WhatsApp - please can someone help!

AL2022

Hi all,

Really hoping someone can help me with this one.

My fiancee borrowed my phone over the weekend - better camera, seeing Beyonce and an assumption all this was quite straightforward!

We switched our SIMs into each other's phones.

When we swapped back, my account was not right.

No profile photo and my partner was still getting my group messages through to her phone.

Manually removing her and re-adding me to chats seemed to be working, but obviously very laborious. 

I reached out to WhatsApp, who's supports I have to say is appalling, they advised me that there was likely an issue with my number still being linked to my partner's account.

They advised deleting my account was advisable and then restoring from Google Drive backups.

I queried this as the delete account warning explicitly says that your Google drive backup would also be lost.

I was advised this wasn't the case and my backups would remain.

They were half right - I still have a backup in my Google drive from yesterday but it appears to be linked to my fiancees phone number. I hadn't realised that before I proceeded to delete my account - obviously feeling fairly daft at the moment.

So when I reinstalled WhatsApp it couldn't detect any backup, so I appear to have now lost everything.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Is there anything I can do to change my number to my fiancees, use the backup, then change my number back to my current one?

I know they're only messages but I'm really upset at the moment.

Fingers crossed someone has some ideas to try.

Thank you so much.

Alex

Vitor

This might work

Remove WhatsApp from your phone (if still installed).

Insert or activate your fiancée’s SIM/eSIM.

Re-install WhatsApp.

When prompted, verify with her number. The app should now detect the Google Drive back-up and offer to restore it.

After the restore completes, go to Settings ▸ Account ▸ Change number. Follow the on-screen wizard to switch the account to your own number. This copies your chats and groups over and disables the account that was using her number.

Re-insert your own SIM.

Create a fresh Google Drive back-up immediately so that the data is now tied to your number.

AL2022

Vitor said:

This might work

Remove WhatsApp from your phone (if still installed).

Insert or activate your fiancée’s SIM/eSIM.

Re-install WhatsApp.

When prompted, verify with her number. The app should now detect the Google Drive back-up and offer to restore it.

After the restore completes, go to Settings ▸ Account ▸ Change number. Follow the on-screen wizard to switch the account to your own number. This copies your chats and groups over and disables the account that was using her number.

Re-insert your own SIM.

Create a fresh Google Drive back-up immediately so that the data is now tied to your number.

Thank you Vitor! I will definitely try this now.

What do I need to do to protect her own WhatsApp when we're trying this?

I'm finding it so confusing between phone numbers and accounts - WhatsApp support is non-existent.

MattMattMattUK

AL2022 said:

Vitor said:

This might work

Remove WhatsApp from your phone (if still installed).

Insert or activate your fiancée’s SIM/eSIM.

Re-install WhatsApp.

When prompted, verify with her number. The app should now detect the Google Drive back-up and offer to restore it.

After the restore completes, go to Settings ▸ Account ▸ Change number. Follow the on-screen wizard to switch the account to your own number. This copies your chats and groups over and disables the account that was using her number.

Re-insert your own SIM.

Create a fresh Google Drive back-up immediately so that the data is now tied to your number.

Thank you Vitor! I will definitely try this now.

What do I need to do to protect her own WhatsApp when we're trying this?

I'm finding it so confusing between phone numbers and accounts - WhatsApp support is non-existent.

Not swap SIM cards with different numbers between different phones without creating a clean install on the device is the main one. Doing what you have done can often trigger security rules, it normally disables all the banking apps on the device as well as various authenticator apps as well. 

AL2022

MattMattMattUK said:

AL2022 said:

Vitor said:

This might work

Remove WhatsApp from your phone (if still installed).

Insert or activate your fiancée’s SIM/eSIM.

Re-install WhatsApp.

When prompted, verify with her number. The app should now detect the Google Drive back-up and offer to restore it.

After the restore completes, go to Settings ▸ Account ▸ Change number. Follow the on-screen wizard to switch the account to your own number. This copies your chats and groups over and disables the account that was using her number.

Re-insert your own SIM.

Create a fresh Google Drive back-up immediately so that the data is now tied to your number.

Thank you Vitor! I will definitely try this now.

What do I need to do to protect her own WhatsApp when we're trying this?

I'm finding it so confusing between phone numbers and accounts - WhatsApp support is non-existent.

Not swap SIM cards with different numbers between different phones without creating a clean install on the device is the main one. Doing what you have done can often trigger security rules, it normally disables all the banking apps on the device as well as various authenticator apps as well. 

Hi Matt,

Thanks for this.

Are you able to just clarify what I need to do in the context of Vitor's advice above?

MattMattMattUK

AL2022 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

AL2022 said:

Vitor said:

This might work

Remove WhatsApp from your phone (if still installed).

Insert or activate your fiancée’s SIM/eSIM.

Re-install WhatsApp.

When prompted, verify with her number. The app should now detect the Google Drive back-up and offer to restore it.

After the restore completes, go to Settings ▸ Account ▸ Change number. Follow the on-screen wizard to switch the account to your own number. This copies your chats and groups over and disables the account that was using her number.

Re-insert your own SIM.

Create a fresh Google Drive back-up immediately so that the data is now tied to your number.

Thank you Vitor! I will definitely try this now.

What do I need to do to protect her own WhatsApp when we're trying this?

I'm finding it so confusing between phone numbers and accounts - WhatsApp support is non-existent.

Not swap SIM cards with different numbers between different phones without creating a clean install on the device is the main one. Doing what you have done can often trigger security rules, it normally disables all the banking apps on the device as well as various authenticator apps as well. 

Hi Matt,

Thanks for this.

Are you able to just clarify what I need to do in the context of Vitor's advice above?

In general do not put a SIM card with a different number in a phone set up for someone else's number/accounts. It causes all sorts of problems, can get banking apps blocked etc. 

When you use the change number function as above, it may disconnect her existing login on her phone, so I would make sure she is fully backed up and turn her phone off/into aeroplane mode before you start messing around on your phone.

The above might work, or it might not, so you may have to accept that old message are lost. 

Vitor

Yes, switch off partner's mobi before removing SIM and only switch back on when SIM has been reinserted

AL2022

Hi both,

Thanks for your help.

Unfortunately the only backup available using the method is my partner's daily back up from today.

I'm not able to select the backup, linked to her number, which my phone made on Saturday.

We have a family Google account, but with separate accounts within.

Interestingly when I enter my number on starting WhatsApp it displays both her email address and mine with the message 'no backup found'.

But unfortunately when I use her number I don't get that choice and it just goes straight to her email address backup, which isn't what I need.

I think I'm out of options!

But again thanks very much for trying to help.

Alex 

Murmansk

Try asking Google Gemini - I've found it extremely helpful for technical stuff like this

AL2022

Murmansk said:

Try asking Google Gemini - I've found it extremely helpful for technical stuff like this

Thanks Murmansk! A really helpful suggestion, Gemini has been considerable more helpful than WhatsApp support.

I still haven't cracked it though.

It's really frustrating as a WhatsApp backup (15GB) sits in my Google Drive but under my partner's number.

So it is literally there, I just can't unlock the combination of SIM, phone numbers and Google accounts which might let me restore it!

Arrrrggghhhhh