If you change your WhatsApp number, will the chats be saved - briefly?
If you change your WhatsApp number, your chat history will not be automatically transferred to your new phone number. However, WhatsApp allows you to manually back up and restore your chats using the built-in backup feature.
If you change your WhatsApp number, will the chats be saved - in detail?
If you change your WhatsApp number, the fate of your chat history depends on several factors. WhatsApp does not natively support transferring chat history between different phone numbers. However, there are workarounds and considerations to keep in mind:
- Backup and Restore: Before changing your number, ensure you have a recent backup of your chats. You can create a manual backup by going to WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat Backup. This backup will include your chat history but not media or other files sent after the last automatic backup.
- Changing Your Number: When you change your phone number in WhatsApp, the app will prompt you to notify your contacts about the change. This process is crucial as it allows your contacts to update their address books with your new number.
- Restoring Backup: After changing your number and notifying your contacts, you can restore your chat history from the backup created before the number change. To do this, uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp, then follow the prompts to verify your new phone number. When prompted to restore a backup, select the most recent one.
- Media Files: It's important to note that media files (photos, videos, etc.) are not included in the chat backup. To save media files, you may need to manually transfer them to your computer or cloud storage before changing your number.
- Group Chats: If you are part of group chats, changing your number will not affect your participation in those groups. However, if you were the admin of any group, you might lose administrative privileges unless the new owner reassigns them to you.
- Broadcast Lists and Contacts: Your broadcast lists and contacts list will also be affected by the change. You'll need to recreate these after changing your number.
In summary, while WhatsApp does not directly support transferring chat history between different numbers, creating a backup before changing your number and restoring it afterward can help preserve your conversation history. However, media files and some metadata might be lost in the process, so manual backup of important files is recommended.