WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, with over 2 billion users. It allows you to send messages, photos, videos and make voice and video calls easily and for free (apart from data charges). However, one limitation of WhatsApp is that you can only view a limited history of your chats and groups.
Why are older WhatsApp messages unavailable?
WhatsApp has a built-in limit on how far back you can scroll in your chats to view older messages. This is due to the following reasons:
- Storage space: WhatsApp limits how much chat history is stored on your phone to save storage space. Older messages are deleted after a certain period.
- Performance: Loading a long history of chats takes up more processing power and slows down the app. Limiting the chat history improves performance.
- Privacy: By automatically deleting older messages, there is less chat history available if others access your phone.
The delete limit on WhatsApp used to be 30 days. However, since 2018, WhatsApp only stores your chat history on your phone for up to 7 days after the chat occurred. Your chat history may be available for longer on the WhatsApp cloud backup, but only if you have backup enabled.
How far back can I see messages on WhatsApp?
Due to the 7-day limit, you can generally see WhatsApp messages for up to a week after they were sent or received. However, there are a few factors that determine how far back your chat history is available:
- iPhone vs Android: On iPhone, WhatsApp will store 7 days of chat history. On Android, it may store up to 30 days based on your phone’s settings.
- Frequent usage: If you use WhatsApp daily, your chat history is more likely to only go back 7 days as new messages push out old ones.
- Media messages: Media like photos and videos take up more space, so chats with lots of media may get deleted sooner.
- Group chats: Due to their size, group chat history is usually available for a shorter duration than 1-on-1 chats.
- Backups: Turning on WhatsApp backups lets you restore older messages when you reinstall WhatsApp or get a new phone.
So while you can’t always view years or months worth of old WhatsApp messages, enabling backups means you won’t completely lose your chat history if you switch devices.
How can I keep old WhatsApp messages?
Since WhatsApp automatically deletes older messages after 7 days, you’ll need to back up your chats if you want to store long chat histories. Here are some options:
Back up to Google Drive or iCloud
The easiest way to preserve your chat history is to enable WhatsApp’s built-in cloud backups. On Android, you can backup to Google Drive. On iPhone, you can backup to iCloud.
To enable backups:
- On Android, go to WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat backup and select ‘Backup to Google Drive’.
- On iPhone, go to WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat Backup and turn on ‘Backup to iCloud’.
With backups enabled, your chat history is preserved when you reinstall WhatsApp or get a new phone. Note that for privacy reasons, Google Drive and iCloud backups do not include your media files.
Export chat history
You can use WhatsApp’s export feature to export your chat history with media files to a downloadable ZIP file. To do this:
- On Android, go to WhatsApp > More Options > Settings > Chats > Chat history > Export chat.
- On iPhone, go to Settings > Chats > Chat Export.
You can then transfer this ZIP file between phones or computers as a backup that includes your media files.
Use third-party apps
There are various third party apps that can be used to backup and restore your full WhatsApp chat history including media:
| App | Platform |
|---|---|
| Dr.Fone | Android, iPhone |
| iMyFone iTransor | iPhone |
| SynciOS | Android, iPhone |
These tools perform more comprehensive backups than WhatsApp’s built-in options and allow transferring your chats to a new device.
Save media manually
Although tedious, you can also manually save the media files you want to keep – such as photos, videos, voice messages and documents – from your WhatsApp chats. Remember to save these files to your phone’s storage or cloud storage services.
Why can’t I recover very old WhatsApp messages?
Unfortunately, there is no way to recover WhatsApp messages older than your available chat backup. Here are some reasons very old messages vanish completely:
- You did not have backups enabled so older chats were deleted after 7 days.
- You switched phones and did not transfer backups.
- Your phone was damaged, wiped or stolen, losing access to local chat history.
- You uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp, erasing chat history not saved in backups.
- You clear WhatsApp data or storage, deleting your local copies of chats.
WhatsApp does not store all your chat history forever on its servers. So if you don’t have backups, there is unfortunately no way to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages after the 7-day limit.
Tips to keep old WhatsApp messages accessible
Here are some tips to ensure you can view old WhatsApp chats when needed:
- Enable WhatsApp cloud backups regularly to a service like Google Drive or iCloud.
- Periodically export your chat history to a ZIP file as a secondary backup.
- Avoid clearing WhatsApp storage or data which deletes local copies of chats.
- When switching phones, always restore your WhatsApp backup from the cloud.
- Use a third party backup tool for comprehensive backups with media files included.
- Star or pin your most important chats so they are easier to find.
Conclusion
WhatsApp limits chat history storage to 7 days on your phone and in the cloud for performance and privacy reasons. To view older messages beyond this timeframe, you need to properly backup your chats. Enabling WhatsApp’s built-in Google Drive or iCloud backup feature is the minimum needed to preserve your chat history when switching devices. For more comprehensive long-term backups, you can occasionally use WhatsApp’s export option or third-party backup apps as well.