Suppose you bought a new Android smartphone and want to restore old WhatsApp messages from the previous device. The app provides a fairly practical functionality to do so. All you have to do is enter your mobile device and WhatsApp will offer the option to restore your latest backup from Google Drive. But what if you don’t have a decent internet connection? Well, in these cases, the execution of this task can take some time. Therefore, today we will discuss an interesting method to restore your old WhatsApp chats without using Google Drive. So without further ado, let’s start with the guide. On that note, be sure to check out 25 WhatsApp tips and tricks.
Restore old WhatsApp chats without using Google Drive
Before setting up WhatsApp on your new smartphone, some work must be done on your old one. Launch any file explorer on your old smartphone and access the internal storage. Then go to WhatsApp > Data base and you will see all the cat backups there. To check the backup date, go to the properties section of the individual backup and see its full name. It will be something along the lines of msgstore-date.db.crypt (example: msgstore-2020-02-17.db.crypt)
However, if you notice that the backup is not the last, you can create a new one via settings > cats > Chat backup > safeguard (if you have decent internet connectivity. Otherwise, go to steps to restore WhatsApp chats using the latest backup stored in the Databases folder). To create a new backup, go to WhatsApp > settings > cats > Chat backup > Save.
Now, if the old and the new smartphone support the MicroSD card, copy your conversations to the memory card. Another option is to use a USB OTG cable and a USB stick. If nothing works, simply transfer the required WhatsApp chat to your PC via USB cable, then to your new device. Once done, follow the instructions below to restore old WhatsApp conversations without Google Drive. In addition, you can also get Facebook-like ChatHeads for WhatsApp. See our guide for more information.
How to restore old WhatsApp chats
- Install WhatsApp on your new smartphone, but don’t open it yet.
- With the help of any file explorer, go to Internal storage > WhatsApp > Data base. On some devices, you may not find the Database folder. No problem, you can create one manually and continue.
- Now to restore Whatsapp chats, copy it from your old device and paste it into the Database folder of your new smartphone.
- Launch the app, enter the phone number and WhatsApp will now restore the local backup (i.e. the one stored on your device). Just press Restore and wait for the process to finish.
That’s it. You have successfully restored WhatsApp chats without using Google Drive. However, in some cases, WhatsApp can recognize the backup stored on Google Drive rather than the local backup. If so, try the fix below.
Resolving the restore problem
The problem arises because WhatsApp is able to find one of the backup copies in the Drive servers. Therefore, it will give priority to the Drive backup rather than the local backup. In this case, you can only try one fix to restore old WhatsApp chats. Meeting on settings > Accounts and delete the Google account associated with Drive.
However, it will also delete your messages, contacts and other data from phones. So make sure everything is saved accordingly before continuing. And once you’re done with the guide, you can easily add this account again and all your data will be synced back to your device again.
Now that you’ve deleted the account, also uninstall WhatsApp. Now install and configure WhatsApp again. This time, the application will automatically recover the backup stored in the Database folder of the device.
With that, we conclude the guide on how to restore WhatsApp chats without using Google Drive. If you’re still having issues, submit your queries in the comments section below. Also, don’t forget to share this guide with others and make them aware of this practical tip.