WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. It allows you to easily chat with friends, family, co-workers, and more through one-on-one and group messaging. One of WhatsApp’s best features is its ability to backup your chat history to the cloud so you can restore it if you ever lose your chats. However, sometimes these backups can go missing or become corrupted, leading to panic when people realize years of chat history has suddenly vanished.
If you’ve ever opened WhatsApp to find your chats missing, you’re not alone. Here’s an in-depth look at why WhatsApp backups disappear and the various ways you can attempt to recover your lost chat history.
Why Did My WhatsApp Backup Disappear?
There are a few common reasons your WhatsApp chat backup could have gone missing or become inaccessible:
- You switched phones and didn’t properly transfer the backup
- Your phone was reset to factory settings, deleting the backup
- You accidentally cleared your WhatsApp data or reinstalled the app
- Your phone doesn’t have enough storage space for the backup
- Your backup became corrupted or was deleted from your cloud storage
- You changed your phone number, email, or re-verified your account
Switching phones without properly transferring your backup is one of the most common ways people lose access to their WhatsApp history. Your chat backups save to your phone’s internal storage or your Google Drive/iCloud account, so you have to make sure to backup and transfer them to your new device.
Accidentally deleting the app data, factory resetting your phone, or running out of storage space can also overwrite and erase your local backups. And even if you are backing up to the cloud, those backups could fail, get overwritten, or become corrupted over time.
Changing your phone number, email address, or re-verifying your account also causes WhatsApp to erase your message history for security reasons. So whenever you need to update any of those credentials, make sure to backup your chats first!
My Backup Was Deleted – Can I Get It Back?
If your backup has been lost or overwritten for any reason, all hope is not lost! Here are some methods you may be able to use to recover your deleted WhatsApp backup and messages:
Retrieve from Google Drive or iCloud
If you had your WhatsApp chat backup set to save to your Google Drive or iCloud account, you may be able to restore a recent version of it from there. Simply reinstall WhatsApp and select to restore from that cloud backup when prompted during setup.
This will only work if an intact backup still exists in your Drive or iCloud storage and hasn’t been overwritten or deleted. But it’s always worth a shot, as cloud backups can sometimes retain older versions of your data.
Use Local Backup Files
Even if you can’t find your backup on Google Drive or iCloud, it may still exist on your device’s local storage. WhatsApp saves backups in the following folders:
- Android: Internal Storage > WhatsApp > Databases
- iPhone: Filesystem > Library > Application Support > ChatStorage > MSGStore
Navigate to these folders and look for a file like msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12. If you find a recent local backup file, you may be able to restore from it.
Use Data Recovery Software
If you can’t find any intact backups on the cloud or your device, your last resort is to use third party data recovery software. Tools like iMyFone D-Back or EaseUS MobiSaver for Android can scan your phone and attempt to recover deleted WhatsApp data and backups.
This process will scan your raw storage sectors and pull up any recoverable data fragments related to your chats. The success rate will depend on how long ago your backup was deleted.
Retrieve from Google Account Data
On Android devices, another option is requesting an archive of your Google account data. This can contain information WhatsApp synced to your Google account, including some messages, contacts, and media.
To request your Google data archive, head to google.com/takeout on desktop. Deselect everything and only choose “WhatsApp” under the “Multiple formats Archive” option. Then click Next and choose to export your data to a downloadable file.
Once the archive is ready, download it and dig through to try recovering fragments of your WhatsApp data.
How to Prevent Losing Your WhatsApp Backup
Learning how to recover a deleted WhatsApp backup is useful, but preventing backup loss in the first place is ideal. Here are some tips to make sure you never lose your chat history again:
- Always keep backups enabled in WhatsApp’s Settings.
- Frequently create manual backups for redundancy.
- Save backups to both local storage and cloud storage.
- Back up chats before switching phones or reinstalling WhatsApp.
- Don’t delete WhatsApp or factory reset your phone without backing up first.
- Make sure to transfer backups when getting a new phone.
- Keep at least 10-20 GB free space so backups don’t get deleted.
- If changing numbers/emails, verify account after backing up.
Enabling both local and cloud backups gives you multiple layers of protection against backup loss. Setting WhatsApp to backup weekly and doing manual backups before major phone changes are also wise precautionary steps.
You should also be careful about resetting your phone or deleting the WhatsApp app without properly backing up first. And maintain adequate free storage on your phone so backups don’t get cleared away.
Following these preventative measures will help ensure your WhatsApp chat history is always saved, giving you peace of mind.
Can I Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages Without a Backup?
It is possible in some cases to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages without an existing backup to restore from. Here are a couple options that may work:
Retrieve from Notification History
If you have recently received WhatsApp messages that you accidentally deleted, you may be able to find them in your phone’s notification history log:
- Android – Settings > Notifications > Notification History
- iPhone – Settings > Notifications > Show Previews > When Unlocked
This will display snippets of your recent notifications, including messages. You can then screenshot or transcribe any important info.
Scan Storage for Message Fragments
As mentioned earlier, data recovery software like iMyFone D-Back can scan your phone’s raw storage for deleted WhatsApp fragments. Without a full backup, you may only find scattered pieces of conversations.
But this method can potentially recover at least parts of deleted chats and media files that have not yet been fully overwritten on your device.
Best Practices for Securing Your WhatsApp Chats
In addition to preventing backup loss, you also need to keep your WhatsApp chats secure from prying eyes. Here are some tips:
- Enable chat encryption in WhatsApp’s Settings > Chats.
- Set authentication requirements like fingerprint unlocking.
- Frequently change your WhatsApp PIN.
- Don’t save media to your phone’s gallery.
- Turn on security warnings about unsafe links.
- Be wary of suspicious files and links sent to you.
- Avoid connecting to public WiFi networks.
- Install a reputable VPN app to encrypt your web traffic.
Enabling all of WhatsApp’s built-in security features is a good starting point. From there, be careful about how you handle files and links sent through WhatsApp to avoid malware. Using device encryption, fingerprint unlocking, and a VPN provide additional protection.
Keeping your chats secured along with regularly backing up will ensure you have a locked vault of your important WhatsApp chat history.
Can I Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages From Someone Else’s Phone?
If you need to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages that the sender has deleted from their device, things get much more difficult. A few potential options include:
Scan Their Cloud Backups
If you can gain access to their Google Drive or iCloud backup files, you may find recoverable chat fragments in their archived WhatsApp data.
Use Their Local Backup
If you can connect their phone to a computer and find their local WhatsApp backup in internal storage, a recovery tool may be able to extract deleted messages from it if not overwritten.
Retrieve from Your Phone’s Backup
Even if the sender deleted their side of the messages, the messages may still exist in your own WhatsApp backups stored locally or in the cloud.
Just remember that restoring their deleted messages on your end is only legally permissible if you own the phone, have permission, or have a valid legal reason like investigating criminal activity.
WhatsApp Chat Backup Size Limit
WhatsApp currently allows you to back up your chats to Google Drive or iCloud with up to a maximum size limit:
| Platform | Backup Limit |
| Google Drive | 2 GB |
| iCloud | Unlimited |
On Android devices backing up to Google Drive, your backups are capped at 2 GB. This is often enough for most users’ chat histories and media.
For iPhone users, you can back up an unlimited amount of WhatsApp data to iCloud. However, your total iCloud storage plan size may still impose limits.
What Happens if You Exceed the Limit?
If your WhatsApp backup grows too large to fit within the Google Drive or iCloud limits, here is what will happen:
- You will stop receiving new backup alerts and notifications.
- Only the most recent backup made below the size limit will remain.
- All previous backup versions exceeding the limit will be deleted.
- You will only be able to restore from the last remaining backup.
So if your backup is approaching or exceeds the limit, older chat history and media may start getting deleted from your cloud storage. Make sure to occasionally prune your backups and download them to your device or computer for long-term archiving.
Does WhatsApp Notify When Backups Are Deleted?
WhatsApp does send notifications about the backup process, but does not directly notify you if backups are deleted or overwritten. Here is how to tell if a backup was deleted:
- Check the date shown for “Last Backup” in WhatsApp Settings.
- If the date is older than expected, the backup was likely deleted.
- Open your Google Drive or iCloud and look for WhatsApp backup files.
- If you don’t see an expected backup, it was likely overwritten or deleted.
- On Android you may also get a “Couldn’t Back Up” notification if backups are failing.
Your last resort is to restore from your most recent existing backup and look for any conversations, media, or details that may be missing compared to your memory and records.
Conclusion
Losing your WhatsApp chat history and backups can be frustrating. But in many cases, there are ways to recover and restore your deleted messages and media files.
First, prevent backup loss by always keeping backups enabled, saving to multiple sources, and transferring to new phones. Be very careful before resetting your device or reinstalling WhatsApp.
If your backups do disappear, try restoring from the cloud or local storage. Data recovery software and Google Takeout can potentially recover more lost data.
And enable all of WhatsApp’s security settings to keep your chats locked down. With proper precautions, you can feel confident your chat history is both preserved and protected.