I Accidentally Deleted my Chats! Can I Get my Messages Back?

by modi Sat Nov 02, 2013 9:50 am

Summary:

Yes, most likely
Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp
Click [Restore] when prompted to restore your message history
Your missing chats should appear in WhatsApp!

Details:

WhatsApp automatically makes backups every day at 4 AM and stores them on the microSD memory card of your Android phone. To restore the most recent back up, you will need to uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp. If you need to restore older messages, check out "[url=#further]Restoring older (less recent) backups[/url]".

During the installation process, you will be prompted to restore your message history. Choose [Restore] to restore your missing chats.

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Restoring older (less recent) backups:
Before attempting to restore messages, please note:

Current chat history will be lost upon restoration.
There are only up to 7 days worth of backup files.
Any new messages sent/received after a backup, and deleted before the next backup, cannot be restored.
If you run a manual backup, it will overwrite the most recent automatic backup file.

We also recommend:

Make sure you have a file manager. This will be useful for renaming the backup files.

Here are some choices: File Managers and Explorers
If you do not want to lose your current history (newest messages), create a manual backup by going to:
WhatsApp > [Menu Button] > Settings > Chat Settings > [Backup conversations]
This manual backup file will be saved as "msgstore.db.crypt" in your /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases folder. Save this file as "msgstore.db.crypt.current" so you do not get it confused with other backup files during the restoration process.

Please note, your backup files are saved in the /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/ folder.

To restore from a backup, follow these steps:

Uninstall WhatsApp.
Decide which backup file you want to restore.
Rename that file from "msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt" to "msgstore.db.crypt"
Install WhatsApp
When asked to restore, tap [Restore]

You will now be able to see your restored messages. If you want to revert the restoration, simply change the backup filename back to what it was, rename "msgstore.db.crypt.current" to "msgstore.db.crypt", and follow [url=#steps]these steps[/url] again.

Cheers,
WhatsApp Support Team