Article
How to Transfer WhatsApp Chats to a New Phone (Android and iPhone)
For many Malaysians, WhatsApp holds years of conversations with family, friends, customers and colleagues, plus photos, voice notes and documents. Losing it when changing phones is a real fear, and it happens more often than it should.
WhatsApp provides official ways to move chats between phones, including between Android and iPhone. The exact steps change over time, so always check WhatsApp's official help centre for the latest instructions. This guide explains the general approach and the preparation that prevents problems.
Before You Start: Preparation
- Keep your old phone working, charged and with WhatsApp still installed until the transfer is complete.
- Make sure your phone number stays the same, or plan to use WhatsApp's change number feature.
- Update WhatsApp on both phones to the latest version.
- Connect both phones to stable Wi-Fi and charge them.
- Check you have enough storage on the new phone.
Do not factory reset or sell your old phone until you have confirmed all chats and media appear on the new one. Many lost chats come from wiping the old phone too early.
Write down your WhatsApp two-step verification PIN if you have one, and confirm you can still receive SMS or calls on your number. The new phone will need to verify your number before any chats can be restored.
Same Platform: Android to Android or iPhone to iPhone
Between two Android phones, WhatsApp supports backup to Google Drive and restoring on the new phone, as well as direct chat transfer options. Between two iPhones, WhatsApp uses iCloud backup or a direct transfer during setup.
- On the old phone, go to WhatsApp settings and check chat backup or transfer options.
- Run a fresh backup, or follow the transfer steps shown in the app.
- Install WhatsApp on the new phone and verify the same number.
- Choose restore or transfer when prompted.
Make sure you are signed in to the same Google account or Apple ID on the new phone if restoring from a cloud backup.
After restoring, give WhatsApp time to download older media in the background, especially if your history is large. Keep the app open on Wi-Fi for a while before assuming photos are missing.
Cross-Platform: Android and iPhone
Moving between Android and iPhone used to be very difficult. WhatsApp now supports official transfer methods between the two platforms, often as part of the new phone's setup process or using the phone maker's transfer tools. Requirements such as operating system versions and whether the new phone must be freshly set up can apply.
Read the official steps on the WhatsApp Help Center before you begin, as cross-platform transfers often need to be done at a particular stage of setting up the new phone.
Tip: set aside time when you do not need your phone urgently. Large chat histories with many videos can take a while to transfer.
If the transfer fails partway, do not delete anything. Restart both phones, check the requirements again and retry, keeping the old phone untouched until it succeeds.
Protect Your Account During the Switch
Never share your WhatsApp verification code with anyone. Scammers sometimes contact people who are changing phones, pretending to be WhatsApp support or friends, and ask for the code to take over the account.
Turn on two-step verification in WhatsApp settings, which adds a PIN required when registering your number on a new device. Make sure you remember the PIN, or set up an email for recovery. Our two-factor authentication guide explains why this matters.
After the Transfer: Clean Up and Secure the Old Phone
On the new phone, open a few important chats and check older messages, photos and documents. Confirm that backup is turned on for the new phone, as backup settings do not always carry over.
Once everything is confirmed, log out of accounts on the old phone and factory reset it before selling, donating or recycling. Our guide on selling or recycling old gadgets safely explains how.
It is also a good moment to free up space by clearing old forwarded videos; see cleaning up phone storage.
If you use WhatsApp on a computer or tablet as a linked device, check those connections afterwards and re-link them if needed.
FAQ
Will WhatsApp Business chats transfer the same way?
WhatsApp Business has similar backup and transfer options. Check the Business app's help pages for specific steps.
Can I transfer chats to a new number?
Use WhatsApp's change number feature on the old phone before switching, so your chats stay linked to the account.
Why did my photos not transfer?
Media may be excluded if backup settings skipped videos or storage was full. Check backup settings before transferring.
Moving WhatsApp to a new phone is straightforward when you prepare properly. Keep the old phone until everything is confirmed, follow WhatsApp's official steps, protect your verification code and turn on backups on the new phone.