WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. It allows users to send messages, photos, videos, documents and make voice and video calls easily. WhatsApp also provides the option to backup chats to Google Drive or iCloud. This helps restore chats if you lose your phone or switch to a new device.
However, sometimes users forget to take regular backups or the backup gets corrupted. In such cases, you might end up losing all your WhatsApp chats and media when you need to restore your account. If no backup is available, is it still possible to get back your precious chats? Let’s find out.
Why Taking Backups is Important
WhatsApp provides two types of backups – local and cloud backups.
Local Android backups are stored on your phone’s internal storage or SD card. iOS backups are saved on iCloud Drive. These are taken everyday automatically if you have the feature enabled under WhatsApp > Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
Cloud backups save your chat history to Google Drive (Android) or iCloud (iOS). These can be configured to backup daily, weekly or monthly. Cloud backups are crucial if you want to restore chats on a new phone.
Regular backups ensure you never lose your chat history even if you lose your phone or switch devices. They safeguard important conversations, photos, videos and other shared media. With over 65 billion messages sent daily, you can imagine how much data is at risk if backups are not taken properly.
Some key reasons why WhatsApp backup is important:
- Preserve chat history if you lose or damage your phone
- Restore chats seamlessly when switching to a new phone
- Save all your photos, videos and voice messages shared on WhatsApp
- Retain special chats and moments you want to treasure forever
- Avoid losing business conversations and critical data
So always make sure you have enabled chat backups appropriately under WhatsApp settings. Use both local and cloud backups for maximum protection.
Risks of Not Taking Backup
Losing precious memories and information shared on WhatsApp can be devastating. Here are some key risks of not taking proper WhatsApp backups:
- All your chat history will be permanently erased if your phone is damaged, lost or upgraded.
- You cannot restore chats on a new phone if you switch devices.
- Important photos, videos, voice messages and media shared in chats will be lost.
- Confidential business conversations and critical data is lost forever.
- No record of special memories like weddings, birthdays and celebrations.
- Kids might lose cherished photos and chats from grandparents.
- Streaks reset leading to disappointment for Snapchat users.
- Time consuming to rebuild ruined group chats from scratch.
As you can imagine, not taking backups can lead to frustration, regret and even relationship problems in some cases.
How to Restore Chats if No Backup Available
Now let’s come to the key question – if you have not taken any backup at all, is it still possible to restore your priceless chats? Unfortunately if no backup exists, there is no direct way to retrieve your old WhatsApp chats.
However, all hope is not lost! Here are some methods that might help recover at least some of your precious memories:
Retrieve from Google Drive or iCloud
Many users are unaware that even after uninstalling WhatsApp, their chat backups still exist on Google Drive or iCloud. So first check if any backups are still available there:
- Android: Open Google Drive on the web or app > Check for a WhatsApp folder > Contains chat backups taken earlier
- iOS: Open Settings > Tap your profile > iCloud > Manage Storage > Look for WhatsApp backup
If you find any older backups, you can restore chats from that point onwards.
Export Chats from Email Backups
WhatsApp used to email chat histories regularly in the past. Check your email inbox for any emails from WhatsApp with chat logs. If available, you can export the chats as a text file.
Retrieve from Local Storage
On Android, check your phone’s internal storage or memory card for a folder called WhatsApp/Databases. It may contain local backups you can restore from. On iOS, connect to iTunes and check for a WhatsApp backup.
Third-party Apps
Some apps like Dr.Fone and iMyFone claim to recover WhatsApp chats by scanning your phone’s storage. However, this does not work if you have deleted and reinstalled WhatsApp. Evaluate risks before trying such apps.
Contact Friends
If you desperately need to retrieve important chats, message or call your friends to ask them to forward you conversations and media from their backups.
Check Social Media & Camera Roll
Media like photos and videos shared on WhatsApp might still be available in your camera roll or social media backups. You can also find important profile pictures, DP’s etc on Facebook, Instagram etc.
How to Restore WhatsApp from Google Drive Backup
If you are lucky to find a Google Drive backup, here are the steps to restore chats on Android:
- Install and open WhatsApp on your new device
- Enter your phone number and verify it
- On the ‘Restore chats’ screen, tap Restore
- Select the Google account your drive backup is on
- WhatsApp will fetch the backup and restore your chats
Your chat history will be retrieved from the date of the latest backup. Media like photos and videos may take time to download.
How to Restore WhatsApp from iCloud Backup
To restore an iCloud backup on iPhone:
- Get your new iPhone set up and install WhatsApp
- Launch WhatsApp and enter your phone number
- On the ‘Restore Chats’ screen, tap Restore
- Sign in to your iCloud account containing the WhatsApp backup
- Allow WhatsApp to access iCloud Drive and restore data
Your old chats will be restored. Media will be recovered as you access each chat.
How to Restore Selective Chats
If you only want to retrieve specific conversations from a huge backup, here are the selective restore options:
Android – Local Backup
- Locate local backup on device storage
- Use an file explorer to access the backups
- Navigate to the chat you need and copy it
- Paste the chat file into a new WhatsApp local backup
- Restore chats from this selective backup
iOS – iCloud Backup
- Install iMazing app on computer
- Connect iPhone and launch iMazing
- Select your device and click Manage Backups
- Preview and selectively export required chats
- Mail exported chats to yourself
- View chats on any device
Google Drive Backup
- Install WhatsApp Viewer for Google Drive Chrome extension
- Open the extension and select your backup
- Choose the chats you want and export
- Save exported chats to device
How to Prevent Chat Loss in Future
Going forward, you need to be diligent in taking timely WhatsApp backups to avoid ever losing your chats again:
- Enable daily local backup in WhatsApp settings
- Configure weekly cloud backup to Google Drive or iCloud
- Manually backup chats before uninstalling or switching phones
- Check backup status and size occasionally
- Update to a new phone or OS version cautiously
- Avoid rooting Android or jailbreaking iOS devices
- Be careful of apps that claim to transfer WhatsApp data
- Enable security options like two-step verification for extra safety
Following these best practices will ensure your chats remain protected in the future.
Conclusion
Losing your precious memories and information on WhatsApp can be devastating. While there is no foolproof method to restore chats if no backup exists, trying the techniques mentioned in this article might help you recover at least some old chats.
Going forward, be disciplined about daily local and weekly cloud backups. This will protect your data even if your phone is damaged or lost. WhatsApp chats often contain your most special moments and conversations. So be sure to backup regularly and stay in touch!