WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, used by over 2 billion people. It allows you to send messages, photos, videos, documents and make voice and video calls.
One useful but lesser known WhatsApp feature is the ability to archive chats. Archiving a chat hides it from your main Chats tab, which can help reduce clutter and distraction. However, at some point you may need to access an archived chat again.
On Android, accessing your archived WhatsApp chats is easy. In this article, we’ll walk through the steps to view, open and unarchive archived WhatsApp chats on Android. We’ll also provide tips on managing your chat archive.
What Does Archiving a Chat Do?
When you archive a chat in WhatsApp, it moves the chat out of your Chats tab and into the Archived chats section. Archiving a chat:
– Removes it from your main Chats list, so your list only shows unarchived chats
– Stops notifications from that chat, so you won’t get notified about new messages
– Keeps the chat’s history intact, so you can access it later
Archiving is useful for tidying up your Chats list and muting conversations you don’t need regular notifications from. It doesn’t delete any messages.
You can archive both individual and group chats. Your contacts do not get notified when you archive a chat.
How to View Archived Chats on Android
Viewing your archived WhatsApp chats on Android is simple:
1. Open WhatsApp
2. Tap the three dot menu icon in the top right
3. Select Archived chats
This will open your Archived chats list. It shows all your archived message threads in chronological order, with the most recently archived thread at the top.
Things to note:
– Your archived chats may be organized into categories like Unmuted, Muted, Groups, and Broadcast Lists.
– Unarchived chats show up under the category “Chats” in your archive.
– You can scroll through the list to view chat previews and timestamps.
– Tapping a chat opens it so you can read messages. The chat remains archived.
– Chats you mute go to the Muted category in your archive.
So in summary, your WhatsApp archive contains all archived threads, organized by mute status and chat type. It provides an easy way to access and view any archived conversations on Android.
How to Open an Archived Chat
Once you’ve located an archived WhatsApp chat, opening it to view messages is simple:
1. Go to Archived chats in the menu
2. Tap the chat you want to open
3. This will take you into the chat view to read messages
The chat will still remain archived. To unarchive it and move it back to your Chats tab:
1. Open the archived chat
2. Tap the three dot menu icon
3. Select Unarchive chat
This will instantly unarchive the chat and return it to your Chats list. The chat will show up on top as the most recent conversation.
So in summary, you can read archived chats just like normal chats, and unarchiving brings them out of your archive into your main chat list again.
How to Temporarily View Archived Chats
If you just need a quick look at your archived chats, there’s a handy shortcut to view them temporarily:
1. In your Chats tab, tap and hold on the Archived chats entry
This will open a popup overlay showing your archived threads. You can scroll through and tap any conversation to open it.
When you tap outside the overlay, it will close and return you to your regular chat list. The archives themselves remain unchanged.
Think of this as a quick peek at your archive without fully accessing the Archived chats screen. It’s great for quickly checking older conversations.
How to Permanently Delete Archived Chats
Over time, your chat archive may accumulate conversations you no longer need. To permanently delete chats from your archive:
1. Go to Archived chats
2. Tap and hold the chat you want to delete
3. Tap Delete
4. Confirm the deletion in the popup prompt
This will delete the chat and its message history forever. The process is the same for individual and group chats.
Deleted chats can’t be recovered, so only delete conversations you’re sure you no longer need. With group chats, you can always rejoin the group to access old messages.
Regularly pruning your archive can make it easier to manage and search. Focus on retaining important threads and removing obsolete ones.
How to Archive a Chat on Android
To archive conversations you don’t need cluttering up your Chats screen:
1. Open the chat you wish to archive
2. Tap the three dot menu icon
3. Choose Archive chat
This will instantly move the chat out of your Chats list and into your archive.
You can also archive chats directly from your Chats list:
1. Tap and hold a chat
2. Choose Archive chat in the popup menu
The process is the same for archiving individual and group threads. Chats you pin to the top will remain pinned when archived.
Archiving chats by conversation allows you to tidy up your messaging app selectively. Archive outdated or low priority chats to keep your main list focused.
How to Unarchive All Chats
If you want to restore your full archived chat history en masse to your Chats screen:
1. Go to Archived chats in the menu
2. Tap the three dot menu button
3. Select Unarchive all chats
This will unarchive every archived conversation, returning them to your main Chats list. Chats will be sorted by most recent activity, regardless of when they were archived.
Unarchiving all chats is useful if you want to reset your Chats tab and start fresh. It may result in a cluttered list though, so selective unarchiving is usually better.
How to Mute Archived Chats
In your Archived chats list, you’ll see conversations categorized as Unmuted or Muted.
Muting an archived chat prevents notifications if new messages arrive in that conversation. To mute an unmuted archive:
1. Go to Archived chats
2. Tap and hold the unmuted chat
3. Select Mute in the menu
This will move that chat from Unmuted to Muted in your archive list.
You can still open muted chats to view messages. But muting them suppresses notifications, which helps reduce distraction from archived threads.
How to Unmute Archived Chats
If you change your mind and want to unmute an archived conversation:
1. Go to Archived chats
2. Tap and hold the muted chat
3. Select Unmute in the menu
This will move the chat from Muted back to Unmuted in your archive. You’ll get notifications for new incoming messages again.
Toggling muting on archived chats lets you customize which conversations can notify you even if archived. Keep chats muted until you need to return to them.
How to Archive Chats by Default
You can set new chats to always archive by default instead of going to your Chats screen:
1. Go to WhatsApp Settings > Chats
2. Enable Archive chats by default
Now whenever you start a new chat thread, it will automatically be archived rather than shown in your chat list.
This option helps instantly reduce clutter by archiving unimportant conversations you don’t need clogging up your main interface.
How to Delete Archived Chats Automatically
Another useful option in WhatsApp settings: automatically deleting archived chats after a set duration of time:
1. Go to Settings > Chats > Archived chats
2. Select Delete archived chats
3. Choose a duration – like 6 months or 1 year
WhatsApp will now delete archived chats older than that duration. It’s a great way to clear out old unused conversations and keep your archive trimmed down.
But note deleted chats can’t be recovered, so only use this if you’re sure you don’t need the old messages. You can always change the setting later.
WhatsApp Archive Size Limit
WhatsApp chats, including your archive, can take up significant storage space on your phone over time.
Android limits the WhatsApp archive size as follows:
– Archived chats maximum size: 100 MB
– Maximum number of archived chats: 10,000
Once your archive hits either of those limits, WhatsApp will automatically delete older archived chats to free up space. This happens in the background without notifications.
The limits prevent your archive from occupying too much device storage. But for most users, it’s unlikely to be an issue – you’d have to build up a very large archive size to hit those caps.
Archived Chats and Google Drive Backups
WhatsApp gives you the option to backup your chat history to Google Drive. This includes your archived conversations.
So if you delete an archived chat, but have Google Drive backups enabled, you can still recover that chat from the backup if needed.
Here’s how chat backups work:
– Backups include your archive and other chat data
– They occur periodically when charging and connected to WiFi
– Only the latest backup is stored – previous backups are overwritten
– You can restore from backup when reinstalling WhatsApp
So enabling backups provides a safety net for your archived chats. Just remember Google Drive backups get overwritten by the latest version.
Third-party Archived Chat Viewers
There are various third party apps that let you view archived WhatsApp chats extracted from your phone’s local storage or Google Drive backup.
Some popular options include:
– WAMR: Allows browsing your archived chats from a PC
– BackupTrans: Extracts archives from local or cloud backups
– Dr. Fone: Android data recovery software that can retrieve archives
However, use caution with such apps – security and privacy are not guaranteed. Official WhatsApp capabilities may be better for most users.
Tips for Managing Your WhatsApp Archive
Here are some tips for effectively organizing and managing your WhatsApp archive on Android:
– Archive stale chats to clear clutter in your main Chats list
– Mute archived chats you still want in the archive but don’t need notifications from
– Unarchive important conversations when you need to continue them
– Prune very old or unneeded chats from the archive regularly
– Use default archiving and auto-deletion to maintain a tidy archive
– Enable Google Drive backup to safeguard archived chat history
– Archive first, then delete if you still need to clear space after archiving
– Avoid third-party apps to view archives unless you fully understand security risks
– Categorize chats into different WhatsApp groups for easy archiving and muting
Keeping your WhatsApp archive organized helps you quickly find old conversations and minimizes clutter. Archiving chats by default prevents unimportant chats from accumulating.
Conclusion
WhatsApp’s archived chats feature provides a simple way to organize your messaging app and reduce noise. On Android devices, you can easily access, open, mute, and delete your archived conversations.
Key options include viewing your archive, restoring chats individually or in bulk, muting notifications, and auto-deleting old threads. Setting chats to archive by default prevents clutter.
Archiving stale or low priority chats helps streamline your WhatsApp experience and focus on the conversations that matter most. With archived chats and Google Drive backup, your message history remains accessible if needed.