Quick Overview
Restoring old WhatsApp messages from 4 years ago is possible but can be tricky depending on your backup situation. The key factors are:
- Whether you still have the same phone number linked to your WhatsApp account
- If you have a regular backup schedule for WhatsApp
- If you switched phones in the last 4 years and transferred your WhatsApp data
The easiest way is if you never changed phone numbers and have a regular WhatsApp backup to Google Drive or local storage going back 4 years. You can simply restore from that backup.
If you changed phone numbers or don’t have a continuous backup, there are still ways to restore by transferring the WhatsApp data folder from your old phone, using a 3rd party app, or contacting WhatsApp for help.
Do You Still Have the Same Phone Number?
The first key factor is whether you still have the same phone number linked to your WhatsApp account from 4 years ago. This is important because WhatsApp ties your account and messages to your phone number.
If you have the same number, restoring older messages is much simpler because WhatsApp still recognizes your account. You can restore from an older backup or transfer the WhatsApp data folder from your previous phone.
However, if you changed your phone number in the last 4 years, the process becomes more complicated. WhatsApp will no longer recognize your account since the number changed.
In this case, you’ll need to use a 3rd party app to transfer the WhatsApp data or contact WhatsApp support to migrate your account to the new number. We’ll go over these options in more detail later.
So first, check if your phone number is still the same as it was 4 years ago when the WhatsApp messages you want to restore were originally sent and received. This will determine the best approach to use.
Do You Have Regular WhatsApp Backups?
The next key factor is whether you have regular backups of your WhatsApp data over the years. This is important because WhatsApp gives you the option to backup your messages and media to Google Drive or local storage.
If you’ve been regularly backing up your WhatsApp data over the years, going back 4 years, then restoring older messages can be as simple as restoring from that backup.
WhatsApp backs up your messages, photos, videos, and other data on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis depending on your settings. As long as you’ve kept the same backup schedule for the last 4 years, your old messages should be stored in one of those backups.
Here’s how to check your WhatsApp backup settings:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup
- You’ll see your current backup frequency and destination (Google Drive or Local)
- Check the date of the oldest backup which indicates how far back your backups go
If you see backups going back 4 years, then you should be able to restore your old WhatsApp data. We’ll explain the restore process later.
However, if you only have recent backups, then you’ll need to try transferring the data from your old phone or contacting WhatsApp instead.
Have You Switched Phones in 4 Years?
The third key factor is whether you’ve switched to a new phone in the last 4 years and transferred your WhatsApp data.
When you get a new phone, you have the option to move your WhatsApp messages, media, and settings from your old phone to the new one. This is done either using the Change Number feature in WhatsApp when you insert the new SIM card, or by restoring your latest WhatsApp backup to the new phone from Google Drive or local storage.
If you went through this data transfer process when you switched phones in the last 4 years, then your older WhatsApp messages would have carried over as well.
But if you set up WhatsApp as a new account on your new phone and didn’t transfer anything, then you no longer have access to the old messages on that device.
Checking your chat history timeline is the best way to confirm if you still have messages from 4 years ago after changing phones. If there are gaps going back years, then a full restore is likely needed.
How to Restore from WhatsApp Backup
If you still have the same phone number linked to your account and regular WhatsApp backups going back 4+ years, then restoring your old messages is straightforward:
- Uninstall WhatsApp – First delete the WhatsApp app from your phone. This wipes the current version and makes sure there are no conflicts.
- Reinstall WhatsApp – Download and install WhatsApp again from the app store. Make sure you use the same phone number that is linked to your old account.
- Restore Backup – On first launch, WhatsApp will prompt you to restore from a backup. Select the backup source (Google Drive or Local) and pick the oldest backup available.
- Wait for Restore – It may take some time for WhatsApp to fetch and restore the messages and media from the old backup. Leave it running in the background.
- Check Messages – Once finished, you can open WhatsApp to view your chat history. You should now see messages from 4 years ago restored.
The key is picking the oldest available backup when prompted so you get your full message history. With consistent backups, this lets you easily restore years of WhatsApp data.
How to Transfer From Old Phone
If you don’t have a complete WhatsApp backup history, your next option is to transfer the WhatsApp data directly from your old phone where the messages are still stored.
Here are the key steps to transfer WhatsApp messages from an old Android phone:
- Locate Data Folder – On your old Android phone, browse to internal storage > WhatsApp > Databases. This is the folder containing your messages.
- Copy to PC – Copy the Databases folder to your computer. You can use a USB cable or upload to cloud storage like Google Drive.
- Uninstall WhatsApp – On your new phone, delete WhatsApp to wipe the app data.
- Reinstall WhatsApp – Download and install WhatsApp again, using your same number.
- Transfer Folder – Copy the Databases folder from your PC to your new phone’s internal storage in WhatsApp folder.
- Grant Permissions – Open WhatsApp, allow it to access storage when prompted.
- Check Messages – Your old messages from the databases will now be restored in WhatsApp.
For iPhone, the process is similar but the WhatsApp data folder is located in the iPhone’s backups in Finder rather than directly accessible.
This manual data transfer works as long as the messages are still stored on your old phone. The limitation is you can only transfer text – any media needs to be sent again from the sender.
Using Third Party Apps
Several third party apps claim to offer ways to restore old WhatsApp messages, even with a changed phone number or no backup available.
Some examples include:
- Dr.Fone – WhatsApp Transfer
- CopyTrans
- MobileTrans
- iMyFone
These apps work by extracting your local WhatsApp databases from iTunes or iCloud backups on iPhone, or directly from Android devices.
The apps can then allegedly merge these databases together and restore your entire message history. Some also claim to be able to migrate WhatsApp to a new phone number.
However, be very cautious with such apps as they have been known to overpromise on their capabilities. There is no magic solution that can suddenly recover lost messages and media files, especially from 4+ years ago.
Make sure to thoroughly research the app, read reviews from reliable sources, and check their refund policy in case it doesn’t work as advertised. Use at your own risk.
Contacting WhatsApp Support
The last resort if you’ve changed phone numbers and have no backups is to directly contact WhatsApp support for help recovering very old messages.
WhatsApp does have tools to migrate your account to a new phone number. The process involves verifying your identity and then merging your message history to the new number.
However, this is primarily intended for recent number changes, not 4 year old data. There’s no guarantee WhatsApp can restore such old messages, but it’s worth a try as a last option.
Here’s how to request WhatsApp support for restoring messages:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings > Help > Contact Us
- Explain your situation and that you need messages from 4 years ago restored
- Provide as much detail as possible about your old account and number
- Have patience as it may take weeks for WhatsApp to assist with data recovery
Keep in mind WhatsApp will only migrate your messages, not your media files like photos, videos, audio, etc. Those would still need to be resent from the sender in the chats.
Tips to Restore Old Media Content
While text messages can usually be recovered from backups or other methods, restoring old media content like photos and videos from WhatsApp is often more difficult. Here are some tips:
- If you still have media files saved from WhatsApp on your old phone, transfer them to your new phone
- Ask the senders in your chats to resend any important media they still have
- Check your Google Photos account for media automatically backed up from WhatsApp in the past
- Use a file recovery app on your old phone to find any leftover media files
- Photos may be cached in your old phone’s system memory and can be recovered with special tools
Preventing a similar situation in the future:
- Always maintain regular WhatsApp backups to Google Drive or local storage
- Export important chat conversations to PDF to have a separate record
- Save important photos/videos from WhatsApp to your camera roll or cloud storage
- Take your time transferring data when switching phones and don’t reset WhatsApp right away
Can I See WhatsApp Messages from 4 Years Ago on iPhone Without Restoring?
On iPhone, there is a way to view and search your old WhatsApp messages from 4 years ago without fully restoring them, using backups in iCloud. Here’s how:
- Connect your iPhone to a computer and open Finder
- Go to Finder > Devices > [Your iPhone] > Backups
- Locate your WhatsApp backup and browse to ChatStorage.sqlite file
- Right click ChatStorage.sqlite and choose Open With > SQLite Browser
- You can now search and view your WhatsApp messages from 4 years ago!
This gives you read-only access without needing to restore. You can check the timestamps on messages and confirm if a full restore is likely to recover the old data you want.
Note this only works for iPhones as it relies on the iTunes/iCloud backup process. For Android, you’d need root access to directly view database files in the WhatsApp folder.
Can I Selectively Restore Certain WhatsApp Chats?
When restoring an old WhatsApp backup, either from Google Drive or a local file transfer, the entire backup gets restored. You don’t have a choice of selective chats.
However, on Android it is possible to selectively restore certain chat conversations from a backup using some workarounds:
- Root your Android phone to directly access the WhatsApp database files
- Use an app like ChatAnalyzer to open databases and export specific chats
- Transfer exported chats back to the WhatsApp Databases folder
This will merge those chats back into your active WhatsApp instance. Be very careful modifying databases directly though, as it can cause crashes.
Unfortunately on iPhone there is no way to selectively restore chats, as you don’t have file access to WhatsApp backups – they must be restored in full through Finder/iTunes.
Can I Transfer WhatsApp from Android to iPhone?
Switching between Android and iPhone is common, so many want to transfer WhatsApp when changing ecosystems. Here are the key options to move your WhatsApp data:
- Local Backup Restore – Backup locally on Android, restore to iPhone
- Google Drive – Backup to Google Drive, restore to iPhone WhatsApp
- Third Party Apps – Use dedicated transfer apps to sync data
- Email Chat History – Email yourself chat exports, import on iPhone
Keep in mind when transferring:
- Only text and files you have saved transfer – not media still in chats
- You may lose recent messages since last backup
- End-to-end encryption resets since it’s a new install
Also make sure you have the same phone number on your new iPhone, as WhatsApp ties your account to your mobile number.
Troubleshooting WhatsApp Restore Issues
Some common issues when trying to restore old WhatsApp messages and their troubleshooting:
| Issue | Fix |
|---|---|
| Restored chats not showing full history | Restore from older backup, transfer missing databases from old phone |
| Media files missing after restore | Sender needs to resend, recover from other sources like Google Photos |
| WhatsApp crashing on restore | Restart phone, reinstall WhatsApp, clear app data before restoring |
| New number doesn’t match account | Contact WhatsApp to migrate account to new number |
| Backups don’t go back 4 years | Check old phone for databases folder to transfer |
Conclusion
Restoring very old WhatsApp messages from 4 years ago requires some persistence and relies heavily on:
- Keeping same phone number linked to account
- Regular backups over the years
- Proper data transfer when switching phones
With the right backups available, restoring is straightforward. Otherwise, manual transfer from old phone or contacting WhatsApp support may help. Prioritize restoring text messages first, then have senders resend media separately.