WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps with over 2 billion users worldwide. With so many conversations happening daily, your chat list can quickly become cluttered. To help organize your chats, WhatsApp has an archive feature that removes conversations from your main chat list without deleting them.
What Does Archiving a Chat Do?
Archiving a chat in WhatsApp simply removes the conversation from your main chat list. Archived chats will no longer show up when you open WhatsApp and you won’t receive notifications from archived chats. However, the conversation is not deleted. All your messages will still be saved and can be accessed later from your archived chats.
Archiving is useful for hiding conversations you don’t engage with frequently but still want to keep. It helps declutter your main chat list and prevents unimportant conversations from distracting you.
How to Archive a Chat
Archiving a chat is easy and can be done right from your chat list in a few taps:
- Open WhatsApp and go to your Chats tab
- Tap and hold the chat you want to archive
- Tap Archive at the top of the screen (Android) or the Archive icon (iOS)
The chat will now be removed from your main chat list and added to your Archived chats.
You can also archive chats by:
- Swiping the chat to the left or right (depending on your device)
- Tapping the contact’s name at the top of an open chat and selecting Archive
On WhatsApp Web, you can right-click a chat and choose Archive to remove it from your main list.
How to View Archived Chats
While archived chats no longer show in your main chat list, you can still access them when needed. Here are the steps to view your archived WhatsApp conversations:
On Android:
- Open WhatsApp and tap the More options icon (3 vertical dots)
- Tap Archived chats
This will open a list of all your archived chats. Tap any conversation to open it.
On iPhone:
- Open WhatsApp and tap Settings
- Go to Chats > Archived
This will display your archived chats. You can read and send messages as normal in archived conversations.
On WhatsApp Web/Desktop:
- Click your profile picture in the top left
- Choose Archived chats
Your archived conversations will open in a sidebar menu. Click any chat to view it.
How to Unarchive a Chat
If you want to move an archived conversation back to your main chat list, you can easily unarchive it:
On Android:
- Go to Archived chats
- Tap and hold the chat you want to unarchive
- Tap Unarchive at the top of the screen
On iPhone:
- Open Archived chats
- Swipe left on the chat you want to unarchive
- Tap Unarchive
On WhatsApp Web/Desktop:
- Open Archived Chats
- Right-click the chat you want to unarchive
- Click Unarchive Chat
The conversation will now show up again in your main chat list.
Permanently Deleting Archived Chats
If you no longer need a conversation, you can delete archived chats to remove them permanently from WhatsApp:
On Android:
- Go to Archived chats and tap and hold the chat you want to delete
- Tap Delete at the top of the screen
- Confirm deletion in the pop-up prompt
On iPhone:
- Open Archived chats
- Swipe right on the chat you want to delete
- Tap Delete
- Confirm deletion
On WhatsApp Web/Desktop:
- In Archived chats, right-click the conversation you want to delete
- Click Delete Chat
- Confirm deletion in the pop-up prompt
Deleted chats will be permanently removed from your WhatsApp account. Note that you’ll still be able to see the contact in your address book and start a new chat thread if needed.
How Long Do Archived Chats Stay in WhatsApp?
Archived WhatsApp chats will stay on your device indefinitely unless you manually delete them. There is no limit on how long archived conversations are stored.
Even if you uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp, your archived chats will still be there when you restore your account. They won’t be deleted unless you specifically choose to delete them.
So feel free to archive old chats you want to keep for future reference. They will always be accessible in your archived conversations list.
Troubleshooting Archived Chats
Here are some common issues when dealing with archived WhatsApp chats and how to fix them:
Can’t find archived chats
If you can’t access your archived conversations, first make sure WhatsApp is updated to the latest version. Older versions may not show the archived chat menu.
Force close and restart the WhatsApp app if needed. On iPhone, check WhatsApp Settings > Chats to see if archiving is enabled.
Archived chats disappeared
In rare cases, a WhatsApp update may cause archived chats to disappear. Don’t worry, your conversations are still saved in your message database. Uninstalling and reinstalling WhatsApp should restore all archived chats.
Want to permanently delete archived chats
To completely remove archived conversations from WhatsApp, you will need to delete them. Archiving only removes chats from your main view. Follow the steps above to permanently erase archived chats.
Conclusion
Archiving chats is a great way to organize your WhatsApp conversations and hide old or unimportant threads from view. Whenever you need to access your archived messages, just go to the Archived chats menu where they are conveniently stored.
Knowing how to find, view, unarchive and delete your archived WhatsApp conversations gives you full control over managing your chat history.