Recovering WhatsApp message from Backup

londonman81

My old phone gave up two days ago and it had been backing up WhatsApp daily onto my Google Drive account.

I now have a new phone onto which I want to restore the backed-up WhatsApp messages.

When I install WhatsApp on my new phone it goes through some steps for restoring from the last backup (15 Jan). 

However it then asks for a password or encryption key. When I try entering a password, it says no password was created and that I should the use encryption key.

But I don't know where to find the encryption key.

Is it possible to restore without the encryption key? And if my old phone won't restart, does this mean I cannot access the encryption key at all?

Is there any other method to restore my WhatsApp messages from the Google Drive file?

Also, the WhatsApp on the new phone says if you do not restore now then you won't be able to restore later - why would this be if I have a backup file saved on Google Drive??

Thanks

Neil_Jones

The usual issues for Whatsapp restore problems are documented here:

https://faq.whatsapp.com/589979312881396/?helpref=hc_fnav&cms_platform=android

The encrypted back-ups you've opted into that on WhatsApp on the old phone, as its not the default option.

If you don't know what this is then you have no way of restoring as per https://faq.whatsapp.com/639067727894647

Musa999

If you have a backup of your WhatsApp messages on Google Drive, you should be able to restore them on your new phone without needing an encryption key. The encryption key is typically used to secure the backup file and ensure that only the intended user can access the backup.

Here are the steps you can follow to restore your WhatsApp messages:

1. Install WhatsApp on your new phone: Make sure to use the same phone number that you used on your old phone.

2. Verify your phone number: WhatsApp will ask you to verify your phone number through a verification code sent via SMS. This is a standard process.

3. Restore from Google Drive: When prompted to restore your chat history, WhatsApp will ask for permission to access your Google Drive account. Grant the necessary permissions.

4. Select the backup file: WhatsApp will then show you the available backup files. Choose the most recent backup file (from January 15 in your case).

5. No encryption key or password: If you didn't set up an encryption key or password for your WhatsApp backup, you should be able to proceed without entering anything. If prompted, leave the fields blank or select the option indicating that no encryption key was used.

6. Wait for the restoration to complete: WhatsApp will now restore your messages from the selected backup. This process may take some time depending on the size of your chat history.

Regarding the message that says if you do not restore now, you won't be able to restore later – this is likely because WhatsApp periodically updates its encryption methods, and older backups might not be compatible with future versions of the app. Therefore, it's advisable to restore your messages as soon as possible after installing WhatsApp on your new device.

If you are unable to access the encryption key due to your old phone not restarting, and you didn't set up an encryption key or password, you should still be able to restore your messages using the steps outlined above. If there is an encryption key and you cannot access it, you may need to try recovering access to your old phone or contact WhatsApp support for further assistance.

PHK

You used an AI to write that, it doesn't even make sense!

spud17

PHK said:

You used an AI to write that, it doesn't even make sense!

It's been sorted.