Quick Answer
If you have reinstalled WhatsApp and lost your chat history, there are a few ways to try and restore your messages:
- Restore from a recent Google Drive backup – WhatsApp backups to Google Drive by default, so your chat history may be restored if the backup is recent.
- Use a local backup – WhatsApp also allows you to create local backups, which you can use to restore chats if you have the backup file.
- Use a third party app – Some apps claim to be able to recover WhatsApp messages, even without a backup.
- Request chat history from the sender – If all else fails, you can ask the people you chatted with to resend messages.
With the right backups, it’s usually possible to fully restore your message history when you reinstall WhatsApp.
WhatsApp Chat Backup Options
When you reinstall WhatsApp after uninstalling it, the app will have no way to access your previous chats by default. This is because WhatsApp stores your message history locally on your device, so uninstalling the app erases that local data.
However, WhatsApp provides users with options to back up their chat history separately from the app itself. As long as you regularly backed up your chats, you can use these backups to restore your chat history when switching devices or reinstalling the app.
The two main WhatsApp backup options are:
Google Drive Backup
By default, WhatsApp is configured to automatically back up your chat history to your linked Google Drive account. Backups happen daily when your phone is charging, connected to WiFi, and the WhatsApp screen is open.
The key benefits of using Google Drive backup are:
- Backups happen automatically in the background.
- Your chat history is saved remotely rather than just locally on your device.
- You can restore your chat history when switching devices or reinstalling the app.
- Google Drive storage is free up to a limit (typically 15GB).
As long as you didn’t unlink your Google account before reinstalling WhatsApp, your most recent chat history should be available to restore from Google Drive.
Local WhatsApp Backups
WhatsApp also allows you to create local backups of your chat history on your device’s internal storage or SD card. Unlike Google Drive backups, local backups are manual – you need to actively initiate the backup process.
To create a local backup on Android:
- Open WhatsApp > Tap More options > Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
- Tap Back up to store your backup locally on your device.
On iPhone, go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup > Back Up Now to create a local iOS backup.
The advantages of local WhatsApp backups are:
- They don’t count against your Google Drive storage limit.
- You retain full control over the backup files.
- You don’t need an internet connection to create them.
The downsides are that you need to remember to manually create backups, and the backup files only reside on that one device.
Using Google Drive to Restore WhatsApp Messages
If you backed up your WhatsApp chats to Google Drive before reinstalling the app, you can restore your chat history from Google Drive during the setup process:
On Android:
- Download and install WhatsApp again after reinstalling.
- Open WhatsApp and agree to the Terms of Service.
- When prompted, tap ‘Restore’ to restore chats and media from Google Drive.
- Select the backup you want to restore from the available options.
WhatsApp will then restore your chats and media files from your most recent Google Drive backup.
On iPhone:
- Reinstall WhatsApp and open it.
- Tap ‘Start’ when asked to import previous chats.
- Sign in to your iCloud account and tap ‘Approve’ to give WhatsApp access to iCloud.
- Select the backup to restore from and tap Next.
Your chat history will now be retrieved from your iCloud backup. The process is similar when setting up WhatsApp on a new iPhone.
One thing to note is that your Google Drive or iCloud backup may be outdated if it hasn’t synced recently. You’ll only be able to restore chats up until the time of the latest backup.
Using a Local WhatsApp Backup
If you previously created a local WhatsApp backup manually, you can use that to restore chats after reinstalling the app:
On Android:
- Copy your local WhatsApp backup file to your device (from internal storage or SD card).
- Install and open WhatsApp.
- When prompted, tap ‘Restore’ to restore from local backup.
- Select the backup file from your device storage.
On iPhone:
- Go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
- Tap Restore > Choose File to select your local iOS backup.
The main catch with local backups is that they are only useful if you manually created one recently before uninstalling WhatsApp. Relying on automatic Google Drive or iCloud backup is usually a safer bet.
Using Third Party Apps to Recover WhatsApp Messages
There are various third party apps that claim to be able to recover deleted or lost WhatsApp messages:
- Dr.Fone – WhatsApp Recovery: Android & iOS app that scans your device for WhatsApp data remnants and attempts to rebuild chat history without backups.
- FonePaw Android Data Recovery: Scans Android devices and memory cards for deleted WhatsApp messages and attachments.
- iMyFone iBypasser: WhatsApp recovery app for iOS that claims to bypass backups and retrieve chat history.
- Tenorshare UltData: WhatsApp recovery software for both Android and iOS.
However, without an existing backup, most of these apps may have limited success. They rely on scanning for leftover traces of messages that were already deleted when WhatsApp was uninstalled.
Third party WhatsApp recovery apps should be seen as a last resort option if all else fails. While some users report positive results, success is not guaranteed.
Asking Contacts to Resend Key Messages
If you are unable to restore your chat history through backups or data recovery apps, the final option is to ask your WhatsApp contacts to resend any important messages you need.
Obviously you won’t be able to retrieve an entire chat history this way. But for selective key messages like:
- Important information you need
- Recent photos or videos shared with you
- Voice messages
- Contact details or documents received
It may be worth directly asking contacts if they can quickly resend them to you. Some may have the chat history archived and can copy-paste or forward you messages again easily.
This manual message recovery will be tedious and incomplete. But it can help you regain possession of at least some lost conversations and details you really need.
Be prepared that some contacts may no longer have the chat history available to them either, so manage your expectations.
Preventing WhatsApp Message Loss
The best way to avoid having to recover lost WhatsApp chats is to proactively prevent message data loss in the first place:
- Enable auto Google Drive backup – This ensures your chat history is regularly backed up.
- Create occasional local backups – Especially before uninstalling or factory resetting your device.
- Export key chats – You can export important or lengthy conversations as text files.
- Use chat history transfer – When switching phones, use WhatsApp’s built-in tool to transfer your chat history.
- Take physical backups – Copy chat media like photos and videos to another device or cloud storage.
The more redundancy you have via multiple backup mechanisms, the less chance of ever permanently losing your chat history when reinstalling the app or switching devices.
Conclusion
Here are some key tips to summarize how to restore your WhatsApp messages after reinstalling the app:
- First try restoring from Google Drive or iCloud if you had regular backups enabled.
- Alternatively use a local backup file if you manually created one recently.
- Third party data recovery apps may help but don’t rely on them.
- Ask contacts to resend key messages as a last resort.
- Going forward, make sure you have multiple backups to prevent message loss.
With the prevalence of chat apps like WhatsApp, our conversations contain important memories, information and history we don’t want to lose. Be sure to backup your chats regularly so that you never have to worry about trying to recover lost data.