How to Transfer WhatsApp Chat History and Media Between Android and iPhone

If you want to copy or move your WhatsApp chat history, photos, videos, media and settings from iPhone to Android or from Android to iPhone, this article will help you in transferring all your WhatsApp chat history and data between Apple iPhone and Google Android mobile phones.

When you purchase a new smartphone, you need to transfer your data from old mobile to new phone. This data includes contacts (or phonebook), photos, videos, alarms, reminders, notes, messages, songs, voice recordings, etc.

Android users can connect their phones to a computer and copy/paste the data between both devices easily using File Explorer. Apple iPhone users can use iTunes and other software programs to move the data from old phone to new one. If your old and new phones are from same brand such as Samsung or Apple, you can use their built-in data switching functionality apps to transfer data between both phones quickly and easily without connecting to PC.

Need to Transfer WhatsApp Chat and Data When Changing Smartphones

We also need to install all apps in our new smartphone which were present in the old phone and one of these apps is WhatsApp. Almost all of us use WhatsApp to connect with our friends, relatives and colleagues.

If you were using WhatsApp since long time in your old smartphone, you might have thousands messages (personal chat or group chat), photos, videos, etc stored in your smartphone and now you’ll need to transfer all this data and chat to new smartphone.

Transferring WhatsApp data between same OS or platform devices is quite easy. For example, if you are trying to transfer WhatsApp data and chats from your old iPhone to new iPhone or from an old Android device to new Android device, you can take help of the built-in backup/restore option present in WhatsApp Settings. It’ll create a backup of all your chats and media and you can restore the data in new device.

But if you are switching to different platform such as iPhone to Android or vice versa, transferring WhatsApp data and chats might be tricky and complicated.

Transferring WhatsApp Chat and Data Between Android and iOS is Now Possible

In past, there was no way to transfer or move WhatsApp chat history and other data from Android to iOS or iOS to Android. There were a few 3rd party paid software available to migrate WhatsApp chat history from Android to iPhone.

Now there is no need to use 3rd party software or workarounds. WhatsApp has officially enabled this much awaited functionality to move chat and data among Android and iOS devices in newer versions of the app. Now you can transfer your WhatsApp chat history and other media files between iPhone and Android mobile phones without using any 3rd party software.

If you also want to transfer your WhatsApp chat history and data from Android to iPhone or iPhone to Android, following methods will help you:

Transfer WhatsApp Chat History and Data from Android to iPhone

If you want to transfer your WhatsApp chat and media files from your old Android mobile phone to iPhone, following are the required steps:

Prerequisites:

• Your old Android smartphone with Android 5 or later
• New iPhone with iOS 15.5 or later
• Your iPhone must be factory reset or new
• Move to iOS app installed in your old Android smartphone
• WhatsApp version 2.22.7.74 or above on your old Android phone

How-to Instructions:

• Connect both the phones to a power source i.e. charge the phones.
• Connect your Android phone and iPhone to same Wi-Fi network. Or connect your Android phone to iPhone’s hotspot.
• Install Move to iOS app in your Android smartphone. It’s an official Apple app to help iPhone users in migrating their data from Android mobile phones.
• Open Move to iOS app in your Android smartphone and follow the instructions. A code will appear on your new iPhone, enter the same code on your Android phone when asked.
• On Transfer Data screen in your Android phone, select WhatsApp option and it’ll start preparing your account chat, data for export process. As soon as the data is prepared, you’ll be automatically signed out from WhatsApp account in your Android phone.
• You’ll need to tap on Next, Start, Continue buttons a few times in the transfer process. The Move to iOS app will start transferring the data to your new iPhone.
• Now install the latest version of WhatsApp in your iPhone. The WhatsApp version must be 2.22.10.70 or later.
• Open WhatsApp in your iPhone and sign in using same phone number used in old Android device.
• Finish installation process by tapping on Start, etc buttons and you’ll get all your WhatsApp chat and media restored in your new iPhone.

The old WhatsApp chat history and media files will remain stored in your old Android smartphone. You can uninstall WhatsApp to delete the data or manually remove the data using Files app.

Transfer WhatsApp Chat History and Data from iPhone to Android

If you want to transfer your WhatsApp chat and media files from your iPhone to an Android mobile phone, following are the required steps:

Prerequisites:

• Your old iPhone
• Compatible Android phones: Samsung phones with Android 10+ / All Pixel devices / All phones with Android 12+ (according to official announcement)
• USB-C to Lightning cable

How-to Instructions:

• Connect your Android smartphone (factory reset) and your iPhone using USB-C to Lightning cable.
• When you see “Transfer WhatsApp Chats” option on your Android smartphone, scan the given QR code using your iPhone camera.
• It’ll launch WhatsApp in your iPhone and there you’ll get option to move chat history and data to your Android phone.
• Alternatively, you can open WhatsApp in your iPhone and select Settings -> Chats -> Move Chats to Android option.
• It’ll transfer all your WhatsApp chat history and media in your new Android smartphone.
• After completion, open WhatsApp in your Android phone and sign in using same phone number used in old iPhone and you’ll get all your chat messages and media present.

PS: You can also use Smart Switch app from Samsung to easily and quickly transfer data including WhatsApp chats from your iPhone to your Samsung smartphones as mentioned on official WhatsApp Help Center.

Also Check:

[Tip] How to Select and Delete All Chat Messages in Bulk in WhatsApp

[Tip] Run Two WhatsApp Accounts on Your Samsung Galaxy Mobile Phone