How To Recover 1 Year Old WhatsApp Messages Without Backup

Whether you’re changing devices or looking for certain information in your chats, you could easily access your WhatsApp data if you backed it up.

But what if you didn’t?

Luckily, there is a way to retrieve your WhatsApp conversations even if you hadn’t enabled backup.

In this article, we’ll explain different ways on how to recover 1-year-old WhatsApp messages without backup and with backup on both Android and iPhone devices.

Let’s dive in.

How To Recover 1 Year Old WhatsApp Messages Without Backup

WhatsApp, the most trusted communication service among Brits, has a built-in backup feature. 

But, if you haven’t enabled it, WhatsApp chat and media file recovery without backup is only possible via third-party software.

Some of the most popular tools that can help you recover lost data are the Ult Data app and the Phone Rescue app. These apps can help you recover WhatsApp chats, attachments, and documents, but also videos, photos, and voice messages without backup and root.

How To Recover WhatsApp Data on Android Devices Without Backup

Here’s how you can recover WhatsApp messages without backup on Android.

Ult data

Step 1: Connect your phone.

• Download the Ult Data app for Android on your computer.
• Run the software.
• Connect your computer and your Android device with a USB cable.
• Click ‘Recover WhatsApp data’ from the main interface.

Step 2: Enable USB debugging.

• Pull down the notification bar on your phone.
• Find the USB options and tap ‘Transferring files’.
• Open Settings and in the search box, type ‘build’.
• Choose ‘Build number’ and tap it 7 times.

Step 3: Start Scanning.

• Once the program detects your phone, click the ‘Start’ button. This will trigger a scan.
• Log into your WhatsApp account via the program.
• Click on ‘Continue’ and the tool will scan WhatsApp data on your device.

Once the scan is over, your WhatsApp chats will appear on the Ult Data app window. 

You can then choose which messages you want to recover by selecting them and clicking on the ‘Recover’ button in the bottom right corner.

Phone Rescue

1. Download and install Phone Rescue on your PC.
2. Connect your device to the computer with a USB cable.
3. Select ‘WhatsApp’ and click ‘’Quick Scan.’
4. Select the items you want to recover and click on the button in the bottom right corner.

How To Recover WhatsApp Data on iOS  Without Backup

Here’s how to recover deleted WhatsApp messages without backup on your iPhone:

Ult Data

Step 1: Connect your device

• Download and install Ult Data on your PC.
• Launch the program.
• Connect your iPhone to your PC using a USB cable.
• Tap ‘Recover from iOS device’ and wait till the program detects your iPhone.

Step 2: Scan the device

• Select ‘WhatsApp & Attachments’.
• Tap ‘Start Scan’.
• Once the scan is over, click on ‘WhatsApp Messages’ from the left panel.
• Select the files you want to recover and click the ‘Recover’ button in the bottom right corner.

Phone Rescue

1. Download and install the app for iOS on your computer.
2. Run the app.
3. Connect your iPhone to the computer by using a USB cable
4. Select ‘Recover from iOS device’ and click on the arrow in the bottom right corner.
5. Select ‘WhatsApp’ and tap ‘OK’.
6. Once the scanning process is done, choose the files you want to recover.

You can save your files to your iPhone or computer. 

How To Recover WhatsApp Messages With Backup

If you have backed up your WhatsApp, the recovery process will depend on how you chose to back the data up. 

Google Drive

Restoring WhatsApp messages from Google Drive on Android is simple. You’ll need the same phone number and Google Account linked to your WhatsApp account.

To restore your messages from Google Drive:

1. Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp on your phone.
2. Launch the app and follow the on-screen installation process.
3. Verify your number.
4. When prompted, click ‘Restore’. 

You’ll see all the files from the latest backup in the app.

iCloud 

iPhone users can restore their backed-up WhatsApp messages from iCloud. Like with Google Drive, you’ll need the phone number that you used to create your WhatsApp account to retrieve your data from the app.

To do that:

1. Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp on your iPhone.
2. Verify your phone.
3. Follow the prompts to restore your Whatsapp chat history

Local Backup

WhatsApp automatically creates local backups (provided that you’ve allowed it) and stores the files on your phone, but only up to the last seven days worth of local backup files.

To recover deleted WhatsApp messages from a local backup, you’ll need to transfer the files to the phone via a computer, file explorer, or SD Card.

1. Download and open the file manager app.
2. Navigate to your local storage on your computer.
3. Click WhatsApp and then Databases.
4. Copy the most recent backup file to the Database folder on your new device. If you want to recover an older file, rename it from ‘msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12’ to ‘msgstore.db.crypt12’.
5. Install and open WhatsApp.
6. Verify your number.
7. Tap ‘Restore’ when prompted.

This will restore your chats, documents, and media files.

Bottom Line

WhatsApp users have plenty of options when it comes to recovering chat history, documents, and media files from chats that you deleted or groups that you left on the app–regardless of whether they backed up their files or not. Although there are different tools you can use to retrieve your data, they don’t guarantee success. The best way to make sure you don’t lose anything important is to back up your files to a cloud.