Migrating Whatsapp chat history

[Tsang Fai]

Just got my Lumia 950 XL. But I fail to restore my chat history of WhatsApp.

Here is what I did:

1. In my old phone (930, WP 8.1), I chose Settings in Whatsapp > chats and call > Backup
2. In my new phone (950, Win10 Mobile), uninstalled and installed Whatsapp. Launched the app, verified my phone number with SMS and the app detected I had a backup and I chose "restore".
3. I found that none of my previous messages was restored

Anyone who knows how to migrate WhatsApp chat history (from WP 8.1 to Win10 Mobile)? I would like to know the procedure in details. Seems that Windows Phone native backup does not backup/restore WhatsApp chat history, and the backup/restore function of WhatsApp seems not working at all.

Thanks.

 

[ale2999]

I have researched this and the result will make you very sad. The backup feature only works if the phone is capable of having an sd card. Otherwise sigh..... best you can do is email yourself the chats to keep archives...

 

[Lundon44]

I had issues as well. Took me a few hrs to get it fixed. You need to find a way to export the whatsapp folder from your old phone containing the backup (assuming you ran a backup on the old one). Then import it to the root drive of the new phone. After that, install whatsapp. Run it, and it will say it found a backup. Make sure the date and time matches when you copied it over. It should restore it. Worked for me but I had used a microSD.

 

[jmajid]

I had issues as well. Took me a few hrs to get it fixed. You need to find a way to export the whatsapp folder from your old phone containing the backup (assuming you ran a backup on the old one). Then import it to the root drive of the new phone. After that, install whatsapp. Run it, and it will say it found a backup. Make sure the date and time matches when you copied it over. It should restore it. Worked for me but I had used a microSD.

so when you say export/import... you're just referring to using file explorer , correct?
i can do that, as i have been using a phone with a SD card... and the 950XL has one too...

 

[Tsang Fai]

I have researched this and the result will make you very sad. The backup feature only works if the phone is capable of having an sd card. Otherwise sigh..... best you can do is email yourself the chats to keep archives...

That means it is impossible to restore chat history to 950XL from my 930 because 930 does not support SD card.

Sigh...

I just wonder why Windows Phone backup does not automatically include chat history, which is part of the "data" of the app.

As far as backup/restore is concerned, I think iPhone is doing a very good job - nearly all apps data (including chat history) are preserved after restoring from a backup.

 

[shinji81]

I have the same bloody problem on my 950xl. This is what I did:
1) after the phone restore (the first time I switched it on and connected to my live account), I opened whatsapp to see if all the messages where there. I was wrong, so I went back to my old phone and made anew backup from whatsapp.
2) copied the backup from my old phone to the new one. Re-installed the app and tried the restore. No luck
3) tried that soooooo many times, even moving the sd from the old phone to the new one. Nothing.
4) the only thing I can restore is a backup that whatsapp took on the new pho e when I installed it and I received around 30 messages. The problem is that I don't find the whatsapp folder with that backup anywhere! If I try to take it again, the folds in the sd (the one from the previous phone) doesn't get updated! Where the hell does whatsapp save the backups on WP10?!

This is so ridiculous and frustrating!the ways app developers are terrible! As a developer too I am really surprised that they make such bad decisions. Also, why can't I restore a backup everytime I want? Why the hell do I have to uninstall and install the app again?

Anyone knows how I can fix this on wp10?

Thanks and Sorry for the long post.


UPDATE: at the end I tried to take another backup from the new phone at around midnight in order to have another backup folder with a new date. Then with the file explorer I copied the old backups to this new folder. Re-installed the app and restored my messages! Yeah!

 

[jmajid]

will be trying this later today/this weekend...
i wonder... can i have whatsapp running on the 950XL and activated before i put the sim card in there?
seems like its best to run a backup on the 950XL to allow it to create the backup folder... i presume if its installed on the SD card, it will be created on the same "drive" also....
then once that folder is created, copy the folder from the previous backup folder to the new folder...?

 

[anon(8966963)]

Anyone notice that when you send an voice note in Whatsapp it sounds so deep and almost in slow mo?