WhatsApp is the favorite app for most Android users. As we rely more and more on WhatsApp for communication, we simply can't avoid it. Over a period, your Android phone gets old. Then, you will buy a new Android phone if you're an Android lover.
After buying a new Android phone, probably the first app that you install would be WhatsApp. If you would like to see your old messages on your new Android phone, you need a backup.
WhatsApp allows you to back up your messages in two places. One is the local backup (internal memory) and the other is the cloud backup (Google Drive).
By using any of the two backups, you can easily restore old messages on your new Android phone. In this tutorial, you'll see how to transfer WhatsApp messages from Android to Android.
Here, you'll learn two simple methods to restore old messages on your new phone.
Before proceeding, make sure to backup manually. For manual backup, check out this guide. This will backup your old chats in your local storage as well as in Google Drive.
Method 1: Transfer WhatsApp Chats From Local Storage
Local backup is the automatic backup feature. Your chat history will be saved on your phone's internal memory in the WhatsApp folder. Even your media files are also saved in the local backup. If you don't find the WhatsApp folder, try searching in external storage.
Requirements
- Two Android phones.
- Local backup.
- File manager app.
- SD Card.
Steps
- Launch the File manager app. Example ES File explorer.
- Go to your internal storage. You will find a WhatsApp folder. You need to copy this folder.
- If you couldn't find one, go to your external storage to find the WhatsApp folder.
In our case, we found the Android WhatsApp folder in local storage. Now, before copying the WhatsApp folder, check whether you have the most recent backup. To do that:
- Tap on the WhatsApp folder.
- You will find two folders: Databases and Media.
- Tap on the Database folder.
You could find a lot of files if you've backed up your WhatsApp chats on several dates. The most recent backup file will be in this format: msgstore.db.crypt12
All other old backups are in this format: msgstore-yyyy-mm-dd.1.db.crypt12. For further info on this, check out this guide.
Make sure that you can find the most recent backup.
- Tap the back button on your phone. Copy the WhatsApp folder if it's in internal memory.
- Paste the folder into external memory. (SD card)
If the WhatsApp folder is already in external memory, ignore the above two steps.
- Remove the SD card and insert it into your new Android phone.
- Launch WhatsApp on your new phone.
- After verifying your phone number, you will be prompted to restore WhatsApp chats from the local backup.
Note: If you don't see a prompt to restore from local backup, copy and paste the WhatsApp folder in the internal memory of your new phone.
- Tap on the Restore button.
- Tap the Next button to restore messages on your new phone.
Now you've successfully transferred WhatsApp messages from Android to Android using the local backup.
Method 2: Transfer WhatsApp Chats From Google Drive
To try this method, you should have a WhatsApp backup on your Google Drive.
Requirements
- New Android phone.
- Gmail account that has the backup.
- The same mobile number for verification.
- Google Play services are installed on your phone.
Steps
- Install and launch WhatsApp.
- Verify your mobile number.
- Proceed to find the backup from Google Drive.
- Tap on the Restore button.
- Tap the Next button.
As you can see that the backup from Google Drive is restored on the new Android phone. Your media backup will restore in the background after your messages restore.
As you can see that the media backup is restoring on the new Android phone.
That's all. Now you've successfully transferred WhatsApp messages from Android to Android using Google Drive backup.
Conclusion
Switching to a new phone or another Android phone is enjoyable. Make sure to get your backup before switching. This will help you to retrieve WhatsApp messages from another phone without any hassle.
