How to recover WhatsApp messages. WhatsApp has recently announced that backups made on Google Drive will not be counted for the storage limit. Before jumping for joy, please note that WhatsApp backups in Google Drive will not be encrypted.
So, how to restore WhatsApp messages when there are no backups in Google Drive? Let’s find out.
RESTORE THE MESSAGES OF WHATSAPP ON ANDROID
Not many people know that WhatsApp makes a local backup of data every day at 2:00 AM (set by default).
If for any reason you need to reset the phone to factory settings or WhatsApp starts to behave strangely, follow this procedure.
First of all, you need to uninstall WhatsApp. Then go to the Play Store and reinstall it again. When you do that, WhatsApp will guide you through the verification process in which you will receive a 6-digit code. Enter it and continue.
Once the verification is complete, WhatsApp will automatically search for a backup on your phone. You will be asked to restore messages and files from the available backup. More importantly, you will be able to see when it was backed up and its size.
You can tap Reset to start the process.
After the backup is restored, you will receive a notification about the number of messages restored. Touch Next to continue.
RESTORE WHATSAPP MESSAGES ON ANDROID USING A FILE EXPLORER
As mentioned earlier, WhatsApp makes a local backup every day. The method above will restore the most recent backup by default. If you want to restore a different version, you need a file explorer. I recommend Solid Explorer on ES File Explorer, but you can use any of them.
Start the file explorer. Look in the internal memory of your phone for folder:/WhatsApp /databases. That’s where all WhatsApp backups are stored. Depending on your smartphone and your preferences, this folder can be in internal or external memory.
If you can not find this folder structure, touch the search icon and type “msgstore” without quotes.
You will see different results in the following format: msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12.
Now you can choose to restore any backup file by date. The first file in the list does not have a date. That file is the most recent backup of WhatsApp messages. Before proceeding, create a copy of that file and move it to another folder and rename the last backup file with whatever you want.
Then, choose the backup file you want to use to restore the messages and remove the date portion (YYYY-MM-DD) from the file name to make it look like a recent backup file (msgstore.db.crypt12).
Now you have to uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp, and restore from the backup as in the previous section.
RESTORE WHATSAPP MESSAGES on iPhone
An iOS device can not back up WhatsApp on Google Drive or on your iPhone. All your backups are stored in iCloud and the frequency is the one you selected in the WhatsApp app.
By default, Auto Backup is set to Every Day, which means that WhatsApp chats are daily backed up to iCloud. To restore a backup from iCloud, you need to follow this procedure.
Uninstall WhatsApp from your iPhone. Use the link below to download it again from the App Store. You will be asked to verify your number with an OTP text message.
Once executed, WhatsApp will ask if you want to restore from a recent backup or skip the procedure. Touch the Restore option in the upper right corner. Here you can see the date and size of the backup file.
Once the WhatsApp backup file is restored, you can start using the app.