If we have just purchased a new smartphone or we have to use a phone other than the official one, we will end up with 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 losing a message or a chat.At the same time, we may need to change the 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 show you how 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 retrieve all the conversations already carried out so far, in a simple and immediate manner (in most cases).
1) Transfer WhatsApp via Google Drive or iCloud
WhatsApp integrates within it an automatic backup system that can be associated with the Google Drive cloud service or alternatively iCloud, so you can immediately transfer all our chats already during the enabling phase on the new smartphone.
First of all let’s make sure we install the app Google Drive on Android and on it to log in with the Google account in use, while on iPhone let’s 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 the backups to be transferred to the new phone (from Android to Android and from iPhone to iPhone).
On Android it is sufficient to open the WhatsApp app, click on the top right on the three dots, then go to Settings -> Chat -> Chat backup; in this menu we click on Account in the section Google Drive settings to confirm the Google account, then we click on Backup to immediately create a new backup, making sure we are connected to a Wi-Fi network (so we can immediately transfer the backup online).
On iPhone just check that iCloud is active from Settings -> Password and account -> iCloud, so let’s get inside the WhatsApp app, let’s click on Settings and let us take the path Chat -> Chat backup.
From this screen, simply click Back up now to start creating iCloud backup.
Once the backups have been made, let’s take us to the new phones and immediately access 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 you will be asked whether to restore the online backup, confirm the operation by clicking on the button Restore.
The operation may take some time, even depending on the connection speed (better always do everything with Wi-Fi).
On iPhone we can also restore later, bringing us to the menu Settings ->Chat -> Chat backup and clicking Restore chat history.
READ ALSO: How automatic and manual Whatsapp Backup works
2) Transfer WhatsApp to different operating systems
If the new and the old phone 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 third-party backup systems available on both.
The best app for transferring 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 start to install WhatsApp and start it, so as to prepare it; from the iPhone instead we create online backup on iCloud, so we use on a PC or Mac with iTunes and iCloud configured, so that we can access online backups; now we have to do nothing but open a program to extract the file ChatStorage.sqlite, essential for moving chats from one phone to another.
The best programs to do this are:
– iBackup Viewer (free)
– iPhone Backup Extractor (trial with the extraction of only 4 files for free)
As soon as we have prepared everything, we use one of these programs to browse through the folders stored in the backup, until you find the one named AppDomainGroup-Group.net.whatsapp.WhatsApp.Shared; from here we can copy the file ChatStorage.sqlite.
If we also want to save photos, videos, and GIFs, we must also copy the folders in Message -> Average, 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 file ChatStorage.sqlite on the Android phone (just connect the latter by cable) and place it in the folder WazzapMigrator, present in the internal memory (it will be created automatically when the app is first started).
Now re-open the app and click on Select the iPhone archive, select the extracted file 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 look for a method much simpler than the one illustrated, we will have to turn to a paid program like Whatsapp Transfer, which allows you to make any transfer between several different phones, without any problem: just connect them all together and use the app to access the various WhatsApp archives and convert them.
This program is really very useful but costs almost € 30, so let’s examine his purchase if we often switch from one phone to another by changing the operating system.
3) Change number on WhatsApp
Let’s move on to the case of change number.
As we all know, Whatsapp is linked to a SIM card, ie 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, you can just delete them from the address book.
So if you change the phone number, installing Whatsapp you will get an all new account, disconnected from the previous one.
To do number transfer with Whatsapp and then keep settings, personal data and group membership open Whatsapp, let’s get on the path Settings -> Account -> Change number and we follow the guided procedure by entering the old number first and then the new one.
I had already written the complete guide to this operation, in the article on how to change phone number in Whatsapp.