WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps worldwide, with billions of users. It allows easy communication through text messages, voice calls, video calls, and more. However, despite its usefulness, many WhatsApp users have found themselves needing to recover deleted WhatsApp messages for various reasons.
Losing important WhatsApp messages can be frustrating, especially if the account itself has been deleted. The good news is – with the right tools and techniques, recovering deleted WhatsApp messages from a deleted account is possible in many cases.
Why Would You Need to Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages?
There are several common scenarios that can lead to the need to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages from a deleted account:
- Accidentally deleting important messages and media
- Having your phone stolen or lost, resulting in your WhatsApp account being deleted
- Deleting the WhatsApp account yourself without properly backing up conversations
- Needing to access old WhatsApp messages for legal reasons
Regardless of how the messages were deleted, being able to recover them can be critical in many situations. The messages may contain crucial information, recent conversations, media files, or cherished memories you don’t want to lose.
Is It Possible to Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages from a Deleted Account?
The short answer is yes – it is often possible to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages even after the account has been deleted. However, the success depends on a few key factors:
- Time since deletion – The sooner you try to recover the messages after deletion, the higher your chances of success.
- Backups – Having a recent backup of your WhatsApp data will make message recovery much easier.
- Device used – The device originally used for WhatsApp can play a role in the recovery process.
- Recovery tools – Specialized third-party tools are often needed to restore deleted messages from a deleted account.
As long as the deleted data hasn’t been overwritten by new data on your device, there is a good possibility of retrieving your lost WhatsApp messages. But complex scenarios like a deleted account require the right approach.
How WhatsApp Messages are Stored on Android and iOS
To understand how to recover deleted WhatsApp messages, it helps to know how the app stores data on the two most popular platforms – Android and iOS.
WhatsApp on Android
On Android devices, WhatsApp stores all your conversations, media, and account info in an encrypted database file typically located at:
Internal Storage > WhatsApp > Databases > msgstore.db.crypt12
This database file contains all message history and is constantly updated as you continue using WhatsApp. When messages are deleted, they are not immediately removed from this database, merely marked as deleted. So even after deletion, the messages remain recoverable until overwritten by new data.
WhatsApp on iPhone
For iPhones, WhatsApp data is saved in an encrypted backup file in the iCloud Drive. The chat history and media files are not directly accessible to users. However, it is possible to extract WhatsApp data from iCloud backups if you have the encryption key.
On iOS, WhatsApp media files like photos or videos are stored separately in the Camera Roll or Photos app rather than within the WhatsApp app itself. So media files may still be recoverable even if chat history is lost.
Best Methods to Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages from a Deleted Account
Now that we’ve looked at how WhatsApp stores data on Android and iOS, here are the most effective methods to recover deleted WhatsApp messages from a deleted account on each platform:
1. Android Data Recovery Software
The best approach for Android is to use professional third-party data recovery software. These tools are designed specifically to extract deleted data from Android devices, even from deleted apps like WhatsApp.
Software like FoneDog Toolkit – Android Data Recovery uses advanced scanning algorithms to find residual traces of deleted WhatsApp messages in the phone’s storage. It searches every corner of the phone memory for recoverable data.
The key advantages of Android data recovery software are:
- Recovers virtually all types of deleted data – messages, contacts, photos, videos, call logs, documents, etc.
- Allows selective recovery – you can choose only the WhatsApp messages you want to restore
- Simple user interface for beginners
- Provides preview of recoverable data
- WhatsApp messages can be exported in HTML or PDF format
- Works even when WhatsApp account is deleted or phone is damaged
For Android users whose WhatsApp account is deleted,Specialized Android data recovery software offers the best way to rescue your valuable chat history.
2. Restore from Google Drive Backup
Another option on Android is restoring your chat history from Google Drive. WhatsApp automatically saves daily backups to Google Drive, provided you enabled this option in WhatsApp settings.
The backup contains your most recent conversations until the time it was created. So even if your WhatsApp account is deleted, you can download the latest backup from Google Drive to your Android device and restore conversations up to the date of the backup.
However, this method only works if you had activated WhatsApp backup in Settings and the backup is fairly recent. It also will not recover any messages deleted prior to the last backup.
3. Retrieve from iCloud Backup
For iOS users, restoring WhatsApp chats from an iCloud backup can be your best bet for recovering deleted messages from a deleted account.
WhatsApp backs up your iPhone data to iCloud periodically, provided you enabled iCloud backup in WhatsApp settings. The backup contains your chat history, photos, videos and more.
To restore WhatsApp data from iCloud on iPhone:
- Uninstall WhatsApp if you still have it on your phone
- Install WhatsApp again and verify your phone number
- On the Backup Found screen, tap Restore when prompted
- Select the iCloud backup you want to restore
- Enter your encryption key if you set one
- Wait for WhatsApp to restore chats and media from iCloud
This will recover as much data as was there in your last iCloud backup. However, any messages deleted since the backup will not be retrievable through this method.
4. Try WhatsApp Email Chat History
WhatsApp has an option to export your chat history via email. If you had used this before deleting your account, you can access deleted messages through the emailed chat history.
To find your emailed WhatsApp chat history:
- Search your email inbox for emails from WhatsApp containing chat history
- Emails will be titled “Chat history with [contact name]”
- Open the emails and click View Report to see your conversations
- Messages will be organized by date, with media attachments included
However, this method only provides access to chat history that was emailed before your account deletion. Any newer messages will still be lost.
Tips to Avoid Losing WhatsApp Messages
To avoid the headache of trying to recover deleted WhatsApp messages from a deleted account, here are some handy tips to prevent data loss in the first place:
- Backup regularly – Configure daily backups to Google Drive or iCloud.
- Export chat history – Email yourself recent chat history for added backup.
- Avoid uninstalling WhatsApp – First take backups before deleting the app.
- Enable security options – Set up two-step verification and lock WhatsApp with a password or fingerprint to prevent unauthorized access.
- Be wary of phone resets – Factory resetting your device will wipe WhatsApp data if you haven’t backed up.
- Download important media – Periodically save photos, videos, or documents you want to keep permanently.
Conclusion
Retrieving deleted WhatsApp messages after your account has been erased can seem daunting. But in many cases, it is possible to recover your precious conversations, photos, videos and other data using the right recovery methods.
For Android users, specialized data recovery apps offer the best chance of salvaging deleted WhatsApp data. On iPhone, restoring from an iCloud backup is the go-to solution. Backups, recent chat exports and acting quickly after data loss also boost success chances.
Following a few simple data protection measures can prevent you from ever needing to recover deleted WhatsApp data. Backup your chat history, secure your account, and avoid unnecessary deletions or factory resets. But if you do end up losing valuable WhatsApp messages, the recovery options outlined above should help get them back.