12

I did a backup for my messages then uninstalled WhatsApp. The next day, I reinstalled it for a quick thing and it restored locally without problems then I uninstalled it again. 2 weeks later, when I tried to install WhatsApp, it never detected my local backup msgstore.db.crypt14. It directly prompted me to restore from Google Drive no matter what I did!

Here is what I have done:

1- I have transferred WhatsApp files to Sdcard and still didn't work.

2- I have disconnected WhatsApp from Google Drive; however, it forced me to give permissions to backup from Google Drive when installing.

3- I have installed WhatsApp again and went to phone settings to give it all permissions such as storage, but it still wanted to have the backup from Google Drive.

4- I have deleted all my google accounts from my phone, and still, WhatsApp asked for Google Drive.

What did I miss? I am confused that it restored the backup locally before and refused later. What should I do? Are there any solutions?

diana99
  • 141
  • 1
  • 1
  • 4
  • 2
    Questions about topics other than development or programming, but related to Android, are not on-topic for Stack Overflow, but **may** be on-topic at https://android.stackexchange.com (and you're more likely to get a good answer there). Please review [the guidelines for posting in that community](//android.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic) before posting there to ensure that your question is on-topic. – Ryan M Jun 04 '21 at 06:53

3 Answers3

29

As a new user I'm not allowed to answer and upvote Merlin Behling's answer, but his solution worked perfectly for me (@Merlin: for better comprehension I will tell the solution again in my own words and if I've earned enough reputation, I'll upvote your answer)!

First of all, the backup function in Whatsapp is actually broken. Currently, Whatsapp will never detect your local backup by default. Anyway, it is possible to restore your local backup:

  1. Copy the files (msgstore.db.crypt14, msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt14...) in <internal_storage>/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Databases from your old Android smartphone (on Android 11 or older: sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases)
  2. Create the path <internal_storage>/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Databases (on Android 11 or older: sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases) on your new Android smartphone and paste the copied files there
  3. Install Whatsapp via Google Play Store on your new smartphone
  4. Open Whatsapp and verify your phone numer (you have to use the same number as on your old smartphone)
  5. When it asked you to grant access to your files for Google drive, ignore the message and instead close the app (press □ and wipe Whatsapp away)
  6. Activate airplane mode
  7. Open Whatsapp again and wait until you see the message that scanning is taking longer than usual. Press "skip" (don't know the English word, I'm also using Whatsapp in german) and in the new message also press "skip"
  8. You should now see your local backup, press "restore backup"
  9. Disable airplane mode and activate Wifi
  10. Ignore the message regarding Google Drive and, when your backup has been restored (look at the progress bar at the bottom in the background), close the app
  11. Open Whatsapp again and you should see now your old and new messages alltogether!

PS: I've already sent a mail to Whatsapp support regarding this problem ...Hopefully they'll fix the problem for the technically inexperienced people

Update 03.06.2021: I had a long correspondence with the Whatsapp support team, but they did not understand the problem. Although I described the problem several times in detail, they sent me the same generic answers that completely missed the point. Too bad...

Ewout
  • 2,348
  • 1
  • 20
  • 24
Chris
  • 291
  • 1
  • 2
  • 5
  • 4
    Thank you! This worked like a charm. If anyone is wondering how to get step 5 to work (when WhatsApp is meant to ask you to grant access), without needing to remove your Google account, try going to drive.google.com > settings cog > manage apps > find WhatsApp and disconnect it from Drive. – biqqles Jun 08 '21 at 11:03
  • 3
    I ended up having to copy over the Media directory contents as well to get this to work. Hope this helps others. Thanks for these directions. – Adrian Scott Oct 11 '21 at 12:41
  • 11
    After almost too many attempts (you need to wait several hours between attempts after failing x times), I finally found out that on Android 12, the folder has been moved from `/WhatsApp/Databases` to `/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Databases`! – Ewout Nov 20 '21 at 13:12
  • 1
    If we want to retain the media files (pictures, audio, videos), we need to include the entire folder under `WhatsApp/*.*` (not just sub-folder `WhatsApp/Databases` or else the media files in `WhatsApp/Media` will be missing. Another perhaps more important point is that maybe for newer version (as of the latest version on 22 November 2021), WhatsApp prompts you to restore from Goog;e Drive, if you answered no, it just stops the data restoration and will NOT continue to restore from the local backup. It ends up only with empty contents on all chats. – SeaBean Nov 25 '21 at 14:42
  • 1
    disconnecting WhatsApp from google drive (if you have more than one Google accounts configured, disconnect from each of them), forces WhatsApp to look for local backups. if the local backup is found, ask for a restore from the local backup. if the local backup is absent, ask for permission from google drive or skip the restoration process. for disconnection of WhatsApp from google drive, see the comment of @biqqles. – Banee Ishaque K May 01 '22 at 20:14
  • This looks like a great trick (and works) - but why not just remove the Google Account (or remove the GDrive backups) and then just do steps 1-4? Like the previous comment. Another trick I found [here](https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/whatsapp-restore-from-local-backup-working-method-april-2022.4426309/): just reinstall fresh (without restoring any backup), manually trigger a backup, and before backup gets uploaded you overwrite with the right backup, in order to get it uploaded to GDrive. – drizin Jul 19 '22 at 14:12
  • Thanks to @Ewout! I thought I had tried that filepath before, but as they mention the hours between attempts makes it hard to remember. On my final (successful) attempt I put the file in both `/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Databases` and `/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Backups` just to be sure. Android 13 for me! – AmeliaMN Sep 01 '22 at 16:09
  • I tried following these steps today on Android 11 but it didn't work initially when I put the backup file in `/WhatsApp/Databases`, but putting it in `/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Databases` worked! So perhaps they have updated the app so that it looks in that folder also for Android 11. – mgunyho Nov 17 '22 at 20:02
  • Extra Step needed for this to work in Feb 2023: the above steps did not work UNTIL I added an extra step as follows : 3b. BEFORE launching WhatsApp for the first time, enable all permissions it wants via the android system settings > apps > WhatsApp > Permissions >and enable permisssion for Files and Media (and all the others WhatsApp uses as well). This worked on Android 11. – smashingMyPC36timesaday Feb 03 '23 at 00:27
11

Same issue here.

I finally solved it by installing an older version of the software (2.21.8.17, downloaded from https://www.apkmirror.com) and then following the "registration wizard". It found the local backup and was able to restore it. I then enabled the backup to Google Drive and updated the software to the latest version using the play store.

foofoo_2
  • 146
  • 1
  • 5
  • 3
    A11 WhatsApp has changed the DB location from whatsapp/media/databases to android/com.whatsapp/whatsapp/media/database – Sudaraka Senevirathne Jun 05 '21 at 16:22
  • The only solution that works when you don't have an sd card slot. Thank you very much. – Camusensei Oct 02 '21 at 22:26
  • Don't know if this is important, but I went to app settings and granted permissions for local storage (before SMS verification). I also denied permission for contacts when Whatsapp asked for it (after SMS verification). Also, as @SudarakaSenevirathne mentioned, my new phone had Android 11 so the storage location was different. – Tim John Oct 11 '21 at 05:59
  • @TimJohn does that mean I need to move the backups to that location first, or will it automatically figure out ? – Dimi Ansari Oct 11 '21 at 15:36
  • @DimiAnsari Yes, you'll have to move it to the new folder location. It didn't detect it at the older location when I tried. If the directories don't already exist, you'll need to create those too. I didn't know abt the change in path and kept on reinstalling and trying, and eventually got locked out by WhatsApp. – Tim John Oct 11 '21 at 16:32
  • Oh okay, just got my chats back after hours of trying. For me personally though, I didn’t have to move the backups to a new location. Just installing the older WhatsApp version worked! – Dimi Ansari Oct 11 '21 at 16:50
  • Oh ok. What version of Android are you running? The new path applies only to Android 11. – Tim John Oct 11 '21 at 18:35
  • Android 11 itself. Maybe the new path works with the latest WhatsApp version, and not with the old version that I used. FWIW I used 2.21.8.17. – Dimi Ansari Oct 20 '21 at 07:59
  • If you want to reproduce it with version 2.21.8.17, make sure the date is Oct 20 or earlier. That version has two timebombs. You can't activate after Oct 23, and you can't restore the backup after Oct 20. – Michael Karcher Oct 26 '21 at 19:05
  • Legend for finding this. I downloaded a slightly later version cause there is an expiry period for old versions. Dont adjust your time/date to fix, cause that just breaks the restore. :) – Johnny Zen Oct 29 '21 at 20:06
  • Version 2.21.8.17 no longer works since Oct 20 2021. I have successfully recovered from my backup using version 2.21.16.20. – jurev Oct 31 '21 at 10:43
  • old version shows whatsapp is outdated and prompt us to have date and time settings and when we try to enter no to get OTP, we wil not be able to get OTP. So this trick is not working now – Ravindra Bosamiya Oct 10 '22 at 16:40
2

I had the same problem (German Student here).

Follow the normal steps...
Then when it comes to first opening WhatsApp after the reinstall:
Open App with normal Internet etc.
Verfiy by Code (sms/Telephon)
After Verifikation when it wants to Google drive you:close The App completly
Turn on airplane Mode
Open App
Wait for it to search for Backup
After about 1 minute it says: "no Internet good connecion, do you want to retry or continue?
Press continue
Then it finds your local Backup
Wait until it shows how big The local Backup is Press restore Backup
Turn Internet back on but absolutely dont press anything on the soon appearing Pop up
Just watch The loading Bar in the background at the bottom
As soon as it says finished in the background close The app completly
Reopen The App and you are golden :)

Kiquenet
  • 14,494
  • 35
  • 148
  • 243
Merlin Behling
  • 21
  • 1