WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps globally, with over 2 billion users worldwide. It allows users to easily connect with friends and family through messaging, voice and video calls. One of the key features of WhatsApp is its contact list, which stores all your WhatsApp contacts.
But where exactly is the WhatsApp contact list stored? In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into where your WhatsApp contacts are saved on Android, iOS and Windows devices.
Where WhatsApp Contacts are Stored on Android
On Android devices, WhatsApp contact list is stored in the phone’s internal storage. More specifically, it is saved in the WhatsApp database file located at:
/data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/wa.db
This database file contains all your WhatsApp data, including your messages, media files, and contact list. Your contacts are stored in the table named ‘wa_contacts’.
Apart from the internal database, your WhatsApp contacts are also synced with your Google account if you have it linked. So even if you uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp, your contacts will be restored from your Google account when you log back in.
In addition, your WhatsApp contacts may also be backed up to your device’s external SD card if you have enabled backups in WhatsApp settings. The backup files are stored in the WhatsApp folder on your SD card.
Accessing WhatsApp Contacts on Android
Although your contacts are stored in the WhatsApp internal database, you cannot directly access this database file on your Android device. However, there are a couple of methods you can use to export your WhatsApp contacts:
- Using the Chat backup option in WhatsApp settings to backup chats to Google Drive. Your contacts will be included in this backup.
- Using third-party apps like Backuptrans Android WhatsApp Transfer. This can backup and export your WhatsApp contacts to your device storage or SD card.
Where WhatsApp Contacts are Stored on iPhone
On iPhones, WhatsApp takes advantage of the iOS contact management system to store your contacts. Here is where your WhatsApp contacts are stored:
- Device Contacts: Your WhatsApp contacts are stored in your device’s local Contacts app. Any new WhatsApp contact you add will be synced to your local iPhone contacts.
- iCloud: Your WhatsApp contacts are also synced with your iCloud account, if you have enabled iCloud backup. So your contacts remain safely backed up on iCloud.
- iTunes Backup: When you backup your iPhone data via iTunes on your computer, your WhatsApp contacts are included in the backup. So you can restore from iTunes if needed.
Accessing WhatsApp Contacts on iPhone
To access your WhatsApp contacts on an iPhone:
- Open the Contacts app to view all your contacts, including WhatsApp contacts synced from WhatsApp.
- You can export your device contacts via iTunes when connecting your iPhone to a computer.
- Third-party apps like iMyFone iTransor for WhatsApp can also be used to export WhatsApp contacts from your iPhone.
Where WhatsApp Contacts are Stored on Windows Phone
For Windows phones, WhatsApp contacts are stored in these locations:
- Phone Contacts: WhatsApp contacts are stored in your Windows Phone’s local Contacts app, just like on iPhone.
- OneDrive: If your Windows phone is linked to a Microsoft account, your contacts are backed up to your OneDrive storage.
- Local Storage: The WhatsApp database is stored locally on the device at C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Packages\WhatsAppLLC.WhatsApp_kzf8qxf38zg5c\LocalState\wa.db
Accessing WhatsApp Contacts on Windows Phone
You can access your WhatsApp contacts on a Windows Phone in these ways:
- Open the Contacts app on your phone to view all contacts.
- Use a Windows Phone backup tool to export contacts from your phone storage.
- Restore contacts from a OneDrive backup of your Windows phone.
WhatsApp Web/Desktop App Contacts
WhatsApp Web and Desktop apps also give you access to your WhatsApp contacts. However, they do not store your contacts locally. Your WhatsApp Web/Desktop contacts are synced from your phone in real-time.
So whether you access WhatsApp on your phone, computer or the web, you see the same contact list fetched from your phone’s WhatsApp account. No contacts are stored on the computer itself.
Conclusion
To summarize, here is where WhatsApp stores your contacts:
- On Android phones, contacts are stored locally in the WhatsApp database and synced with your Google account.
- On iPhones, contacts are synced to the local Contacts app and backed up on iCloud.
- On Windows phones, contacts are saved locally and on OneDrive.
- WhatsApp Web/Desktop get contacts synced in real-time from your phone.
So in most cases, your WhatsApp contacts are stored both on your phone’s local storage as well as in the cloud for backups. This ensures you have multiple recovery options available in case you lose your device or need to restore your contacts.
While the app itself provides limited options for exporting contacts directly, third-party backup tools for WhatsApp make it easier to access and manage your WhatsApp contact list across platforms.