Photos and videos shared on WhatsApp hold a lot of memories and act as an important mode of communication for many users. However, there may be times when you accidentally delete some photos or videos from a chat and wish to recover them later. While WhatsApp doesn’t provide a direct way to restore deleted media, there are some workarounds that can help you get back your deleted photos and videos.
Why can’t you find deleted photos in WhatsApp gallery?
When you delete a photo or video from a WhatsApp chat, it gets removed from your phone’s local WhatsApp media storage. The media doesn’t go to trash and neither can you see it in the WhatsApp gallery. This is because WhatsApp deletes media permanently once it is removed from a chat.
However, even though the files are deleted from your phone’s storage, they may still be present on WhatsApp’s servers if you had previously backed up your chats to Google Drive or iCloud. So if you had backed up your chats before deleting the media files, you can restore them from the backup.
How to recover deleted WhatsApp photos from Google Drive backup
If you have Chat Backup enabled for your WhatsApp account and use Google Drive to store backups, you can recover deleted photos and videos from Google Drive. Here are the steps to restore deleted media files from Google Drive backup of WhatsApp chats:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
- Verify that backup to Google Drive is enabled. Tap on ‘Backup’ to force a new backup if required.
- Now uninstall WhatsApp from your phone and reinstall it.
- Upon reinstalling, verify your phone number on WhatsApp.
- On the ‘Restore’ prompt, tap Restore to restore your chats and media from Google Drive backup.
- Once restoration is complete, open the required chat where you had deleted the photos or videos.
- The deleted media files will now be available again in the chat.
This method retrieves all your deleted media from Google Drive backup and restores it locally on your phone. Do note that it will replace your current version of WhatsApp and chat history with the backed up version.
How to recover deleted photos from iCloud backup
For iPhone users who backup chats to iCloud, the process is quite similar. Follow these steps to restore deleted WhatsApp media files from iCloud backup:
- On your iPhone, go to WhatsApp > Settings > Chats > Chat Backup and ensure backup to iCloud is enabled.
- Force a manual iCloud backup of WhatsApp if required.
- Now delete WhatsApp and reinstall it again from the App Store.
- Upon reinstall, verify your phone number and tap Restore when prompted.
- This will restore your WhatsApp chats and media files from iCloud backup.
- Open the required chat to view the recovered deleted photos/videos.
By following these steps, you can successfully restore any photos, videos or other media files that you may have accidentally deleted from a WhatsApp chat.
How to recover deleted WhatsApp media files without backup
If you don’t have chat backup enabled or require restoring media from a very old backup, the above methods may not work. In such case, you can resort to using a local data recovery app to restore deleted files from internal storage or SD card.
WhatsApp stores all your media files in the WhatsApp/Media folder in phone storage. When you delete files from chat, they get removed from this folder. But the deleted data still stays on your phone’s storage until it gets overwritten by new data.
By using data recovery apps, you can scan your phone’s storage and restore previously deleted files from WhatsApp/Media folder. Some apps that can help recover deleted WhatsApp media files are:
- iSkysoft Toolbox – Android & iOS
- Dr.Fone – Android & iOS
- DiskDigger – Android
To recover deleted WhatsApp photos without backup:
- Download and install any data recovery app on your Android/iPhone.
- Grant the app required permissions and scan your phone memory/storage.
- The app will display all media files that can be recovered. Look for deleted files from WhatsApp/Media folder.
- Preview and select the photos/videos you wish to restore.
- Recover the selected files to phone gallery or any other location.
This method doesn’t require any chat backup and can retrieve old deleted files from WhatsApp. However, the success rate depends on whether the storage space was overwritten with new data or not.
Tips to prevent accidental deletion of WhatsApp media
To avoid the hassle of having to restore deleted photos/videos from WhatsApp, you can follow these best practices:
- Enable auto backup of WhatsApp chats to Google Drive or iCloud.
- Manually backup chats regularly or before making major changes to chats.
- Turn on the Recycle Bin feature in WhatsApp (Android only) to recover recently deleted files.
- Be careful while selecting media files to delete in chats.
- Avoid installing apps that can delete WhatsApp data or media.
- Create backups of important media files outside WhatsApp, such as on Google Photos.
What files can you recover from WhatsApp?
WhatsApp allows you to send and receive the following types of media files in chats:
- Photos
- Videos
- GIFs and stickers
- Audio files and voice messages
- Documents (PDF, docs, spreadsheets, slides etc.)
Any of the above file types that you delete from WhatsApp chats can be recovered using the backup restore or data recovery methods outlined earlier. The process remains the same for all file formats.
However, you cannot recover:
- Text messages deleted in WhatsApp chats
- Call history if deleted from WhatsApp
- Files deleted from sender’s device in a chat
- Entire chat threads deleted by either party
- Backups older than 40 days (for iOS users)
So while recovering photos, videos and other media is possible in WhatsApp, plain text messages and chats cannot be restored if permanently deleted by the user.
Can you recover deleted WhatsApp messages?
WhatsApp gives users the option to delete messages for everyone in individual and group chats. When you delete a message for everyone, it gets removed from the chat for you as well as all other participants.
Unfortunately, there is no way to recover messages in WhatsApp that are deleted for everyone, neither on the sender nor the recipient’s end. This is because WhatsApp instantly erases them from its servers once they are deleted.
However, you can restore deleted messages in the following cases:
- Message deleted for you: If the sender deletes a message just for you, you can recover it from a local WhatsApp backup.
- iPhone Recycle Bin: On iOS, recently deleted messages get stored in Recycle Bin for 30 days.
- Android Notification Log: Messages deleted in the last few hours can be found in the notification log.
But there are no guarantees, and most scenarios involving permanent deletion of messages for everyone will lead to irrecoverable data loss.
Does WhatsApp notify the sender if you restore deleted photos?
No, restoring deleted photos or videos from your own WhatsApp backups does not notify the sender who originally deleted them. This is because during local backup restore, the deleted media gets recovered only to your device’s local storage.
The files do not get re-uploaded to WhatsApp’s servers. So the sender has no way of knowing that you recovered the deleted files from backup. Your restore process remains completely private to your device.
Even if you restore chat backups from Google Drive or iCloud, WhatsApp does not inform other parties about it. You can securely get back your deleted photos without the sender finding out.
Is there any WhatsApp deleted photo recovery app?
There are several apps on Play Store and App Store that claim to recover deleted photos, videos and chats from WhatsApp. However, most such WhatsApp recovery apps do not work as advertised.
WhatsApp has end-to-end encryption that prevents third-party tools from accessing chat data. The only reliable method is to restore media from your own backups stored on Google Drive or iCloud.
Some apps like iSkysoft Toolbox, Dr.Fone and DiskDigger can recover deleted files from phone storage by digging up media from the WhatsApp/Media folder. But they cannot fetch media directly from WhatsApp due to encryption restrictions.
In summary, you should be very cautious about third party apps that claim to recover deleted data from WhatsApp itself. Your best bet is to rely on official backups.
Conclusion
Accidentally deleting photos, videos or other precious media files from WhatsApp chats can be very frustrating. Fortunately, in most cases it is possible to get them back.
For latest deletions, enable WhatsApp’s Recycle Bin and Chat Backup to avoid permanent data loss. In case of older media files, resort to restoring your Google Drive or iCloud backups.
And when all else fails, data recovery apps provide one final lifeline to rescue deleted files from phone storage, provided the space wasn’t overwritten.
So stay prepared and don’t lose hope if you ever delete important WhatsApp media files. With the right tools and techniques, you can still recover your lost photos, videos, documents and other chat data.