WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, with over 2 billion users. It uses end-to-end encryption to protect messages, calls, photos, videos and voice messages between senders and recipients. This means that even WhatsApp cannot access or read message content. So can encrypted WhatsApp messages be retrieved if needed?
Can WhatsApp read encrypted messages?
No, WhatsApp cannot read users’ encrypted messages. The messages are secured with end-to-end encryption, which means only the sender and recipient can read the messages. Not even WhatsApp can decrypt and read message content.
Here’s how WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption works:
- Each user has a set of encryption keys that are stored only on their device.
- When User A sends a message to User B, User A’s app encrypts the message using User B’s encryption keys.
- The encrypted message is sent through WhatsApp’s servers to User B.
- User B’s app decrypts the message using their private keys which only they have access to.
So WhatsApp itself has no way to decrypt the end-to-end encrypted messages exchanged between users. The messages remain private between the chat partners.
When can WhatsApp access message contents?
There are some situations when WhatsApp can access unencrypted message contents:
- For messages that are not yet end-to-end encrypted – this includes messages in transit between sender and receiver that are encrypted through HTTPS protocol but not yet protected by end-to-end encryption.
- In group chats, the WhatsApp server manages sending messages to all participants. So WhatsApp has access to these messages in groups that are encrypted in transit but not end-to-end encrypted.
- If a user backs up their chat history to a third-party service like Google Drive or iCloud, then those tech companies can access the unencrypted backup data.
- If a user reports a message to WhatsApp for review, WhatsApp can access the message content to investigate user reports.
However, for one-to-one chats with end-to-end encryption enabled, WhatsApp has no way to view message contents.
Can law enforcement read WhatsApp messages?
Law enforcement agencies like police do not have any special access to retrieve users’ encrypted WhatsApp messages. WhatsApp cannot provide decrypted message contents in response to government or law enforcement requests since it does not have the encryption keys to unlock the messages.
However, law enforcement can access WhatsApp messages in certain situations:
- By obtaining the user’s unlocked device and directly accessing the app.
- If the messages are backed up to iCloud or Google Drive and law enforcement obtains the backup files through a legal request to the tech companies.
- By intercepting the messages in transit before they are encrypted end-to-end.
WhatsApp will provide law enforcement with basic subscriber data like names, last seen status, IP address and phone numbers, if requested legally. But it cannot provide any message contents that are protected by end-to-end encryption.
Can you recover deleted WhatsApp messages?
It is possible to recover deleted WhatsApp messages in a few cases:
- From a recent backup – If the messages were deleted shortly before the last backup, they can be retrieved from the backup file.
- From notification history – On Android devices, the notification history may show snippets of recently deleted messages.
- From the sender’s phone – Messages deleted only on the recipient’s end can be retrieved from the sender’s phone if not yet deleted from there.
However, if the messages have been permanently deleted from both ends with no backup available, there is no way to retrieve them even using data recovery software since they were encrypted.
Can you read deleted WhatsApp messages from the backup?
Yes, it is possible to view deleted WhatsApp messages if they were backed up before being deleted. WhatsApp regularly backs up the chat history to the user’s Google Drive or iCloud storage.
To view deleted messages from WhatsApp backup:
- Locate the latest WhatsApp backup files in Google Drive or iCloud.
- Download the backup file to a computer.
- Use a free desktop app like iBackup Viewer (for iOS backup) or WhatsApp Viewer (for Android backup) to open the backup file.
- Navigate to the Databases > MsgStore.db.crypt12 file which contains message data.
- Look for the deleted messages here and recover them.
However, this only works if the messages were not deleted before the last backup. Messages deleted before the backup was created will not be present in the backup.
Can you recover recently deleted WhatsApp messages?
It is possible to retrieve recently deleted WhatsApp messages in some cases. Here are some ways to try recovering recently deleted WhatsApp messages:
- Notification history on Android – Go to Settings > Notifications > WhatsApp – this may show previews of recently deleted messages.
- From a recipient’s phone – If the message was only deleted from your end but the recipient still has it, you can ask them to send it back to you.
- Undelete apps – Some third party Android apps like iCareFone claim to recover recently deleted messages, but limited success.
- From a new backup – If WhatsApp created a new backup after message deletion but before the chat was cleared, the deleted message might be in the backup.
However, once the message is permanently deleted and no longer available on either device, there is no way to retrieve it.
Can WhatsApp provide deleted messages to police?
No, WhatsApp cannot provide any deleted messages to law enforcement agencies like the police. This is because WhatsApp end-to-end encryption prevents even WhatsApp itself from accessing message contents.
WhatsApp makes it clear in their law enforcement guidelines that they do not have access to the content of users’ messages and calls. Hence, they cannot provide any deleted message contents to the police or turn over such information in response to search warrants or court orders.
The only information WhatsApp can provide to law enforcement is basic subscriber details like name, profile photo, status, contacts list, group metadata etc. But message contents are inaccessible due to end-to-end encryption.
Conclusion
In summary:
- WhatsApp cannot read users’ end-to-end encrypted messages exchanged between individuals.
- Law enforcement does not have any special access to encrypted WhatsApp messages.
- Deleted WhatsApp messages can only be recovered from recent backups or the sender’s phone, not by WhatsApp itself.
- Permanently deleted messages cannot be retrieved by anyone due to end-to-end encryption.
WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption ensures private conversations remain truly private. No third party including WhatsApp itself has the keys to decrypt the messages. While this prevents any hacking of message contents, it also means encrypted messages cannot be recovered if permanently deleted by both chatting partners.