How to transfer your chat history

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If you're moving from an Android phone to another Android phone, you can transfer your full chat and media history using WhatsApp's Chat Transfer feature.
While restoring from a backup can recover all of your chat data, the Chat Transfer feature allows you to transfer your full account information including all of your personal messages, photos, videos, documents, etc. However, you can’t transfer peer-to-peer payment messages and your call history, or media received over WhatsApp Channels.

What you need

  • Android 6 or above installed on both your old and new Android phones.
  • Use the same phone number as your old phone on your new phone.
  • Your new phone must not be registered on WhatsApp until you start the migration on your old phone.
  • Your phones must be close to each other.
  • Both of your phones should be connected to a power source.
  • Both of your phones need to have WiFi enabled. They don’t need to be connected to a network.
  • Certain device permissions are required to initiate the transfer. Precise location permissions are required by the device in Android 12 and below, but WhatsApp does not collect your precise location.

Transfer your chat history

Old phone
  1. Open WhatsApp on your old phone.
  2. Tap More Options > Settings > Chats > Transfer chats > Start.
  3. Accept requested permissions and prepare to scan the QR code that will be shown on your new phone.
New phone
  1. Download and then open WhatsApp on your new phone. Go through the setup.
  2. Tap Agree and continue > Verify your phone number.
  3. Tap Start on Transfer chat history from old phone.
  4. Accept requested permissions and then you’ll see a QR code.
  5. On your old phone scan the QR code shown on your new phone.
  6. Accept the invitation to connect on your new phone to link your new phone to your old phone.
  7. While your chat history is transferring, a percentage bar will track the progress. Keep both phones unlocked and don’t leave WhatsApp. Messaging is paused during the chat history transfer. You can Cancel the process at any time.
  8. Once the import is complete, tap Done.
Note:
  • If you're having issues with the chat transfer, try restarting both phones. Turn them off, wait 30 seconds, and turn them back on. Then, try the chat transfer again.
  • Don't delete your old phone's data, reset your old phone, or uninstall WhatsApp on your old phone until you can confirm the data has successfully transferred to your new phone. In case your transfer fails, gets stuck, or you receive an error, your data will still be available on your old phone.
  • It’s currently not possible to transfer chats on WhatsApp Business.

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