If we have just purchased a new smartphone or we have to temporarily use a different phone from the official one, we will find ourselves having the difficulty of having to transfer all the chats and numbers we have associated on WhatsApp on the fly, so as to be immediately operational on this service without missing a message or chat. At the same time we may need to change your phone number and therefore keep the account already in use, without having to create a new one from scratch (as per standard procedure).
In this guide we will then show you how to transfer WhatsApp to a new phone or to a new number without losing the various chats, messages and conversations, so as to be immediately ready to send messages and recover all the conversations already carried out so far, in a simple and immediate way (in most cases).
1) Transfer WhatsApp via Google Drive or iCloud
WhatsApp integrates an automatic backup system inside that can be associated with the Google Drive cloud service or alternatively iCloud, so that we can immediately transfer all our chats already during the enabling phase on the new smartphone.
First of all, make sure to install the Google Drive app on Android and log in with the Google account in use, while on the iPhone we make sure we have an active iCloud account; once the cloud services are configured, we open the WhatsApp settings on the old phone and prepare to make backups to be transferred to the new phone (from Android to Android and from iPhone to iPhone).
On Android, simply open the WhatsApp app, click on the three dots at the top right, then go to the path Settings -> Chat -> Chat backup; in this menu we click Accounts in the Google Drive Settings section to confirm the Google account, then we click Back up to create a new backup immediately, making sure we are connected to a Wi-Fi network (so you can transfer online backup immediately).
On iPhone, just check that iCloud is active from Settings -> Password and account -> iCloud, then let's go inside the WhatsApp app, click on Settings at the bottom and go to the Chat path -> Chat backup .
From this screen, simply click Back up now to start creating the backup on iCloud.
Once the backups are made, let's go to the new phones and immediately log in to Google Drive or iCloud, so as to allow the sharing of the common space also to the apps (in this case we need to recover the backup just created); now all we have to do is install WhatsApp for Android or WhatsApp for iPhone, use the same phone number already used on the old phone and, in the screen where we will be asked whether to restore the online backup, confirm the operation by clicking on the Restore button .
The operation may take some time, also based on the connection speed (better always do everything with Wi-Fi).
On the iPhone we can also restore it later, by going to the Settings menu -> Chat -> Chat backup and clicking Reset chat history .
READ ALSO: How automatic and manual Whatsapp Backup works
2) Transfer WhatsApp to different operating systems
If the new and old phones have different operating systems (for example from Android to iOS or vice versa), we cannot use the integrated system but we will have to rely on the third-party backup systems available on both.
The best app to transfer WhatsApp from iPhone to Android is WazzapMigrator, which is available for a fee but does its job very well (it becomes practically indispensable).
On the Android phone we begin to install WhatsApp and start it, in order to prepare it; instead from the iPhone we create the online backup on iCloud, then we use it on a PC or Mac with iTunes and iCloud configured, so that we can access the online backups; now we don't have to do anything but open a program to extract the ChatStorage.sqlite file, which is essential for moving chats from one phone to another.
The best programs to do this are:
- iBackup Viewer (free)
- iPhone Backup Extractor (trial with extraction of only 4 files for free)
As soon as we have prepared everything, we use one of these programs to navigate through the folders stored in the backup, until we find the one called AppDomainGroup-Group.net.whatsapp.WhatsApp.Shared ; from here we can copy the ChatStorage.sqlite file.
If we also want to save the photos, videos and GIFs, we must also copy the folders present in Message -> Media, always in the same path seen a little while ago.
If we have difficulty performing these operations, we can view the text guides created by the creator of the app and available below (complete with video guides).
- Extract ChatStorage.sqlite on Windows
- Extract ChatStorage.sqlite on Mac
Once extracted all the necessary copy the ChatStorage.sqlite file on the Android phone (just connect the latter via cable) and place it in the folder of WazzapMigrator, present in the internal memory (it will be created automatically when the app is started for the first time).
Now we reopen the app and click on Select the iPhone archive, select the file extracted a little while ago and finally click on the play symbol.
In a few seconds we will have the iPhone WhatsApp chats saved on Android!
If instead we wanted to carry out the reverse procedure (from Android to iOS) or we were looking for a much simpler method than the one illustrated, we will have to turn to a paid program such as Whatsapp Transfer, which allows you to make any transfer between multiple different phones, without any problem: just connect them all together and use the app to access and convert the various WhatsApp archives.
This program is very useful but it costs almost € 30, so we consider its purchase if we often switch from one phone to another changing the operating system.
3) Change number on WhatsApp
Let's move on to the case of changing numbers .
As we all know, Whatsapp binds to a SIM card, that is, to an active phone number; with this mechanism, the visible WhatsApp contacts will be the same as those in the address book and to delete WhatsApp contacts just just delete them from the address book.
So if you change your phone number, installing Whatsapp you will get a completely new account, disconnected from the previous one.
To do the number transfer with Whatsapp and therefore maintain settings, personal data and group membership, open Whatsapp, go to the Settings -> Account -> Change number path and follow the wizard by entering the old number first and then the new one.
The complete guide for this operation I had already written, in the article on how to change the phone number in Whatsapp .
