2022-10-11
With the advent of messengers, texting is slowly fading into oblivion. However, the problems remain. When you need to restore correspondence from Whatsapp chat, you have to perform complicated tricks, not always successful.
You will learn how to quickly restore Whatsapp correspondence. If you have a backup of messages - the situation is simplified, otherwise try all the other instructions described. It's not difficult to do, even beginners will figure it out.
Note . These methods still work in 2022. If you don't succeed, write a comment stating the details: phone model, when the Whatsapp chat correspondence was deleted, etc.
Content :
When Whatsapp chat correspondence is deleted
Most often, chat history from Whatsapp is lost:
- after accidentally deleting chat via mobile app (instead of Add conversation, you clicked Delete chat). This happens because of the inconvenience of touchscreens;
- after a failed phone reflash or reset - all data is lost irrevocably;
- after changing phones - you have to re-install the messenger, the correspondence is lost.
The main ways you can recover Whatsapp correspondence:
- using Backup copy (from Google Drive or locally saved on the phone)
- recovery on computer through EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
- using Undeleter mobile utility
How to check if Whatsapp messages backup is saved
All WhatsApp chat, messaging history is securely stored in backups. On the phone, backups are created automatically - daily and clearly on a schedule. For example, on Android there are old backups (no older than 7 days), archived every night. For iOS, only the latest version of correspondence is stored.
It is true that chat backup works ONLY if the Chat Backup option has been activated in WhatsApp settings. How to check that the backup has been enabled?
- Open the Whatsapp app on Android or iPhone.
- Go to Settings, the menu icon is in the top right corner with three dots.
- Go to Chats > Chat Backup.
- In iOS the option we need is named Auto Backup, in Android it is Backup to Google Drive.
- Click the indicated line in order to define the frequency of the backup or to learn the current frequency.
- If you have set Never then the backup has not occurred.
Beneficial : How to restore photos and videos from correspondence (if other ways didn't work)
The easy way to restore chats (if backed up)
The method works for both iOS and Android, let's break down the second option. When you first launch, Whatsapp prompts you to set up a backup to Google Drive cloud. The easiest and most obvious way to restore correspondence is from a file saved in Google Drive.
- Uninstall Whatsapp from your phone,
- Install again - Download Whatsapp (latest version),
- After installing Whatsapp, open messenger,
- Confirm number (provide your phone number - the same one used before),
- Restore backup. In the Restore window, select the restore method.
- Click the Restore button.
Whatsapp backup not found: reasons
See that you did not find the backup on your phone and in the cloud. This could be due to the following reasons:
- You use a different Google account - different from the one previously used in Whatsapp;
- When you installed Whatsapp, a phone number not previously used in the application was entered;
- The memory card was damaged or has errors on it (or the file with correspondence cannot open);
- The Google cloud or memory card does not contain backup of correspondence.
Restoring chats from a local file
If you did not connect your Google Drive account to Whatsapp, there is an alternative way in store: you can restore your correspondence from a local file.
Chat backup /files are located at /sdcard/WhatsApp/. If you cannot find them, check the phone's internal memory as well. If you can't find the /files there either, you may have deleted them. In that case please refer to the Undeleter / DiskDigger recovery method below.
Note . Google Drive saves only the latest version of your correspondence, while your phone stores Whatsapp data for the last 7 days.
How to recover Whatsapp correspondence from a local file:
- Install a file manager - such as TotalCMD or ES Explorer.
- Open the sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases folder. This is where all your backups of correspondence are collected. If there are no /files, check also the main storage).
- Select from the list the file msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12. Rename it to msgstore.db.crypt12.
- Uninstall WhatsApp (if present) from the phone and install it anew by downloading the latest version from Google Play.
- While installing, indicate previously used phone number,
- In the Restore chat history window, click on Restore to import the old chat from Whatsapp.
Hy tip! WhatsApp synchronizes messages according to a schedule, around 2am Moscow time. There is a chance that you can recover the chats by uninstalling and reinstalling the Whatsapp app before the sync. In doing so, WhatsApp will not consider deleted messages as deleted.
Retrieve correspondence from Archive
Similar to Instagram, Whatsapp knows how to archive unnecessary correspondence so that in case you need to return them and continue the dialogue with the person. It is important to understand that Archiving does not delete the contents of the correspondence.
The Archive feature is convenient because it is easy to clean up. On the other hand, by mistake the user may archive a chat and then not be able to restore it. While it is easy to do.
Instruction for iPhone:
- Scroll through the list of conversations, find Archived
- Click on this line, then swipe from right to left to restore.
- Press the Unarchive button - it will appear on the line you are swiping.
Tip for Android:
- Scroll through the list of chats until you see Archived chats with an X
- Click the row of the chat you want to restore
- Click the unarchive icon
Use EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard to restore
If Whatsapp backups were stored on your computer and subsequently deleted, any Windows data recovery tool will do. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is an example. Using the deep scan option, it is theoretically possible to recover the backups. You will not get back textual information from the correspondence, but you may find images and videos among other /files.
Although, the chances of success are only if the local backups actually existed on the hard drive and relatively little time has passed since they were deleted from Whatsapp messenger.
> Recover correspondence via EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
To recover /files from correspondence:
- Install EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard on your PC;
- Launch the program, click Start Now;
- Select the drive where the backups were stored;
- Click the Scan button;
- Wait for the scan to finish;
- Sort your /files by their type;
- Select the checkboxes of the data types you want to recover (Video, Audio, Pictures);
- Recover /files to disk using the Recover command.
Download EaseUS Data Recovery
2 GB /files can be saved to the PC. By the way, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard has a fully free alternative Recuva, it has the same functionality but has no limitations on file size.
Use Undeleter to recover messages from the phone
If the copy of chats was stored in the internal memory, try to find the /files using the Undeleter utility.
It scans the phone memory and extracts all the /files you can access. The software requires the activation of root access (root privileges).
Install SuperSU on your Android
Note . In some instructions, they write that you can discover Whatsapp call history through Undeleter. In fact, this is not the case. All the app can do is recover lost backup /files deleted by the user.
An alternative utility to find deleted chats is DiskDigger for Android.
It scans both sd and internal memory. Best for photo and video recovery, but Whatsapp user /files will probably also find (we didn't check, so we suggest you explore the method and share your experience).
Preventing deleting chats via Notification History
According to TechWorm, Android users recently discovered another abnormal way to recover individual messages in correspondence. It only works when Notification History is installed - meaning you can't get chats deleted up to that point back. This method is great if you want to insure against accidental loss of individual messages - for example, if the conversation partner decides to double-track.
You may retrieve erased messages from the Android Notification Log. How the method works:
- Download Notification History
- Install the app on your Android and give it all the rights it needs.
- Give Notification History access to your notifications.
- After deleting a message, you will see the text of the deleted message and the status: Message Deleted.
After you have installed such an application, you must allow the application to access the notifications. Then, in the history, once the incoming message on WhatsApp is deleted by the sender, you will see two notifications, the original message and the information that "message has been deleted".
Frequently Asked Questions
I deleted a message and accidentally clicked the "Delete Media Files" button. How can I restore them? There are very important photos that you can't find anywhere else!
Try reinstalling the Whatsapp app on your phone. When restoring, you will be prompted to restore data using google cloud or a local copy from your phone.
I couldn't restore my deleted Whatsapp chat on my phone, I didn't have a backup. Tried to recover with Recuva.
The backups might have been stored on the sd card or in the internal memory of the device. In the second case Undeleter might help, not Recuva.
The backup /files can be recovered only if you have not forcibly disabled the backup during the initial setup of the messenger.
I accidentally deleted the backup copy of my messages. It had stored correspondence with important data on it. The history is empty, not a single chat. Is there any way to restore it?
Check the contents of your Google Drive trash: Maybe the Whatsapp backups are still there. If the correspondence is not saved in the Google Drive cloud, look for a local file in your phone memory. Or ask the message recipient to forward the chat history to you.
Is it possible to recover accidentally deleted correspondence with a specific subscriber in Whatsapp? I accidentally deleted a conversation that is very important to me.
The article describes all of the available ways to restore. If none of them work, try to use the obvious one - ask the subscriber for a copy of the chat. Of course, if he agrees to this.
I uninstalled WhatsApp, I did not back up the /files, I downloaded the application again, but all the chat contents have been deleted.
The thing is that the messenger WhatsApp does not store the data on the server. Accordingly, it remains to search for backups on the phones of the interlocutors or recover individual /files with utilities like Undeleter or DiskDigger. There is no simple and guaranteed way.
I need to provide the ICQ ICQ ICQ call history. I know how to save and print the correspondence. But is it possible to print the call history?
It's very simple, just take screenshots of the WhatsApp screenshots through the "Calls" tab.
