WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps with over 2 billion users worldwide. It allows you to send messages, photos, videos and make voice and video calls for free. One great feature of WhatsApp is that it regularly backs up your chat history and media to your phone’s internal storage or Google Drive. This allows you to restore your chats and media if you ever lose your phone or switch to a new device.
However, sometimes the WhatsApp restore process doesn’t go as smoothly as expected. You may run into issues where your chat history and media don’t restore properly or the restore gets stuck. This can be frustrating, but there are several troubleshooting steps you can try to fix a stuck WhatsApp restore.
Why Does WhatsApp Restore Get Stuck?
There are a few common reasons why a WhatsApp restore may get stuck or not complete properly:
– Corrupt or incomplete backup file – If your backup file is corrupted or incomplete, WhatsApp may not be able to fully restore from it. This can happen if the backup was interrupted.
– Insufficient storage space – Your phone needs enough free storage space to restore your full chat history and media files. If storage is low, the restore may fail or get stuck.
– App issues or crashes – Bugs in the WhatsApp app itself can also disrupt the restore process and cause it to freeze. Crashes or forced closures during restore can also lead to issues.
– Connection problems – Restoring from Google Drive requires an active internet connection. Any connectivity issues will stall the restore or cause it to fail.
– Authentication problems – WhatsApp may fail to authenticate your phone number or account during restore, preventing the process from completing.
– Incompatible Android version – Trying to restore chat history from a newer Android version to an extremely old version may cause compatibility issues.
How to Fix WhatsApp Restore Stuck at XX%
If your WhatsApp restore gets stuck at a certain percentage, there are a few steps you can take to try and resolve it:
– Force close and restart WhatsApp – Swipe WhatsApp away from the recents screen to fully close it. Then reopen WhatsApp and try the restore again. This may resolve any temporary glitches.
– Turn your phone off and on again – Restart your Android device completely as a troubleshooting step.
– Clear app cache and data – Go into Settings > Apps > WhatsApp > Storage and tap Clear Cache and Clear Data. This wipes the existing data and forces the app to start fresh.
– Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp – Download the latest WhatsApp version from the Play Store and set up your account again. Then attempt the restore.
– Delete and recreate Google Drive backup – Go into WhatsApp > Settings > Chats > Chat Backup > Back Up to Google Drive and delete your existing backup. Then create a new backup and try restoring.
– Free up storage space – Delete unused apps, photos and files to free up internal storage and ensure there’s enough space for the restore.
– Check Google Drive settings – Make sure auto-sync for Drive is enabled and you’re backing up over WiFi in WhatsApp settings.
– Reboot in Safe Mode – Boot your Android phone into Safe Mode and try the restore again. This will disable all third-party apps.
– Reset app preferences – In Settings > Apps > WhatsApp, tap the three-dot menu and choose Reset App Preferences.
– Update Android OS and WhatsApp – Install any pending Android updates and make sure you’re on the latest WhatsApp version.
– Try a different WiFi or mobile data – Switch to a stable WiFi or strong 4G connection to rule out any connectivity issues.
What to Do if WhatsApp Restore from Google Drive Not Working
WhatsApp lets you restore chats and media from a Google Drive backup. But sometimes this restore option stops working and your backup doesn’t get applied. Here are troubleshooting tips for when WhatsApp restore from Google Drive fails:
– Check Google Drive backup – Open Drive and make sure there is a valid WhatsApp backup file present. If not, create a new backup in WhatsApp settings.
– Verify Internet connection – You need a stable internet connection for Drive restore. Check if your WiFi or mobile data works properly.
– Clear Drive app data – Go to Settings > Apps > Google Drive > Storage > Clear Data. This will reset the app and re-sync your backup.
– Delete and reinstall WhatsApp – Removing WhatsApp completely may resolve app issues preventing restore. Install latest version after.
– Turn off battery optimizations – For some phones, disabling battery optimization for Drive and WhatsApp lets restore work better.
– Log out and in of Drive – Log out of the Drive account on your phone, restart the device, then log back in. This reconnects your account.
– Free up device storage – Ensure your phone has at least 2-3 GB of free space for restoring large backups from Drive.
– Remove Google Account – Try temporarily removing your Google account from Settings > Accounts > Google. Add it back and re-enable sync.
– Factory reset device – As a last resort, back up your data and perform a factory reset on your device. This wipes system issues.
– Contact WhatsApp support – If the above steps don’t fix Drive restore problems, contact WhatsApp support through the in-app options.
What to Do if Your WhatsApp Backup is Corrupted
A corrupted WhatsApp backup can prevent your chat history and media from being restored properly. Here are ways to deal with and fix a corrupted WhatsApp backup:
– Create new backup – Back up your WhatsApp data again from scratch. This generates a fresh backup without issues.
– Use a third-party app – Apps like iCareFone can repair corrupted WhatsApp backups by scanning and extracting usable data.
– Delete the corrupted backup – Delete your old WhatsApp backup from Drive or local storage. Then create a new backup.
– Update WhatsApp – Install the latest WhatsApp version as it may have fixes for backup corruption issues.
– Turn off battery optimization – Prevent abrupt closures during backup by disabling battery optimization for WhatsApp.
– Backup over WiFi – Back up your chats using a stable WiFi connection only to avoid incomplete backups.
– Clear app cache and data – Wipe WhatsApp’s cache and app data before creating a new backup. This deletes temporary files.
– Factory reset device – For persistent corruption, perform a factory reset on your phone after backing up data.
– Use file recovery software – If backup on SD card is corrupted, use data recovery software to extract usable backup files.
– Contact WhatsApp – Seek additional support from WhatsApp through in-app chat or Twitter if above steps don’t fix the corrupted backup issue.
Why is Your WhatsApp Backup so Big?
WhatsApp backups can gradually grow in size to occupy gigabytes of storage space. Here are some common reasons why your WhatsApp backup size may be so big:
– Numerous media files – Photos, videos and audio files shared on WhatsApp get backed up, which uses up a lot of storage.
– Long chat history – The longer you use WhatsApp, the more chat data accumulates, increasing backup size.
– Group chats – Chats with multiple people in groups take up more space compared to 1-on-1 chats.
– Frequently forwarded media – Files that are forwarded many times duplicate in the backup.
– External media auto-download – If enabled, media not sent by you also gets downloaded and backed up.
– High-resolution images/video – Media captured in high resolutions like 4K consume more backup space.
– Backing up over cellular data – Cellular data backups can be intermittent, creating duplicate files.
– Large file attachments – Documents, PDFs and other attachments also contribute to increased backup size.
– Android version change – Upgrading Android OS versions stores previous backup alongside new one.
– Undeleted chats – Manually deleting chats reduces backup size, compared to just archiving.
– No backup pruning – WhatsApp may not be pruning old chats from backup properly.
– Corrupted backup – Damaged backup files can bloat up in size and repeat unnecessarily.
How to Reduce WhatsApp Backup Size
If your WhatsApp backup size is too large, here are some tips to reduce its storage footprint:
– Delete old chats – Manually delete old one-on-one and group conversations you no longer need.
– Clear chat attachments – Save chat media to gallery if needed, then delete items from chats.
– Enable auto-delete chats – Set chats to auto-delete daily/weekly/monthly to prune them automatically.
– Limit media quality – Set media upload quality to ‘Data saver’ in Settings to share compressed images/video.
– Exclude bigger files – Don’t back up media larger than 100 MB and save them to Drive separately.
– Backup over WiFi only – Configure WhatsApp to only backup when connected to WiFi to avoid incomplete backups.
– Disable external media download – Turn off auto-download of photos/videos not sent by you under Data Usage settings.
– Export chat history – Export important chats to other formats like PDF to exclude from backups.
– Delete Google Drive backup – Optionally delete your Drive backup and start a fresh one.
– Use third-party backup tools – Apps like SHAREit let you backup chats and media selectively.
– Update WhatsApp – Keep WhatsApp updated for latest optimizations that may reduce backup size.
– Free up device storage – Delete unused apps and files to ensure adequate space for making backups.
– Factory reset phone – As a last resort, perform a factory reset on phone to wipe all data and start fresh.
Tips to Speed Up Slow WhatsApp Backups
WhatsApp backups can sometimes be slow due to file sizes, connectivity issues or app problems. Try these tips to speed up and accelerate your WhatsApp backups:
– Backup over WiFi – Use a stable WiFi network only to prevent failed or interrupted backups. Avoid mobile data.
– Close other apps – Close any RAM and bandwidth heavy apps like video streamers during backup.
– Enable WiFi sleep policy – Configure your router to prevent device sleep during backups for uninterrupted transfer.
– Limit chat backup frequency – Reduce how often WhatsApp backups your chats to lighten the load.
– Export chat history – Export important chats as documents which speeds up subsequent backups.
– Backup at off-peak times – Schedule WhatsApp backups to run at night or early morning for less network congestion.
– Compress Drive backup – On Android 11 onwards, enable Google Drive backup compression to make transfers faster.
– Free up storage space – Ensure adequate free space on phone so storage access doesn’t slow down backup.
– Turn off auto backup – Disable chat backup to Google Drive and just use local storage for quicker backups.
– Reset Google Drive app – Sign out of Drive, clear data/cache, restart phone and sign back in to sync correctly.
– Use mobile data instead – Switch to fast, stable 4G network instead of a congested public WiFi network.
– Update WhatsApp version – Install the latest WhatsApp update as it may fix bugs affecting backup speed.
Precautions to Take Before WhatsApp Account Restore
Here are some precautions to take before restoring your WhatsApp account on a new device:
– Backup fresh chats – Manually back up any recent chats on your old phone not included in the last auto backup.
– Note down 2FA PINs – Make sure you have the two-factor authentication PINs needed to verify your number.
– Delete irrelevant media – Cleanup old chat media like memes or forwarded videos to avoid restoring unnecessary content.
– Verify Google Drive backup – Check your Drive backup contains all required chats and media files before wiping phone.
– Note down chat passwords – Take screenshots of group chat links, passwords or invite codes required to rejoin them later.
– Inform contacts about new number – Let your frequently messaged contacts know in advance you’ll be using a new number.
– Export valuable chat history – Preserve any important or sentimental conversations by exporting them outside WhatsApp.
– Check for app updates – Install pending WhatsApp updates which may fix bugs affecting the restore process.
– Charge phone sufficiently – Keep your old and new phone charged above 80% to avoid unexpected power failures during restore.
– Disable security tools temporarily – Turn off antivirus or VPN on your device during the restoration process.
– Free up storage space – Ensure adequate free storage space on your new device for restoring all your backed up content.
– Use stable WiFi connection – Avoid using cellular data for download heavy restore. Use fast home WiFi instead.
WhatsApp Restore Troubleshooting FAQs
Why is my restored WhatsApp empty?
If WhatsApp restores but shows no chats, the backup file may be corrupted or incompatible. Try creating a fresh backup, re-installing WhatsApp, or restoring on a compatible Android version.
How can I transfer WhatsApp to new phone?
To move WhatsApp to a new phone, back up chats on your old phone, install WhatsApp on the new phone, verify your number, and restore chats from the backup during setup.
Can I restore WhatsApp without Google Drive?
Yes, you can restore a local WhatsApp backup saved to your phone’s storage without Google Drive. Navigate to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup > Restore to do this.
Why does my WhatsApp backup fail midway?
Backups can fail midway due to connectivity issues, low storage space, software bugs, or battery optimization cutting off WhatsApp. Fix these issues to complete a backup.
Will my WhatsApp backup transfer to new Android phone?
As long as you use the same Google account on your new Android phone, your Google Drive WhatsApp backup will automatically transfer and can be restored.
How do I fix if my old WhatsApp backup is not showing?
If an old backup doesn’t show up for restore, enable auto-backup on your WhatsApp settings again. You may need to uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp as well.
Can you transfer WhatsApp from iPhone to Android?
You cannot directly transfer WhatsApp chats from an iPhone to Android. You’ll have to backup chats on iCloud or iTunes, move to Android and then restore.
How do I restore my WhatsApp backup from external SD card?
On Android, navigate to WhatsApp > Settings > Chats > Chat Backup > Restore, tap the three-dot menu and choose to restore from SD card storage.
Conclusion
Restoring your WhatsApp chats can sometimes get stuck or fail due to various reasons. Following the troubleshooting tips in this article will help you successfully complete WhatsApp restore and recover your valuable conversations. Make sure to backup chats regularly, have enough free storage, use stable WiFi and keep the app updated to avoid restore issues in the first place. With some patience and by applying these fixes, you’ll get your WhatsApp chats back in order when shifting to a new phone.