WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, with over 2 billion active users. Many people rely on WhatsApp to stay in touch with friends and family and to communicate with colleagues. WhatsApp allows users to backup their chat history to cloud storage services like Google Drive and iCloud. This can be incredibly useful if you ever lose your phone or need to restore your chat history on a new device. However, WhatsApp only provides the most recent backup by default. So what happens if you need to access an older backup that is no longer available through WhatsApp?
What are WhatsApp Backups?
WhatsApp gives users the option to backup their chat history to the cloud. This includes all your messages, media files, and other data from WhatsApp. Backups happen automatically from time to time, but you can also manually trigger a backup. WhatsApp backups are stored in your Google Drive account if you’re using an Android device, or in iCloud if you’re using an iPhone.
Each backup contains a full copy of your most recent WhatsApp data. WhatsApp will store multiple backups over time, but only keeps the most recent one by default. Older backups are deleted automatically after a while to save storage space.
Why Would You Need Old WhatsApp Backups?
There are a few reasons why accessing older WhatsApp backups can be useful:
- You may need to recover lost or deleted conversations that are no longer available in your newest backup.
- If you get a new phone, you may want to transfer a WhatsApp backup that is not the most recent one.
- You might need to retrieve media files or other data that was accidentally deleted from WhatsApp.
- Law enforcement or legal requirements may necessitate accessing old backups.
- If your newest backup becomes corrupted or unusable, an older backup can restore your history.
In these cases, having access to those older WhatsApp backups can really save the day. Unfortunately, WhatsApp only keeps your most current backup by default. So how do you retrieve those older backup versions?
Locating Your WhatsApp Backups
The first step is to locate your existing WhatsApp backups. This will depend on whether you use an Android or iPhone:
Android Backups
For Android users, WhatsApp backups are saved to your Google Drive account. To view them:
- Open the Google Drive app or log into Google Drive on your computer.
- Look for the WhatsApp folder.
- Inside will be multiple backup files, most likely named “msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt” (the last numbers may vary).
Each file represents a different backup date. Your most recent backup will have the newest date.
iPhone Backups
On iPhones, WhatsApp backups are stored in iCloud. To find them:
- Go to Settings > Your Name > iCloud.
- Tap Manage Storage.
- Select Backups.
- You’ll see your device name with a WhatsApp backup listed below it.
This will show your latest WhatsApp backup. But how do you access older backups?
Accessing Older Backups in Google Drive
Google Drive keeps multiple versions of your WhatsApp backups over time. While only the newest is visible at first, you can restore older backups by:
- In Google Drive, locate the WhatsApp backup folder.
- Right click on a backup file.
- Select Manage Versions.
- You’ll now see a list of older backups. Click on one to download or restore it.
This lets you access and recover from any previously saved WhatsApp backups in Google Drive. Just remember that only the most recent backup can be restored within WhatsApp itself.
Using iCloud to Restore Older iPhone Backups
Unlike Google Drive, iCloud does not store multiple backup versions over time. It only keeps your latest WhatsApp backup. However, you can dig into older backups in iCloud by following these steps:
- Go to Settings > Your Name > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups.
- Tap on your device name to enter the backup list.
- Tap on a backup date to enter the details.
- Here you can tap Restore to recover the full iCloud backup from that date.
This will restore your entire iCloud backup from the selected date, including the WhatsApp backup from that time. Essentially reverting your device to how it was on that date.
Third-Party Tools to Extract Old WhatsApp Backups
Beyond Google Drive and iCloud, there are third-party tools available to pull data from old WhatsApp backups:
- Dr.Fone – WhatsApp Transfer: This tool can extract WhatsApp data from iCloud and Google Drive backups, including old or deleted ones. You can view and export chat history.
- iMyFone iBypasser: Works to unlock iPhone backups and retrieve WhatsApp data from them. Can access old or deleted backups.
- iBackup Viewer: Allows browsing of iOS backups. With the paid version you can extract WhatsApp media and documents from backups.
These tools give you more flexibility to grab specific data from old WhatsApp backups even if you can’t fully restore the backup.
Tips for Managing Your Backups
To avoid situations where you desperately need an old WhatsApp backup, here are some backup management tips:
- Regularly force manual backups instead of only relying on automatic backups.
- Download backups to your computer for extra redundancy.
- Check backup sizes to ensure full history is being retained.
- Turn off auto-deletion of old backups in your cloud storage settings.
- Back up to external storage as another layer of protection.
Proper backup habits will reduce the need for difficult restoration of old backups. But if you ever do need them, at least now you know your options!
Conclusion
Retrieving older WhatsApp backups is possible using tools built into Google Drive and iCloud, as well as with third-party software. The key is finding those older backups and extracting the data you need. With billions of WhatsApp users, the ability to recover and migrate chat history is essential. Although it takes some effort, accessing those outdated backups provides useful restoration powers. Just be sure to backup regularly and utilize cloud storage settings to preserve backups over time.