How to move WhatsApp messages to a new phone

Setting up a new phone is a good opportunity to clean out the clutter on the old one, though we suspect you’d probably like to keep some of it. WhatsApp messages, pictures, video and other files are one such example, and once you’ve set up the app on a new device you can’t also use it on the previous one. Luckily, with a bit of preparation you can move all that to a new phone.

Using Google Drive you can maintain a regular backup of your WhatsApp account, which your new phone will automatically search for upon installation of WhatsApp. Here’s how to get it set up.

How to restore WhatsApp on a new phone

1. On your old phone ensure you have the free Google Drive app installed and running. Download this from Google Play if you do not.

2. Open WhatsApp and tap the three dots in the top right corner, then choose Settings > Chats > Chat backup.

3. By default (assuming you already have Google Drive installed) WhatsApp will look to back up all your files overnight on a daily basis. However, if you’ve been using WhatsApp since or you didn’t have Wi-Fi turned on overnight, it’s possible this backup didn’t happen. Tap the green Back Up button to ensure you have a complete backup.

4. On your new phone install both WhatsApp and Google Drive from Google Play. You will want to be logged in using the same Google account as on your previous device.

5. Launch WhatsApp, click ‘Agree and Continue’ when presented with a message about the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, then follow the prompts to verify your phone number. We’re assuming that you are keeping your phone number but changing your phone.

6. WhatsApp will immediately look to Google Drive for an existing WhatsApp backup, and it should dig up the backup you created a few moments ago. If you wish to restore all your messages, photos and video on the new device then click the Restore button. (If you choose Skip you will get a fresh installation of WhatsApp.)

7. WhatsApp will now begin downloading your files. Restoring your messages will take just a minute or two, though if you regularly send video and photos via the service these will take longer. You should find as soon as your messages have been restored you can begin using WhatsApp, while your media will continue downloading in the background. Click Next to continue.

8. Enter a name for your WhatsApp profile, then click Next. WhatsApp should now be up and running as it was on your old device.