WhatsApp has become an integral part of our daily communication, with over 1.5 billion monthly active users globally.
The Facebook-owned messaging app is loaded with features, including the ability to clear all messages at once. But what if you accidentally delete an important message and want to recover it?
In this article, we will explore the methods to restore deleted WhatsApp messages for both Android and iOS users.
Recover via Local Storage
This method is specifically for Android users and involves using the local storage to restore deleted messages.
- Open the file browser on your device and navigate to WhatsApp > Database where all the WhatsApp backup files are stored locally.
- Locate the ‘msgstore.db.crypt12’ file, long press it, and rename it to ‘msgstore_backup.db.crypt12’ to prevent it from being overwritten.
- Now, select the most recent backup file and rename it to ‘msgstore.db.crypt12’
- Next, open Google Drive on your phone, tap on the three vertical lines menu at the top right corner, and select ‘Backups’ to delete your WhatsApp backup.
- Uninstall WhatsApp and reinstall it. During the installation, choose to restore WhatsApp from a local backup as you no longer have a cloud backup.
- Select the ‘msgstore.db.crypt12’ file and tap the ‘Restore’ button to retrieve your messages from the most recent backup.
Recover via Cloud Backup
If you have a cloud backup on Google Drive (for Android users) or iCloud (for iOS users), you can also restore your WhatsApp messages using this method.
- Uninstall WhatsApp from your phone and reinstall it, logging in with the same phone number.
- Choose to restore your messages from Google Drive or iCloud and tap on ‘Restore’ to initiate the process.
It’s important to note that if the message was deleted after the cloud backup, it cannot be restored.
WhatsApp offers the convenience of clearing all messages at once, it’s reassuring to know that there are methods to recover accidentally deleted messages.
Whether you opt for local storage recovery or cloud backup restoration, these step-by-step guides can help you retrieve those important conversations that you thought were lost forever.
