the moment of saving will be deleted.

    Whatsapp message backup what is it?

    Copying messages is creating additional copies of chats on a smartphone or in a platform account.

    How to make a backup copy of WhatsApp:

    Saving the data will allow you to restore chats if you replace your phone or reinstall the program. WhatsApp offers to set the frequency of saving: automatically daily, weekly, monthly, manually when you press the “Back Up” button or never copy, as well as which connection to use - Wi-Fi or mobile Internet. It is important to remember that the copy is not end-to-end encrypted.

    To create a reserve in WhatsApp you need:

    1. Go to the messenger menu;
    2. Select “Settings”;
    3. Go to the “Chats” item;
    4. Find and click “Chat backup”;
    5. In the window that opens, select “Backup”.

    The application will begin copying your message history, displaying a loading bar on the screen. Upon completion of saving, the message “Last backup” will appear, the time of loading locally and into the virtual, and the amount of downloaded data.

    A separate issue is video reservation. To do this, in the settings menu you need to select the green checkbox “Download video”.

    Android

    Copies of messages on Android are saved on your smartphone or in the Google Drive cloud. Saving to the cloud requires creating and/or connecting a Google account to WhatsApp. Creating a reserve on a gadget requires a certain amount of free internal memory. Setting the frequency of saving is done in the “Backup chats” item. Under the “Back Up” button there is a sub-item “Google Drive Settings”, where you can configure the frequency of automatic creation of backup information, select an account and network.

    Iphone

    iPhone offers to save information on the gadget or in iCloud Drive. To place data in the cloud, you need to connect virtual storage to WhatsApp. To do this, select iCloud in the device settings and enable iCloud Drive inside it. Open the messenger and click “Copy” in the chat options.

    Where is the whatsapp backup stored (where can I find it)?

    Information is saved in WhatsApp to a device or virtual storage. Local copies are created every day at two in the morning. The virtual cloud is updated at the frequency specified by the user.

    On your phone (local storage)

    The phone saves a local copy of chats in the WhatsApp root folder, Databases subfolder. If there is no SD card in your smartphone, the root folder is located at: Device menu - Explorer - Internal memory - WhatsApp. If a memory card is connected to the gadget, then you should look for information in the device menu - Explorer - sdcard - WhatsApp.

    On the cloud (virtual storage)

    Virtual storage is created on a Google or iCloud account, depending on the gadget platform. The reserve is located in the cloud application management settings. You need to go to Google Drive (for Android) or iCloud Drive (for iPhone) – Menu – Settings – Manage applications – WhatsApp.

    Instructions on how to restore WhatsApp from a backup?

    When reinstalling the messenger or deleting information, you can restore the correspondence history from the storage. This is possible by connecting to the WhatsApp account and number that were used previously. Linking the application to a new address will not allow you to restore correspondence from the old account.

    Android

    To restore WhatsApp, you need to make sure which address the program is connected to. Next, enter the phone number that was used previously. After confirming the number, the messenger will offer to restore chats from the cloud. Confirming the action will return the saved data.

    Iphone

    When reinstalling or resetting the messenger, the user can restore correspondence via iCloud Drive. After checking and confirming the number, the program will display prompts on the screen, following which you can restore your chat history.

    How to set up automatic reservation?

    Automatic reservations are made through the application settings in the chats section. For Android, select “Backup chats” – “Google Drive Settings” – “Backup to Google Drive”. The iPhone sets the creation of a reserve in the “Copy” - “Automatic” items.

    WhatsApp backup on Google Drive

    Backed up WhatsApp data for Android is saved in Google Drive virtual storage. Information is located at Google Drive – Menu – Settings – Application management – ​​WhatsApp.

    How to backup to Google Drive?

    The copy is created manually by the user or automatically at specified intervals. Configuring save replays is done through the chat settings.

    How to view (open) a backup copy on Google Drive?

    It is not possible to view reserved correspondence manually. Google Drive does not allow the user to perform any actions other than deleting data.

    How to download from Google Drive?

    Although it is possible to copy messages from WhatsApp to Google Drive, you cannot download them yourself. Google Drive does not allow you to perform such actions with stored information. This is only possible using the messenger when it is reinstalled or restored.

    How to delete copy files from disk?

    To delete reserved copies of chats from Google Drive, you need to go to the site settings and select “Manage applications”. Find WhatsApp in the list that appears. Opposite the messenger there is an “Actions” button. Clicking on it will show a drop-down menu with the only option “Delete application data.” Using this action will result in all saved correspondence being deleted.

    How to disable (remove) backup?

    Archiving of correspondence is disabled in the application. In order for the messenger to stop saving, the frequency of transfers to the account changes to “Never”. To do this you need:

    1. Go to the program menu;
    2. Select “Settings”;
    3. Go to “Chats”;
    4. Click “Chat backup”;

    In the window that opens, in the Settings sub-item, located under the “Backup” button, check “Never”.

    How to transfer whatsapp backup from android to iphone?

    Transferring reserved messages from one device to another occurs in different ways. First of all, you should choose which chats will be sent to the new gadget. If all data is saved, the chats must be archived and the archive sent by email or transferred to another smartphone using Bluetooth. Archiving is carried out in the settings menu. You need to open “Chat History” and click “Archive all chats”.

    If you only need one chat out of all, then the history has the ability to export it to email. To do this, click “Export chat” and mark the one that will be transferred in the proposed list. The next step is to choose whether to include media files in the exported chat (the transfer is carried out while saving pictures and videos) or save the chat without them. Adding media increases the file size. Next, you need to determine how to transfer messages to another smartphone. The messenger offers to export using mail or Bluetooth.

    Backup problems:

    Errors sometimes occur when creating a backup. This may be due to either a lack of mobile Internet traffic or an interruption in the Wi-Fi signal, or a lack of phone memory, or virtual storage is not connected to the messenger.

    Whatsapp search for backups stuck

    If, when restoring your correspondence history, you cannot find the saved information due to the messenger search engine freezing, then restarting your smartphone, connecting to Wi-Fi, or reinstalling the application may help.

    Failed to create whatsapp backup

    When archiving and transferring messages to an account, the error “Could not create a backup copy” occasionally appears. This happens when the mobile Internet does not have enough traffic. In this case, you should connect to a Wi-Fi network and download data using it. Or this error is issued when there is insufficient device memory. Clearing your smartphone cache or deleting unnecessary files to free up space helps.

    Why you need a WhatsApp backup is understood by many who have more than once encountered the problem of accidentally deleting the necessary messages. Someone made an appointment for you or left a declaration of love, or maybe you resolved some business issues using the messenger. It is important to store such information, which is why the creators of the application worked hard to save dialogues automatically. However, a mobile phone cannot remember all the dialogues in a row. The fact is that the backup of copies is done in such a way that you can choose different storage locations for them:

    • "cloud";
    • phone memory;
    • removable flash memory card.

    And if the “cloud” or micro-SD card is able to store a lot of information, then the memory of smartphones is very limited, and the more applications you use, the less it will be. That's why WhatsApp backup is designed in such a way that messages are stored only for the last week. As soon as a new day of communication passes, the information from eight days ago is erased. But if you just deleted something for the current week, then it can still be restored.

    How to restore backed up chats

    It's quite simple: you just need to either download the information from the cloud, or find the appropriate file on your phone, wherever it is stored.

    You can recognize this file by its name, but you need to look for it in the folder "Whatsapp". The backup file itself has a name like msgstore.db.crypt. If it contains a date in the name, it looks something like this: msgstore-2017-01-01.1.db.crypt. What to do when you find a file for the date you need?

    1. Rename the file, changing the date in it to the current one, writing it in the same format.
    2. Delete the messenger and install it again.
    3. Copy backup copies to databases.
    4. Folder Contents media needs to be written to the appropriate folder on the mobile device located in the folder "Whatsapp".
    5. Launch the newly downloaded application.
    6. Register again with the same credentials.
    7. Confirm the request to use existing data.

    This is how the WhatsApp backup copy will become available to you, and you will receive the information that previously disappeared for some reason. The work will be slow, but rewarding in terms of recovering lost data.

    Subscribe:

    Surely, many of you use the popular and convenient Whatsapp messenger, which allows you to communicate for free with all subscribers in your address book, provided that they also have this application installed. But what to do if your chat history is deleted or you accidentally delete an important message? A restore may also be required after resetting your phone to factory settings. The main thing is not to despair, there is a way out, and more about it in today’s article.

    How to recover messages on Whatsapp

    For clarity, let’s look at the recovery process in today’s popular mobile operating systems such as iOS, Android and Windows phone.

    Recovery on Android and Windows phone platforms

    It is important to remember that the messenger automatically creates backup copies of your entire correspondence history and places it on your phone’s built-in memory card. Therefore, to get back all the data from this copy, you just need to delete and reinstall the application. During the installation process you will be prompted to restore all chats. If this does not happen, then the memory card may be damaged or you are using different phone numbers. You also need to know that restoration is only possible from a backup no older than 7 days.

    Downloading older message histories is also possible, provided that Whatsapp backup is configured and all messages are saved every 7 days. Please also be aware that if you restore the old version, all non-redundant messages will be deleted.

    In order to download the required version of the saved correspondence, delete the messenger, then go, using any file manager, to the directory: your memory card/Whatsapp/database (there will be several of them, select the required date). The copy file is named msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt, where capital letters are the backup date. The required file must be renamed msgstore.db.crypt, removing the date from its name. Then install the application again, and you will be prompted to restore all information.

    Recover Whatsapp correspondence in iOS

    Information about correspondence is not stored on Whatsapp servers, so it can only be restored from a backup saved in iCloud. You can always do this operation manually to protect yourself from losing important messages. To do this, in the application settings, select the item - “Chat Settings” -> “Copy” - and create a copy. There is also the option of automatic creation.

    For a reverse restore operation, make sure your backups are in place, then uninstall the app and reinstall it. All history will be restored using iCloud. It is important to remember that you must use the same phone number.

    Another option for saving Whatsapp correspondence is to send all the data to yourself by email. To do this, open the application, select the chat and contacts of interest, find the “Send by mail” option, attach the necessary files, enter your email address. A copy of the correspondence will be sent to the specified e-mail.

    That's all, good luck!

    Comments

    A WhatsApp backup exists so that in case of unforeseen circumstances and the messenger crashes, it is possible to return lost dialogues and attachments.

    If the user bought a new device or needs to reset the settings on the previous device, then a WhatsApp backup will be needed, since he will want to transfer the correspondence.

    This can be done using several methods:

    • Using the option of storing information on Google Drive;
    • Restore the archive with dialogs from the SD card or internal memory of the smartphone;
    • Download from iCloud web resource.

    How to create a backup on Google Drive

    To archive conversations on Google Drive, you must first create an account in this service. In addition, the device must be synchronized with it.

    To perform archiving, you must:


    Also in this section you can view and indicate the time when automatic backup duplicates of correspondence were created.

    How to Backup to iCloud

    iCloud service Required for iOS-based smartphones (iPhone, iPad and others). You can back up WhatsApp whenever you need it. To do this you need:

    • Go to sections " WhatsApp settings» — "Chats" — "Copy";
    • Next you need to click on the inscription “ Create a copy».

    Before doing this, you should create an account in the iCloud service.

    How to recover information from internal memory or SD card

    If you don’t want to save conversations online, you can set up daily duplication of information using a local method. WhatsApp backup will be saved in sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases. The location can be opened using a file manager. It will not be possible to return the archive through it, nor will it be possible to simply familiarize yourself with the dialogue.

    To return conversations, when confirming the number on the device when notifying the messenger that a backup copy is found, you only need to agree that WhatsApp itself will restore the copy (if necessary, this can be disabled). However, all correspondence will be available no earlier than seven days before restoration.

    To restore older archives on Android, you need to follow these steps:

    • Install one of the file messengers;
    • Go to route sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases;
    • There change the name of the file that should be installed from msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt8 on msgstore.db.crypt8;
    • Erase WhatsApp and reinstall it;
    • When notified about the return of copies of chats, agree.

    During a new installation, users are prompted to restore deleted chats. All investments will also be restored. If you want videos to be added to the copies, you need to enable this function in the settings.

    WhatsApp backup on your smartphone is performed automatically. Unlike storing in the cloud, this method allows you to save not only the latest versions of correspondence, but also archives of all chats for a week. The necessary parameters can be changed in the section " Chats and calls» — « Backup…».

    In order for chats to be saved in the cloud on Google Drive, you need to provide access to your account on this service. To save traffic, you should specify the option “ Use Wi-Fi only" In this case, the mobile network will not be used when downloading data.

    If errors occur, you need to check whether you have logged in to your profile and whether you have a stable Internet connection on your computer or smartphone.

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