How do recover deleted WhatsApp messages?

Do you need to recover deleted or missing WhatsApp messages? The good news is that this is entirely possible using the methods we’ll introduce you to in this article. 

Instead of archiving a WhatsApp chat, you may have accidentally deleted it. What’s the difference? Archived chats are easy to retrieve from WhatsApp while retrieving deleted messages is not so simple. But rest assured, you’ll still be able to read a deleted WhatsApp message. 

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll show you how to recover deleted WhatsApp messages on your iPhone or Android. We will then teach you how to set up an advanced WhatsApp backup plan to ensure that you never lose any of your WhatsApp messages again.

If the deleted WhatsApp messages you are looking to retrieve are not yours but those of a loved one you wish to monitor, you will also find an effective and discreet method to spy on instant messaging on a device other than your own at the end of this article. 

Reading deleted WhatsApp messages on another phone: the spyware technique 

In some cases, the reason you may want to read deleted WhatsApp messages will be to monitor the actions of someone close to you. This may involve concerned parents who want to know who their child is communicating with to ensure that their child is not talking to someone with malicious intent or disclosing information that is too private. 

Business owners may also be interested in this solution, as deleted WhatsApp messages on their employees’ business phones can hide sensitive company data and unauthorized communications with potential competitors. 

More often than not, the messages we delete are the most compromising. Therefore, they can contain information that is very valuable to men or women who suspect their partner of being unfaithful to them. 

Since they rarely have access to their loved one’s cell phone and cannot use previous methods to restore deleted WhatsApp messages (because they are too long and not very discreet), the best solution is to install spyware directly on the target device to recover all messages sent and received via WhatsApp, even those that have been deleted. 

How does spyware work to read a deleted WhatsApp message?

Spyware is a discrete piece of software that, once installed on the target phone, backs up all of this data and sends it over the Internet to a remote dashboard. This way, you will be able to view all WhatsApp messages sent or received by your target, including those that may have been deleted. 

All you have to do is purchase a license for the spyware of your choice, such as mSpy, which offers the best value for money. Then, after installing it on the phone (mSpy is compatible with iOS and Android devices), you won’t need to touch the smartphone in question anymore. All you need to do is log in to your account from any device (via the browser). Here you will be able to read all WhatsApp messages, even deleted ones. 

But that’s not all. This technique gives you access to many other data, such as: 

• Call log 
• SMS and MMS 
• Multimedia files
• Browsing history 
• Social network activity 
• GPS location 
• Geofencing

From your Control Panel, you can even set up an alert for specific keywords (which can be very useful for parents) and remove the spyware if you no longer need it. 

With mSpy running in the background, your target will have no way of knowing that they are being spied on, nor that you can read their deleted WhatsApp messages!

Understanding WhatsApp chat backups

To recover deleted WhatsApp messages, you must have Chat Backup enabled in the application settings. To do so, simply press the Settings tab at the bottom on iOS or open the three-point menu at the top right and choose Settings on Android.

From there, go to Chats> Chat Backup. Here (under Automatic Backup on iOS and Backup on Google Drive/Android), WhatsApp offers several backup frequencies:

• Daily
• Weekly
• Monthly

On Android, WhatsApp performs a local backup every night, but it won’t help you if you lose your phone. That’s why backups in the cloud are vital.

WhatsApp deletes old backup files when you create new ones. The iPhone app keeps only the last backup file, while the Android version keeps backup files for seven days. Keep this in mind when choosing the right backup frequency for your needs.

By opting for automatic daily backups, you can easily recover messages shortly after deleting them. On the other hand, weekly automatic backups will allow you to go further back in time to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages, but at the expense of more recent messages.

How to restore archived WhatsApp threads?

On an iPhone, if you are archiving an old chat, you can reverse the archiving by choosing the Undo option to retrieve the archived chat.

To unpack the archived chat on an iPhone:

1. Scroll through the chat list until the archived chat appears.
2. Tap the deleted WhatsApp message you want to recover, and then scan left over the chat you want to restore.
3. Tap the Unpack Archive button that will appear on your screen.

To unpack the archived chat on Android:

1. Scroll down the chat list and press Archived (X).
2. Press and hold the chat you want to recover.
3. Press the Unpack Archive icon, which looks like a box with an arrow pointing up.

How to recover deleted WhatsApp messages?

You are wondering how to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages after saving them? Simply uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp on your device. When you reinstall the application, you will be prompted to restore your message history from the backup file. Press Restore, and you will retrieve all your messages from the last backup.

This method of recovering deleted WhatsApp messages works on both Android and iOS but requires that you have a prior backup. Keep in mind, however, that the message you are interested in must be included in the selected auto backup frequency. 

For example, if you have configured the application for a daily backup, you can recover deleted threads before the next daily backup.

Recovering Deleted Media on WhatsApp

In the vast majority of cases, restoring your backup file will have allowed you to recover all the media deleted from your discussions. If this does not work, here is how you should proceed.

How to recover older deleted chats in WhatsApp?

On Android, you can simply open a file explorer application and access / WhatsApp / Media. From there, simply browse the folders until you find the deleted files you want to recover. 

Recovering deleted messages after running a new backup is slightly more difficult. Your success will depend on the selected auto backup frequency. Note that this process only works on Android devices, as it allows you to access local backup files.

As mentioned earlier, WhatsApp keeps some chat backup files for several days. One is, of course, the last chat backup. The others, depending on your automatic backup frequency, may be one or more days old. In addition to the Google Drive cloud backup, WhatsApp stores these backups in your device’s local storage space.

Open the File Explorer application on your device (Files by Google is a good option if you do not have one installed) and go to / WhatsApp / Databases. Depending on your device, the WhatsApp folder may appear as an SD card, storage, etc.

In this folder, you will find the various chat backup files. The last one is named msgstore.db.crypt12, while the others will have a name similar to msgstore-YYYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12. As you can imagine, YYYYY-MM-DD represents the year, month, and date, respectively.

To recover deleted WhatsApp messages between backups, follow these steps:

1. Rename msgstore.db.crypt12 to msgstore-latest.db.crypt12. This changes the last backup file, as you are about to name an older backup after it.
2. Rename the msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12 file you want to restore to msgstore.db.crypt12.
3. Uninstall WhatsApp. If you have enabled backups in the Google Drive cloud, open the Google Drive application, drag the menu on the left, and select Backups. You will see a WhatsApp backup file containing your phone number. 
4. Press the three-point menu to the right of it and choose Delete Backup to delete it. This will prevent WhatsApp from using the Google Drive backup file instead of the local file you wish to restore.
5. Reinstall WhatsApp now. During the setup process, you will be prompted to restore the application from the backup file you just modified. It will display as X days old instead of the most recent backup file.

This is all you need to do to recover deleted WhatsApp messages from old backups. Once you have restored these messages, you will be able to resume using WhatsApp as usual.

How to optimize backing up your messages to WhatsApp?

Because you can easily view and edit WhatsApp chat backup files on Android, it’s easy to manipulate them if you wish. Renaming them allows you to keep as many backup files as you want.

All you have to do is rename a backup in msgstore format-YYYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12 using another name. Since this file does not use the classic WhatsApp name, it is now protected from being overwritten by newer backup files.

Consider creating your own backup file in this manner approximately once a month. This way, you won’t lose your messages if you need to restore any of them. For even more security, copy your backup files to cloud storage or to your computer so that they are safe in case your phone stops working or is lost or stolen.

Recover deleted WhatsApp messages to preserve your memories!

As you can see, it’s pretty easy to recover deleted WhatsApp messages. However, this is only the case if you have backed up your messages in advance. That’s why the advanced backup strategy is worth implementing if you are an Android user.

For those who wish to access deleted WhatsApp messages on another device, spyware is probably the best solution. However, please, note that its use is only legal if the person in question has given you their permission.