On Android phones, WhatsApp is the most popular messaging application. Keeping in touch with family and friends is one of its many functions. Many of us use WhatsApp to send messages and files, so backing up our chats is essential, even more so if WhatsApp for business is used.
In order not to lose anything, we make a backup of our chats and files in this app. If we lose or change phones, we can restore our WhatsApp backup on Android devices. Our chats and other files that we have saved will be restored on our devices, and we will be able to continue using WhatsApp normally. But not everyone knows how to do this, so in this article we will explain how to do it step by step.
Backups in WhatsApp
Normally, the application will do a automatic backup of our conversations if this function has not been deactivated. This allows us to save the messages that we have exchanged, as well as the files (photos, videos, audio notes...) that we have sent or received. Backups are automatically saved to Google Drive, so we can always access them. Although these backups have been eating up Google cloud storage space, it shouldn't be a problem for most users who don't have too many chats or large files to store.
If you want you can create backups manually in WhatsApp. In addition, in the settings menu, we can choose the frequency with which we want these backups to be made. We can also decide if we want to include videos in them, as well as where they are saved. Each user of the app will therefore be able to receive personalized backups.
Each new backup will be saved to Google Drive, in addition to our mobile device, which will allow us to restore the most recent backup of WhatsApp for Android when the time comes. It is up to you whether you want to save a backup with a certain frequency or another, as well as how often you use the app on your Android phone. With these settings, you can choose from several options.
Restore WhatsApp backup
There are various methods to restore WhatsApp backup to phone, and one of the easiest and fastest is one of them. In case we want to restore the WhatsApp backup on Android, we must follow these steps. These are the steps we must follow if we take this quick method:
Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp
For restore whatsapp backup on android, we must make use of the configuration wizard. First we must remove or uninstall WhatsApp on our mobile phone. Doing this process on mobile sounds a bit extreme, but it will make it easier. After uninstalling the mobile app, you have to reinstall it.
Consequently, we need to search for WhatsApp on our phones, and then click Uninstall to remove it. If we want to uninstall it in another way, we must reinstall it through the Google Play Store. then we will find the uninstall button in the app profile. We can uninstall the app by clicking on it once we have pressed the uninstall button. Once the app is removed, we will find the Install button in the profile. After installing, we will be able to uninstall the app by clicking on it.
Tras reinstall WhatsApp on Android, the app starts blank. This indicates that we have not logged into the app on our Android smartphone, as if we had just installed it. That is why we will have to do it, since it is the easiest method. When we have reinstalled the app, we can move on to the next phase.
Set up your phone number
Once WhatsApp is installed again on our mobile device, we must configure it. It is the same procedure that we follow when we install the messaging program for the first time on our mobile device. In the first window, we will be asked to grant various rights for the application to work on Android. We must accept them until we reach the window where we put our phone number.
It is crucial to use the same phone number that is associated with that backup. If we do not do it, the WhatsApp backup will not be restored on our mobile. That's why we enter the phone number, which the application will ask us to verify with a phone call or with a code that it will send us by SMS. We will not have any problem if this is not done automatically, since sometimes it is not even necessary to enter it. If it is not done automatically, we can enter the code manually.
Restore the backup
The next phase begins after entering and verifying our phone number. A screen will appear informing us that a backup has been detected of the application in Google Drive and asking us if we want to restore it, if everything has gone well. Some information about the backup is also given (the date it was made, its weight…), so that we can know if we have the correct backup or not. As it is the most recent backup, we should not have any problems in this regard.
The only time we can restore this backup on WhatsApp is on that screen. We must click on the restore button. It is essential to note that this is the only time we can restore this backup. If we skip this step, we will not be able to restore this backup in the messaging application again. It is essential that we get to this screen and perform the restore operation. When we click on the Restore button, the backup in question will start to restore. It will take some time, depending on the size of the backup stored on Google Drive.
You can see the percentage of this process on the screen, so you can estimate how long it will take. If you have large files in this backup, the process will take a little longer. Once the process is complete, you will be able to use the app on your Android phone again. Messages will be restored to their previous state after this process is complete. The files have not been lost in this procedure, so you will be able to access photos or videos, for example. With these steps, we are going to restore WhatsApp backup on Android.
You can see that it is not too difficult, but we must perform the procedure carefully so as not to miss the opportunity to recover the backup. This procedure can be done with all versions of the messaging app on Android. Once finished, you will have all your chats, groups, archived, as well as shared files in them again available (as long as you had configured the backup to save certain files, such as videos).