How to back up WhatsApp Business chats and restore deleted messages

Can I restore deleted WhatsApp messages?

Only from a backup. WhatsApp's Help Center says that when you delete a message there is no way to get it back unless it was included in a backup, and that WhatsApp cannot restore, transfer or delete your chats, contacts or media for you. Your chat history is not kept on WhatsApp's servers; it lives on your phone and in the backup you choose.

A restore brings back the whole chat history from the last successful backup, not a single message, and messages sent or received after that backup are not included. If a sender deletes a message for everyone, which they can do within two days of sending, you see a note that the message was deleted.

• Each new backup replaces the previous one, so there is no way to restore an older backup once a newer one exists.
• If you are trying to recover chats that are already missing, do not create a new backup, delete the existing one or factory reset the phone. A new backup permanently replaces the one that holds your missing chats.
• Videos are restored only if Include videos was turned on before the last backup.

• WhatsApp Help Center: How to delete messages
• WhatsApp Help Center: How to restore your chat history

How do I back up WhatsApp Business chats?

Menu names below follow WhatsApp's Help Center as of October 2026 and can differ slightly in the WhatsApp Business app.

1. Android: open Settings, tap Chats, then Chat backup. Tap Back up, choose a schedule other than Never, and select the Google Account to use.
2. iPhone: tap Settings (or your profile picture), then Chats, Chat backup and Auto backup, and choose daily, weekly or monthly. Tap Back up now for an immediate copy.
3. Decide whether to turn on Include videos. They make the backup larger and are restored only if this is on.
4. Connect to Wi-Fi and keep the phone charging for the first backup, which can take a while and may use mobile data otherwise.

• WhatsApp Help Center: How to back up your chat history
• WhatsApp Help Center: About Google Account backups

How do I encrypt my WhatsApp backup?

End-to-end encryption is optional for Google Account and iCloud backups. Open Chats, then Chat backup, then End-to-end encrypted backup, and protect it with a passkey, or choose More options for a 64-digit encryption key or a password. WhatsApp cloud storage backups are always end-to-end encrypted.

Keep the password or key safe. WhatsApp can't send you a copy, reset it or restore the backup for you, so an encrypted backup whose password is lost cannot be opened.

• WhatsApp Help Center: About end-to-end encrypted backup

How do I restore chats on a new phone?

• If your latest backup is more than 120 days old, restoring may not be possible even though the account is still active.
• With no backup but the old phone still working, you can transfer chats from the old phone to the new one instead.
• The phone needs more free space than the backup.

1. Check that a backup exists. Settings, then Chats, then Chat backup shows the time and size of the last backup.
2. Use the same phone number as the backup, and the same Google Account (Android) or Apple ID (iPhone).
3. Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business, verify the number and tap Restore (Restore Chat History on iPhone). Do not tap Skip: if another backup is made afterwards, it replaces the old one.
4. Wait for it to finish. Messages restore first and photos and videos continue in the background, so keep Wi-Fi and power connected.

• WhatsApp Help Center: How to restore your chat history

What should a store keep outside WhatsApp?

A backup protects the chat history on your phone; it is not a customer database. Keep the facts that matter where you control them: order details and delivery addresses in the Shopify order (notes and tags), customer details in Shopify's customer records, and important conversations saved with Export chat. Export chat saves one conversation as a text file; it cannot be imported back because it is not a backup file. Labels in the WhatsApp Business app help you mark orders by status, as described at /blog/whatsapp-business-labels-for-orders.

WhatsApp Pilot, a Shopify app by E-SAFQA, has a Message History that lists every automatic message the app sent, skipped or failed, with the reason. It is a log of the automation, not a backup of your customer conversations, which stay in your WhatsApp app and its backup.

• Cash on delivery: note in the Shopify order that the customer confirmed the address and delivery time, so the proof does not depend on a chat that can be deleted.
• Store the customer's phone number on the Shopify customer record, not only in your phone's contacts.

• WhatsApp Help Center: How to export your chat history

Why do chats go missing, and how do I prevent it?

• A new phone was set up without restoring, or Skip was tapped during setup.
• A newer backup replaced the one that held the chats.
• The last backup is older than 120 days, or Google deleted a backup that was not updated for five months.
• The Google account ran out of storage, which stops backups until space is freed.
• The encryption password or key was forgotten.
• A different phone number or Google Account or Apple ID was used for restoring.
• Prevention: a daily backup schedule, a check that the last backup time is recent, and a written record of the encryption key.