Quick Answers
There are a few common reasons why your WhatsApp chats may appear out of order:
- Your phone’s date and time settings are incorrect
- You recently changed phones and restored a backup
- You cleared your app data/cache which reset the chat timestamps
- A message failed to send and was sent again later
- Your contacts’ clocks are out of sync with yours
Usually, making sure your phone’s date/time are set correctly will resolve the issue. For chats already out of order, try clearing WhatsApp’s cache/data. Read on for more details on these potential causes and fixes.
WhatsApp Orders Chats by Timestamp
WhatsApp organizes your chats based on the timestamp of each message. When you send or receive a message, WhatsApp records the exact date and time. It then displays your chats in chronological order based on when the messages were originally sent.
So if your messages appear out of sequence, it likely means the timestamp on certain messages is inaccurate in some way. This confuses WhatsApp and makes your chats appear jumbled or mixed up.
Here are some common reasons why message timestamps can get out of whack and cause your chats to display out of order:
Incorrect Date/Time on Your Phone
One of the most common reasons for WhatsApp chat issues is that the date and time setting on your phone is incorrect.
WhatsApp relies on your phone’s clock to accurately record message timestamps. If your date/time settings are wrong, the timestamps WhatsApp logs will also be wrong.
For example, if your phone’s clock is set 1 week behind the actual date, any messages you send will have a timestamp from that incorrect date. This will make those messages appear out of order compared to previous ones.
It’s important to make sure your phone’s automatic date/time setting is enabled. This will sync your phone’s clock over the network so it stays accurate. If automatic setting is off, your date/time can drift and cause issues.
Go into your phone’s Date & Time settings page and make sure “Automatic date & time” or “Set automatically” is enabled. This will sync your clock and prevent timing issues that can scramble your WhatsApp chats.
Restored Chats from Backup
If you recently got a new phone and restored a WhatsApp backup during setup, this can sometimes result in out of order chats.
When you restore chats from a backup, the message timestamps may get mixed up in the process. This is because the backup file contains the original timestamps from your old phone. Once restored onto your new phone, these timestamps may appear incorrect or out of sequence.
The best way to fix chats restored from backup is to clear WhatsApp’s cache and data. This will reset the app and redownload your chats from the WhatsApp server with the correct timestamps:
- Go to your phone’s Settings > Apps > WhatsApp > Storage
- Tap “Clear Cache” and “Clear Data”
- Open WhatsApp again and verify your chats
Clearing the cache/data will resync everything from WhatsApp’s servers and display your chats in the proper chronological order again.
Cleared App Data/Cache
If you recently cleared WhatsApp’s cache or app data, this will also result in your chats appearing out of order.
Clearing the app data resets WhatsApp and erases all local data, including your chat timestamps. When you open WhatsApp again, all your chats have to be re-downloaded.
The app essentially rebuilds your chat history from scratch. But since the timestamps have been erased, your chats may appear scrambled until WhatsApp can resync everything from its servers.
Just like with a restored backup, the fix is to give WhatsApp time to resync all your chats properly. Leave the app open and connected to the internet for a while. It will eventually download your messages again with the accurate timestamps from WhatsApp’s servers.
Failed Message Resent Later
In some cases, a WhatsApp message may fail to send and get stuck “Pending.” If you then resend that message later when connectivity improves, it will have the new timestamp from when it was resent.
But in your chat, WhatsApp still shows the original “Pending” message with the old timestamp. So now you have two versions of the same message with different timestamps. This can make your chat appear out of order.
Unfortunately, there is no way to directly fix this within WhatsApp. Other than clearing all data and resyncing your chats, your only option is to delete the duplicate “Pending” message so your chat history appears chronological again.
Out of Sync Contacts
Lastly, if your WhatsApp chats only appear out of order with certain contacts, it may be because their clocks are desynced from yours.
For example, if your friend’s phone is set to the wrong date, the timestamps on their messages to you will appear scrambled when WhatsApp displays your chat.
There’s no direct fix for this on your end. You would need to ask those contacts to check that the date/time on their phone is set correctly to match yours. Once their clock is updated, your chats with them should appear normally ordered again.
Fixes to Reorder WhatsApp Chats
If your WhatsApp chats are out of sequence, here are some troubleshooting steps to try and reorder them:
- Check Date & Time Settings – Go into your phone’s settings and enable “Automatic date & time” if it’s disabled. This will sync your clock and correct any issues.
- Update WhatsApp – Make sure you’re running the latest version of WhatsApp. Updates sometimes include bug fixes for chat order issues.
- Turn Phone Off/On – Sometimes simply restarting your phone can help reorder chats. This resets all apps and may resync messages properly.
- Clear Cache & Data – Wipe WhatsApp’s cache/data to completely re-download and rebuild your chats. This often fixes order problems.
- Contact Support – For persistent issues, contact WhatsApp directly for help troubleshooting and reordering your chats.
Give those steps a try. In most cases, your chats should display chronologically again after making sure your phone’s date and time are set correctly. But if issues persist, wiping WhatsApp’s local data is the most reliable fix to resync everything from their servers.
Preventing WhatsApp Chat Order Issues
To avoid your WhatsApp chats appearing scrambled in the future, here are some tips:
- Always keep “Automatic date & time” enabled on your phone
- Avoid manually changing your phone’s date/time settings
- Don’t clear WhatsApp data/cache too frequently
- Make sure your contacts also have correct date/time settings
- Update to the latest WhatsApp version for bug fixes
- Back up your chats in case you need to restore them
Following those best practices will help ensure your chats stay neatly organized in the proper order.
Conclusion
WhatsApp chat order issues can be annoying, but are usually caused by inaccurate message timestamps from phone date/time problems. The best fixes are to enable automatic date/time syncing, restart your phone, or clear WhatsApp’s cache and data to resync chats. With the proper date/time settings, your chats should display chronologically as expected. Be sure to back up your chats periodically in case you ever need to restore them.
| Cause of Out of Order Chats | Solution |
|---|---|
| Incorrect date/time on phone | Enable automatic date/time sync |
| Restored chats from backup | Clear WhatsApp cache/data |
| Cleared WhatsApp cache/data | Let WhatsApp resync chats |
| Failed message resent | Delete duplicate pending message |
| Out of sync contacts | Ask contacts to update date/time |