Save WhatsApp Chats Before Changing Phones

By Josep Mampel Marques, updated November 9, 2026

Before you change phones, reset your phone or delete a chat, do two separate things. To keep your chats in WhatsApp, use chat transfer or a backup and restore it on the new phone with the same number. To keep a copy you can read anywhere, export the chats that matter, because an export cannot be imported back but stays readable without WhatsApp. Then wait to wipe the old phone until you have checked that everything arrived.

The checklist

1. Update WhatsApp on the old phone so its menus match the help center.
2. Make a fresh backup. Go to Settings, Chats, Chat backup and back up now. Note the date and size shown. If you use end-to-end encrypted backup, make sure you have the password or key: WhatsApp says it cannot reset it or restore the backup for you without it.
3. Export the chats you want to read later. Open each one and use Export chat, with media if the photos matter. Save the files to a cloud drive or a computer, not only to the old phone. For many chats, see exporting all WhatsApp chats.
4. Save media you care about separately, such as photos and videos in your gallery or cloud photo library. Exports carry only recent media.
5. Move the chats using the method that fits your phones (below).
6. Check the new phone: open a few important chats, scroll back to old messages and open some photos.
7. Only then reset or give away the old phone. WhatsApp advises not deleting data, resetting or uninstalling WhatsApp on the old phone until you have confirmed the transfer worked.

How to move the chats

For the QR code transfer, WhatsApp says both phones need the same phone number, Wi-Fi and local network permission, and the new phone must not be registered on WhatsApp before you start. Menu names can vary by version; follow the official pages in the sources for the exact steps on your phones.

Why export as well

Transfer and backup keep your chats working inside WhatsApp, which is usually what you want. An export protects against the cases where that fails or does not apply:

• The transfer or restore does not work and the old phone is already reset.
• You are leaving WhatsApp, changing to a number you cannot move, or losing access to the account.
• You want to read, search or print an old conversation on a computer.
• You are about to delete a chat or leave a group and want to keep what was said.

Exports open in PrintChats in any browser, as chat bubbles with the photos that came with them, without uploading the file. The differences between the three tools are explained in WhatsApp backup vs export chat.

Before a factory reset

A reset erases the phone, including Android's local WhatsApp backups stored on it. Make sure your latest backup is in the cloud, not only on the phone, and that your exports are saved somewhere other than the phone you are resetting. If you only exported and did not back up, remember that the exports cannot be loaded into WhatsApp after the reset; see can you import an exported WhatsApp chat.