WhatsApp is one of the most popular and commonly used instant messaging apps in the world. In fact, you will struggle to find somebody that doesn’t have this platform downloaded onto their electronic device.
However, it is very common for users to accidentally delete important files and messages on WhatsApp. This can occur when they reset their device to factory settings, buy a new device, or accidentally press the ‘clear all chats’ button.
Luckily, there are a few ways to restore accidentally deleted WhatsApp messages. In this article, we will be discussing how cloud backup and Android local backup can be used to perform this task.
Back Up Your Chats
The easiest way in which you can restore your lost WhatsApp messages would be to back up your chats. The platform offers its users various backup options in the Automatic Backup Area, meaning that it should be very easy for you to copy your important chats.
This automatic backup option makes it very easy for you to recover messages if you have accidentally deleted them. In fact, you can decide whether you would like to backup your chats daily, weekly, or monthly.
If you use WhatsApp for important conversations, such as business-related communication, this is a very helpful feature. Therefore, it should definitely be switched on.
However, if you accidentally delete important WhatsApp messages and have not turned on the WhatsApp backup service, there are other ways in which you can restore these chats. To be more specific, you could use cloud backup or android local backup services.
Cloud Backup
If you have accidentally deleted important WhatsApp messages, there is a chance that they have been saved to cloud backup. The first thing that you will need to do is delete the WhatsApp app from your device. After this is complete, reinstall the app and configure it with your cell phone number.
You will then receive a message asking to restore all your previous messages from cloud backup – complete this step. If you have an Android, this backup would be from Google Drive.
On the other hand, if you have an iPhone, your backup would be from iOS. All the messages that were deleted or lost will automatically be restored onto your WhatsApp profile.
However, it is important to note that if you received and deleted a message after your most recent cloud backup, this method will not work. In other words, there will be no way to retrieve your lost WhatsApp messages.
Android Local Backup
You could also try to restore your lost WhatsApp messages by using your phone’s local backup. However, it is important to note that this method does not work on iOS and is exclusive to Android.
First of all, you will need to go to your device file manager. From there, select WhatsApp and then the database folder – this file will contain all of the WhatsApp backup documents.
Scan through these documents until you find the file labeled ‘msgstore.db.crypt12’. Once you have located it, rename it to ‘msgstore_BACKUP.db.crypt12’.
Secondly, open Google Drive on your mobile device, select the settings icon, and then click on backups. You will then need to delete the backup from your WhatsApp account, forcing your phone to restore from local backup.
After you have done all of this, uninstall WhatsApp before installing it again. Once you have configured the instant messaging app, you will receive a message asking whether or not you would like to restore your chats from the local backup – proceed with this option.
Once you have clicked ‘restore’, all of your deleted chats will be waiting for you on your home page.
Summary
If you accidentally (or purposefully) deleted your WhatsApp messages, but now want access to them again, by using one of the above methods, you will be well on your way to sorting out the issue!