WhatsApp regularly creates backups of the chat histories, with which the messenger can be transferred to a new smartphone unchanged. TECHBOOK explains how this works step by step.
If you buy a new smartphone, you don’t want to miss out on all the conversations and pictures that were exchanged with WhatsApp when you switch. Luckily, the messenger offers a handy cloud backup feature that makes it easy to transfer all chat histories to the new device. TECHBOOK shows you how it works.
Transfer WhatsApp chats from Android to new Android smartphone
TECHBOOK editor Rita Deutschbein explains how easy the chat transmission works:
WhatsApp can automatically save chat histories to the Google Drive cloud as a backup copy if this function has been activated by the user. This greatly simplifies the move to a new Android smartphone. But even without a cloud backup, it is relatively easy to manually transfer the chats.
1. Cloud Backup
- On the old phone, in WhatsApp, navigate to the backup options at settings>chat>Chat backup
- click on To back up
- Install WhatsApp on the new smartphone and verify the phone number
- When setting up WhatsApp on the new device, you will now be given the option to Chat backup to restore
2. Manual
- Connect your old and new smartphone to one computer and enable data transfer (MTP) on both devices
- Copy the folder Whatsapp in the phone memory of the old device to the memory of the new device
- Alternatively, you can just use the databases-Copy folder to transfer only the chat histories but not photos and videos
Transfer WhatsApp chats from iPhone to new iPhone
Unlike on Android, WhatsApp uses Apple’s iCloud on the iPhone to back up chat histories. Restoring from backup only works if you are using the new iPhone with the same Apple ID as your old one.
- On the old iPhone, navigate to WhatsApp settings>chat>Chat backup
- click on Back up now
- Install WhatsApp on the new smartphone and verify the phone number
- When setting up WhatsApp on the new device, you will now be given the option to Chat backup to restore
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Transfer WhatsApp chats from iOS to Android
Anyone who changes the mobile operating system will receive support from Whatsapp. When switching from iOS to Android, a new function can now be used that can transfer chat histories directly from device to device. The company announced this.
Initially, the new function is only available on Samsung cell phones with Android 10 and the Smart Switch app installed, but according to the Facebook subsidiary, it will soon be available on other Android devices as well. A USB-C to Lightning cable is required to connect the smartphones.
Also, to transfer chats from iOS to Android, there is an option to extract the related data from the backup file created by the iTunes desktop application for iPhone. This data can then be transferred to the Android smartphone using the paid app “WazzapMigrator” from the Google Play Store.
Transfer WhatsApp chats from Android to iOS
After long-hoping users for an official way to port WhatsApp chats from Android to iOS, the good news is finally here. WhatsApp and Apple have announced an update that allows data to be moved from Android to iPhone.
The function is made possible by the new version of the “Transfer to iOS” app in the Google Play Store that allows devices that are in a Wi-Fi network to communicate. Detailed information about the update can be found here:
WhatsApp chats can now also be taken from Android to iPhone
Until the update, it was only possible to transfer WhatsApp chats from Android to iOS using a third-party solution. However, this was anything but customer-friendly, did not always work reliably and also cost money.
Paid third-party providers
There is also a paid program “dr.fone” from the Chinese company Wondershare for moving from Android to iOS and vice versa. The program actually works, but the one-year license costs just under $30. There is also a free trial of Backuptrans that can transfer up to 20 messages. If this works and the transfer is worth just under $20 to you, your previous chats will also show up on the iPhone. Extreme caution is required with both programs, as you pass on your entire chat history, including images and videos, to the software provider.
Since all of these tools cost hard cash and functionality is not fully guaranteed, we cannot recommend any of these solutions.
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Back up chats via email
There is also the option of having chat histories sent to you by email. These are then not in WhatsApp, but not completely lost either. In the meantime, WhatsApp had to deactivate the feature due to a patent dispute with Blackberry. But this has now been clarified.
With material from dpa