WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. It allows users to send messages, photos, videos, documents and make voice and video calls. However, WhatsApp doesn’t provide a built-in feature to recover deleted chats and media. So when a user accidentally clears their chat history or deletes important media files, the question arises – is it possible to recover a cleared WhatsApp chat?
Why do WhatsApp chats get cleared?
There are several ways WhatsApp chats can end up getting cleared or deleted:
- Accidentally clearing chat history: Users can accidentally clear their chat histories by tapping “Clear chat” in iOS or “Clear all chats” in Android.
- Deleting specific chats: Users can delete specific chats by long pressing on a chat and selecting “Delete”.
- Uninstalling WhatsApp: Uninstalling the app erases all WhatsApp data, including chats.
- Factory resetting phone: Performing a factory reset on your phone wipes WhatsApp data.
- Switching phones: When switching to a new phone, chats don’t automatically transfer over.
- Chat backup failures: If chat backup fails, chats added after last backup are lost.
Losing WhatsApp chats and media can be frustrating, especially if the chats contained important information or sentimental images/videos. The good news is, with the right tools and techniques, it is often possible to recover cleared WhatsApp chats.
How WhatsApp stores chat data
To understand how to recover cleared WhatsApp chats, it helps to first understand how WhatsApp stores chat data:
- On your phone: WhatsApp stores your most recent chats and media on your phone’s internal storage or SD card.
- Google Drive/iCloud backup: It creates daily backups of your chats to your Google Drive or iCloud storage.
- External SD card: Android users can configure WhatsApp to store media to an external SD card.
Even when you clear WhatsApp chats or uninstall the app, remnants of the data remain in these storage areas until they are overwritten by new data. This allows opportunities for recovery.
Recovering chats from phone storage
If you recently cleared WhatsApp chats or deleted specific chats by mistake, one of the first things to try is recovering from your phone’s storage:
- Android: Use a file explorer app to navigate to WhatsApp/Databases folder on phone storage. Look for a file named msgstore.db.crypt12 and make a copy of it.
- iPhone: Use a file browser like iExplorer to access phone’s backups and navigate to ChatStorage.sqlite file under WhatsApp/Databases and make a copy.
You can then use a desktop WhatsApp chat viewer tool like Chatlooper that can open these database files and display your deleted WhatsApp chats for recovery.
Using Google Drive or iCloud backup
Another great recovery option is using your Google Drive or iCloud backup. Here’s how:
- Android + Google Drive: Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp. On setup screen, restore from Google Drive backup when prompted. This will restore cleared chats.
- iPhone + iCloud: If backup contains deleted chats, restore iPhone to that backup. Open WhatsApp and restore chats when prompted.
The limitation is that this only works if the backup was created before you deleted or cleared the chats. But it’s worth a try if you routinely backup chats.
Using data recovery software
If above options don’t work, you may need dedicated data recovery software. They scour your phone’s storage for deleted WhatsApp files.
For Android phones, some top options include:
- DiskDigger – Scans phone memory thoroughly to find deleted WhatsApp media & databases.
- FoneDog Toolkit – Has a WhatsApp Recovery module that finds residual files.
- EaseUS MobiSaver – Recovers chats even without backup from phone memory.
For iPhones, good software options are:
- Fonelab iOS Data Recovery – Allows recovering WhatsApp chats, photos, videos from iOS devices and backups.
- iMyFone D-Back – Scan and extract WhatsApp data from iOS devices and iTunes/iCloud backup.
- EaseUS MobiSaver for iOS – Recover chats from iOS devices without backup.
These tools scan thoroughly and utilize advanced recovery algorithms to restore as much WhatsApp data as possible.
Using WhatsApp Web
Here is another handy trick that can help recover cleared chats in some cases:
- Before clearing chats on your phone, make sure WhatsApp Web is paired to it.
- Clear the chats on your phone.
- Open WhatsApp Web on computer, don’t clear chats here.
- Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp on your phone.
- On reinstalling, verify with same number. WhatsApp Web syncs and restores the chats.
This works as WhatsApp Web stores a copy of your chats which may still be accessible even after clearing chats on phone.
Preventing WhatsApp chat loss
Prevention is always better than cure. Follow these tips to avoid losing your WhatsApp chats:
- Enable auto backup in WhatsApp settings to backup chats daily.
- Manually backup chats regularly by going to WhatsApp > Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
- Export important chats using WhatsApp export chat feature.
- Be careful when clearing chats or deleting chats/media.
- Don’t uninstall WhatsApp without backing up chats.
Following these best practices will ensure your important WhatsApp chats and media are not lost.
Conclusion
Clearing WhatsApp chats is easy but recovering them can be tricky. With the instant recovery options, third-party apps and precautions outlined above, it is possible to recover deleted WhatsApp chats in many cases. The key is to act quickly before the data is overwritten. In summary:
- Check phone storage and backups to restore recently cleared chats.
- Use data recovery apps for in-depth scanning and recovery.
- Leverage WhatsApp Web as an additional restore source.
- Remember to backup chats regularly to avoid permanent data loss.
With the right tools and techniques, you have a good chance of getting back your lost WhatsApp chats and precious memories.