How to recover deleted WhatsApp messages by restoring from a backup

• You can recover deleted WhatsApp messages by restoring your data from a backup.
• Androids can recover WhatsApp messages from a Google Drive or local backup, and iPhone can recover from an iCloud backup.
• If you deleted some messages and then backed up, those messages will also be deleted from the backup and won't be recoverable.

If you use WhatsApp, you may be wondering how to recover your deleted WhatsApp messages. The app does provide a way to get it done, but only by restoring your information from a backup.

The process will depend on the kind of phone you're using - and where the backup data has been stored. Here's how to do it on Android or iPhone.

Quick tip: You need to have backed up your WhatsApp to be able to recover the messages. And if you've only backed up your WhatsApp data after deleting the messages, then they will not be recoverable.

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How to recover deleted WhatsApp messages on Android

Again, you have to already have backed up your WhatsApp messages for this to work. If you reinstall the app without any prior backups from Google Drive, however, WhatsApp will attempt to restore it from your local backup file automatically.

From a Google Drive back-up:

1. Uninstall and then reinstall WhatsApp.

2. Open the app and verify your number.

3. Tap Restore.

4. Select Next.

Your chats will then pop up once the initialization process is complete. After that, WhatsApp will start restoring your media files.

From a local back-up

If you have an Android and backed up your WhatsApp account to the phone's local backup, here's how to restore your deleted messages.

1. Go to your File Manager.

Quick tip: If you can't find the file manager, you may have to download the Google Files app.

2. Go into the WhatsApp folder and then tap Database.

3. Choose the file called msgstore.db.crypt12.

4. Rename it to msgstore_BACKUP.db.crypt12.

5. Select the most recently dated backup and rename it to msgstore.db.crypt12.

6. Open the Google Drive app, tap the three-line icon and tap Backups.

7. Delete the WhatsApp backup in the backups folder.

8. Uninstall and then reinstall WhatsApp.

9. Open the app and verify your phone number.

10. Tap Restore.

How to recover deleted WhatsApp messages on iPhone

As with Androids, you need a backup to recover your messages on an iPhone, though unlike Android, this backup will have been made through iCloud.

Quick tip: If you aren't sure that you have a chat backup, you can verify it by opening WhatsApp, going into the settings tab, selecting Chats and then going to Chat Backup.

1. Uninstall and then reinstall WhatsApp on your phone.

2. Open the app and verify your phone number.

3. Tap Restore to start the process of restoring your information from a backup and getting your deleted messages back.