Search

How to Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages

Accidentally deleted a WhatsApp chat? Here’s how to bring it back.

Advertisement
Highlights
  • You can restore WhatsApp chats through cloud backup
  • On Android, backup also happens on the phone’s local storage
  • WhatsApp chats can be locally restored on Android smartphones
How to Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages

You can restore deleted WhatsApp chats via the cloud or local backups. Your mileage may vary.

Have you ever accidentally deleted a WhatsApp chat and regretted it immediately? Wondering if there is a way to get it back? Worry not, we're here to help. We'll share a way to restore deleted WhatsApp chats and one method to bring back WhatsApp chats overwritten by an iCloud or Google Drive backup. Before trying out the steps, do keep in mind that you can only restore chats if the backup option had been turned on in the first place on WhatsApp. This means that if you had never done a backup of your chats, then you won't be able to recover any messages or chats that you accidentally delete.

Another thing we should point out is that we have tested these methods to restore deleted WhatsApp chats and they have worked for us but these methods involve uninstalling WhatsApp and restoring from the most recent backup. This could mean that you lose some messages that have arrived between the time of your last backup and when you accidentally deleted a chat. Whatever the case, proceed with extreme caution and follow these steps only if recovering the deleted WhatsApp messages is important enough to risk potentially losing some data. Gadgets 360 is not responsible for any loss of data so proceed at your own risk.

To turn on chat backup, open WhatsApp, go to Settings > go to Chats > tap on Chat backup. Over here, you can set up the frequency of your chat backup between never, daily, weekly or monthly, or you can even do a manual backup as well. Additionally, you'll have to select the Google account where you'd want the backup to be stored if you use an Android smartphone.

And if you're an iPhone user, go to Settings within WhatsApp > Chats > Chat Backup, where you can select the Auto Backup frequency or use Back Up Now to manually initiate a backup to iCloud.

Let's get started.

How to restore deleted WhatsApp chats

Here's how to restore deleted WhatsApp chats using various methods.

Restore deleted WhatsApp chats via cloud backup

If you have deleted chats accidentally, there's a chance that the chat was present on your cloud backup. Let's say your Google Drive or iCloud backup took place at midnight and in the morning you accidentally deleted a chat. The cloud backup still has the chat and you can restore it. Here's how:

  1. Uninstall WhatsApp from your Android smartphone or iPhone.
  2. Reinstall WhatsApp and set it up with your phone number.
  3. Once the app is set up, you will get a prompt asking you to restore messages from a cloud backup. This backup would be from Google Drive on Android, and iCloud on iOS. Tap Restore.
  4. This will bring back the messages that you had accidentally deleted. Note that if you got a message after your most recent cloud backup and deleted it, there's no way to recover it.

Restoring deleted WhatsApp chats via Android's local backup

Another way to try restoring deleted WhatsApp chats is to recover them from local backups on your Android phone. This method does not work on iOS. If your Google Drive backup has overwritten the deleted messages, then follow these steps.

  1. Go to your phone's File Manager (download Google's Files app if you can't find this app). Now go to the WhatsApp folder > Database. The Database folder contains all the WhatsApp backup files that are stored locally on your phone.
  2. Select the file msgstore.db.crypt12 and rename it to msgstore_BACKUP.db.crypt12. This is your most recent backup file and you need to rename it so as to prevent it from being overwritten. In case things go wrong, you can always rename this file to its original name and restore.
  3. Now you will see a bunch of files in this folder in the format msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12. These are your older WhatsApp backups, you can pick the most recent one and rename it to msgstore.db.crypt12.
  4. Here's the tricky part: you need to open Google Drive on your smartphone, tap the hamburger icon (the three vertical lines) > Backups. Now delete the WhatsApp backup there. This will force your phone to restore from the local backup instead.
  5. Now, uninstall WhatsApp and then reinstall it. Set it up and once done, you will get a prompt to restore chats from a local backup, considering you don't have a chat backup on the cloud.
  6. Tap on Restore and that's it. You'll get your deleted chats back. 


So, these are the two methods which you can use in a situation where you have accidentally deleted your WhatsApp chats or in a situation where you have freshly installed WhatsApp and want your old chats back. Either way, as we mentioned above, you need to have the chat backup option turned on in order to restore any messages.

For more tutorials visit our How to section.

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: WhatsApp, Android, iOS, Google Drive, iCloud
 
Show Full Article
Please wait...
Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. Itel Super Guru 4G Max Launched in India With Built-In AI Voice Assistant
  2. Moto G86 Power India Launch Date Confirmed: Check Features, Colour Options
  3. Pioneer VREC-H320SC Dashcam Review
  4. Redmi to Launch Two New Smartphones in India by July 24
  5. OnePlus Pad Lite Launched in India With 11-Inch Display, 9,340mAh Battery
  6. Realme 15 5G Series Launching Today: All You Need to Know
  7. Meta Is Improving Safety for Teen Accounts on Instagram With New Features
  8. Vivo X200 FE Now Available for Purchase in India: See Price and Offers
  9. Samsung Galaxy A17 5G, Galaxy A07 Support Page Goes Live
  1. Realme 15 5G Series Launching Today: Know Price in India, Features and Specifications
  2. SpaceX Launches Two O3b mPOWER Satellites, Successfully Lands Falcon 9 Booster at Sea
  3. Astronomers Solve Betelgeuse’s 6-Year Dimming Mystery by Spotting Secret Companion Star
  4. Google I/O Connect India 2025: Eight Indian Startups Showcased Applications Built With Google's AI Models
  5. Microsoft Knew of SharePoint Security Flaw but Failed to Effectively Patch It, Timeline Shows
  6. Meta Announces New Safety Features for Instagram Teen Accounts, Adult-Managed Profiles for Children
  7. Itel Super Guru 4G Max Feature Phone Launched in India With 3-Inch Display, Built-In AI Voice Assistant
  8. Vivo Y400 5G to House a Bigger Battery Than the Pro-Model: Report
  9. PayPal Partners With NPCI, Others to Build Cross-Border Payments Platform Focused on Interoperability
  10. Ubisoft Confirms Assassin's Creed Shadows Is Coming to 'Other Machines', Suggesting a Switch 2 Port
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
App Store App Store
Available in Hindi
App Store
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2025. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »