WhatsApp stickers have become an essential way for people to express themselves and communicate visually in chats. From cute animals to funny memes, custom stickers let you share moments and reactions beyond just text. So when your favorite sticker packs go missing, it can be annoying and confusing. Don’t worry, there are several reasons why your WhatsApp stickers may have disappeared and a few easy ways to get them back.
Why Did My Stickers Disappear?
There are a few main reasons why you may open WhatsApp to find your stickers are gone:
- You switched phones and didn’t transfer the sticker packs
- The sticker app was uninstalled or deleted
- The sticker pack was removed from WhatsApp
- Your phone storage is full
When you get a new phone, the easiest mistake is not moving over your apps and data, including your beloved stickers. If the app providing the sticker pack gets deleted, then WhatsApp loses access to those stickers. The makers of the sticker app may also remove packs from their app, causing them to disappear from your WhatsApp sticker drawer. And if your phone storage fills up, some files may be temporarily unavailable or deleted, including recently used stickers.
So don’t panic, your stickers probably aren’t gone forever. Here are some tips to get your missing WhatsApp stickers back.
Restore Stickers from iCloud Backup
If you’re using an iPhone, your WhatsApp data including stickers may be backed up to iCloud. When you set up your new phone, be sure to restore from an iCloud backup during setup. This will transfer WhatsApp along with your chats, media, and stickers.
To check that stickers are part of your iCloud backup:
- Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud
- Tap Manage Storage > Backups
- Select your device backup
- Verify WhatsApp is listed and switch on
If WhatsApp isn’t part of your iCloud backup, you can enable it in WhatsApp settings before resetting your phone.
Use Local iTunes Backup
If you use iTunes backups instead of iCloud, connect your new iPhone to your computer. Open iTunes and select your device. Under Backups, choose Restore Backup and pick a local backup file containing WhatsApp data. This will transfer stickers saved in WhatsApp at the time of the backup.
Move Stickers to New Android Phone
For Android users, your best bet is to use the Switch to Android app from Google to transfer apps, contacts, photos, videos, and more from iPhone. This should port WhatsApp and any associated stickers to your new device.
If switching from another Android, here are your options to move stickers:
- Copy WhatsApp folder from old phone to new phone during setup
- Use backup & restore within WhatsApp
- Install the same sticker apps and redownload packs
Manually copying the WhatsApp folder from internal storage requires connecting both phones to a computer with a USB cable.
The easiest way is to use WhatsApp’s built-in backup feature. Tap Settings > Chats > Chat Backup > Back Up to back up your chats and media to Google Drive. On your new phone, install WhatsApp, verify your number, then tap Restore to restore chats and stickers from the cloud backup.
Download Sticker Apps Again
If your phone has limited storage, WhatsApp stickers are expendable files that may have been deleted to free up space. You can simply reinstall the sticker provider apps you had before, then redownload the free or paid sticker packs within the apps to get them back in WhatsApp. Search for the sticker apps in the Play Store or App Store and go through adding packs to your collection again.
Retrieve Deleted Stickers on WhatsApp
Accidentally deleting a beloved sticker pack is very frustrating. The good news is that WhatsApp has a simple way to recover recently deleted stickers.
- In WhatsApp, tap on the Stickers button
- At the top, tap the plus icon to add stickers
- Tap ‘My Stickers’ at the top
- Tap the trash icon to view deleted stickers
- Tap on any pack you want to recover
This will restore the sticker pack to your list as if you never removed it. Note that this only works for stickers deleted within the last month or so. For stickers deleted long ago, your only options are reinstalling the apps or restoring a backup containing the stickers.
Get Stickers Back from Third-Party Apps
Many WhatsApp users install third-party sticker provider apps from the app stores. If those apps get deleted, it can wipe out dozens of packs. Luckily reinstalling the app and syncing with WhatsApp will restore your purchases and downloads within the app.
Some popular WhatsApp sticker apps to reinstall:
- Sticker Maker
- Sticker.ly
- Sticker Maker Studio
- Gboard
- Mojito
Open each app, tap WhatsApp integration, and verify your number to sync sticker packs purchased or added previously. This should populate all your missing stickers within WhatsApp again.
Contact Sticker App Developers
In rare cases, sticker packs may disappear from third-party apps due to the developer removing them. If you paid to unlock certain sticker packs, reach out to the app developer letting them know the issue and asking if they can be restored. Most reputable sticker apps will happily help reinstate paid sticker packs that vanished.
Add New Sticker Packs
While working to recover your old favorites, take the opportunity to explore new WhatsApp stickers and expand your collection! The Play Store and App Store offer hundreds of free and paid sticker packs spanning categories like movies, sports, games, faces, emoji, and more.
Some great places to find new WhatsApp sticker packs:
- sticker.ly
- Sticker Maker
- Toonme
- Resso
- Telegram (sync packs to WhatsApp)
Add sticker variety by downloading apps tied to your hobbies, favorite shows, sports teams, or celebrities. WhatsApp allows adding endless sticker packs from different apps all in one place. Tap the Add Sticker button within WhatsApp to browse recommended and popular packs. Search for keywords like “gaming”, “food”, “movies” etc to find fun new stickers for expressing reactions in chats.
Make Your Own Custom Stickers
For truly personalized stickers, many apps let you create your own art or use photos to build custom WhatsApp sticker packs. Some top options include:
- Sticker Maker
- Sticker Maker Studio
- Personal Stickers
- Stickerly
- Pic Collage
These apps provide templates, fonts, emojis, and design tools to craft unique stickers from scratch. You can turn selfies, group photos, or something wholesome like your pet into a personalized WhatsApp sticker pack. DIY stickers make conversing even more fun.
Prevent Losing Stickers Again
To avoid your favorite stickers disappearing without notice again, here are some handy tips:
- Back up WhatsApp data regularly
- Save stickers to camera roll before uninstalling apps
- Don’t delete sticker provider apps
- Download packs instead of streaming them
- Pin your most-used packs to the top
- Check for auto-delete settings in WhatsApp
WhatsApp auto-saves chats, but periodically create manual backups to Google Drive or iCloud as added insurance. When removing sticker apps, first open each pack and save individual stickers to your camera roll so you don’t lose them entirely.
Try not to delete third-party sticker apps even if you don’t use them actively. And download packs fully instead of just streaming them as needed, so they persist if the app is ever removed.
Within WhatsApp, you can pin up to three favorite packs to the top of your sticker drawer for quick access. And confirm auto-delete settings for media aren’t enabled in WhatsApp, which could wipe out stickers after a certain timeframe.
Conclusion
Losing WhatsApp stickers can be really annoying, especially if you paid for premium packs. Thankfully between backups, restores, reinstalling apps, and WhatsApp’s deleted sticker recovery, you have quite a few options to rescue your disappeared sticker collection. Following the tips above, you should be able to recover most if not all of your lost WhatsApp stickers.
| Reason Stickers Disappeared | Solution |
|---|---|
| Switched phones | Restore from iCloud/iTunes backup or Google Drive backup |
| Sticker app uninstalled | Reinstall sticker app and sync packs |
| Pack removed by developer | Contact app support to restore purchase |
| Storage full | Free up space and redownload stickers |
| Stickers deleted in WhatsApp | Recover recently deleted stickers in WhatsApp |
And don’t forget to add awesome new sticker packs while you have the chance! With thousands of sticker options, you’re sure to find fun new ways to liven up your chats.