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How to Move Your WhatsApp Messages to Your New Phone

WhatsApp now has a way to move your chats and media content over to a new phone without leaving the app.

Headshot of Corinne Reichert
Headshot of Corinne Reichert
Corinne Reichert Senior Editor
Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently writes news, analysis and features for CNET across the topics of electric vehicles, broadband networks, mobile devices, big tech, artificial intelligence, home technology and entertainment. In her spare time, she watches soccer games and F1 races, and goes to Disneyland as often as possible.
Expertise News | Mobile | Broadband | 5G | Home tech | Streaming services | Entertainment | AI | Policy | Business | Politics Credentials
  • I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Corinne Reichert
How to transfer WhatsApp chats and media from an old phone
Meta

One of the biggest pains of buying a new phone is having to move move all your data over from your old phone. To make this easier, WhatsApp is letting you transfer your chat histories and their accompanying media over to a new device without needing a third-party app, as long as your new phone is on the same operating system as the old one.

"If you want to move your WhatsApp chats to a new phone, you can now do it more privately without your chats ever leaving your devices," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Friday on Facebook.

How to move your WhatsApp chat history to a new phone

Here's how to do it.

  1. Make sure your new phone and your old phone are connected to Wi-Fi with location enabled.
  2. On your old phone, go to Settings, and then click Chats.
  3. Tap Chat transfer, and a QR code will show up.
  4. Scan the QR code on your old phone with your new phone.
  5. Keep both phones on that screen while the chats and media all transfer over.

Your data will be fully encrypted while being transferred, Meta said. The company's focus on WhatsApp security has seen it introduce a number of new features over the past few months, including automatically silencing unknown callers and locking away your more intimate chats for extra privacy.

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