How to Transfer WhatsApp Chat History to New iPhone?

In today’s digital landscape, companies frequently release new smartphone models. While iPhones are known for their stability compared to Android devices, Apple also introduces new iPhone models regularly. When upgrading to a new iPhone, transferring data from your old device is an important step. WhatsApp, one of the most widely used instant messaging platforms, plays an integral role in daily communication. Preserving your WhatsApp chat history is often a top priority during the migration process. In this article, we provide step-by-step instructions on how to back up and transfer your WhatsApp data seamlessly. If you are also using WeChat, check how to transfer WeChat chat history to new phone.

Backup WhatsApp Chat History in Old iPhone

Unlike WeChat, WhatsApp allows you to regularly backup the chat history. You can setup the automatic schedule and backup the content to the iCloud for free.  

• Launch WhatsApp and tap on the “Settings” icon.
• Tap on “Chats” and navigate to “Chat Backup”.

• Tap on “Auto Backup” option and choose the schedule for backing up your content. You have predefined schedules for daily, weekly and monthly. Select one of the schedules for having a regular backup. Otherwise, tap the “Back Up Now” option to create a backup immediately.

When restoring the chat history, you can choose the latest backup to have the most recent data. WhatsApp recommends you disable cellular data for iCloud so that you can avoid backing up with mobile data. However, this depends on the size and schedule of your chat history and media content.

First, we recommend you to backup the data using Wi-Fi connection. Now, you know the size of the backup file. If you have very big backup file, disable the auto backup and do manual backup when you connect the iPhone to Wi-Fi network. We don’t recommend to disable mobile data for iCloud as it will affect other sync activities on your iPhone.

Restoring from Backup in New iPhone

When you are ready with the latest backup follow the below instructions on your new iPhone.

• Ensure you have taken the SIM from old phone and inserted in your new iPhone.
• Download and install WhatsApp from App Store.
• Login to WhatsApp with the same mobile number. Once you login to new phone, WhatsApp will automatically log you out on the old phone.

• Type your profile name and tap on “Done” to proceed further.

• WhatsApp will send you an activation code, type the code to verify your login attempt.

• On the next screen, WhatsApp will automatically show you the option to restore the content from your iCloud backup. You can check the date of the backup and size. Tap on “Restore Chat History” to start the process.

• Remember, if you skip the restore at the start you may lose the entire backup when there is an automated backup runs on your new iPhone.
• You can view the restore progress and WhatsApp will download the backup from iCloud.

• After successful completion, you can see the total number of messages restored.

• As the message indicates, WhatsApp will restore the media files separately in the background.
• Now, you can go back to “Chats” section and check all your chat history. You can also view the status of the media restore on the top of chat.

Using Quick Start Transfer

iPhone allows you to transfer entire data including apps and settings using a Quick Start transfer setup. All you need is to keep your old and new iPhones nearby and turn them on. You will see a notification on the old phone and unlock with passcode to start the data transfer.

Follow the instructions and select “From Another iPhone” option when prompted to initiate transfer of all the data including your WhatsApp data / settings.

After finishing the setup, you can simply open WhatsApp and start using it like before (may need to enter the verification code if prompted). This method is useful as you don’t need to install the app again on the new iPhone. However, it works to transfer entire data and there are no options to selectively transfer only WhatsApp data.