How to restore backups on your devices and WhatsApp

Restoring a backup means using a copy of the files from your devices or WhatsApp when the original data has been lost or damaged.

If the backup failed or does not exist, the files may still be on the original device. In that case, see Bot’s lab data recovery, which starts with a free diagnosis.

The original data can be lost because of hardware failure (the device itself), software problems (the system), data corruption, malicious attacks (viruses or malware) or accidental deletion.

In this article, you’ll learn how to restore backups on your phone (iPhone, Xiaomi or other Android devices), on your Windows computer and of your WhatsApp chat history (on PC, Android, Windows Phone or iOS).

01What is a backup restore?

Restoring a backup is the process of bringing back copies of data that were saved in case the device storing them failed. It usually involves copying the data back to its original location, or to a new one, where it replaces the lost or damaged data.

Although it looks simple, a restore can go wrong, and in some cases you could lose all your data.

So, if you don’t have the technical knowledge or don’t feel confident doing it yourself, it’s best to leave it to experienced data recovery professionals.

That is the safest way to carry out the procedure and keep the risk of losing your data to a minimum.

02How do I restore a backup on my Android device?

On Android, you can use Google’s backup service, which keeps a copy of your data linked to your Google account. The backup is restored when you set up a new phone, or the same phone after a factory reset, and sign in with that account.

To check that it’s turned on, follow these steps:

1. Open your phone’s Settings
2. Go to “Google”, “Accounts and backup” or “System” (the name varies from device to device)
3. Select “Backup” or “Back up and restore”
4. On the next screen, you can manage how your data is backed up to and restored from your Google account. We recommend turning on automatic backup.

Once this is done, copies of your contacts, apps, settings and saved Wi-Fi passwords are stored in your Google account.

03How do I restore my iPhone backup?

You can restore your iPhone backup from iCloud or from your computer.

Remember that you need a recent backup to restore from.

To restore your iPhone from iCloud:

1. Go to Settings > General > Software Update. If a newer version of iOS is available, follow the instructions to download and install it
2. Then go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups
3. To see the date and size of your latest backup, select the device under “Backups”
4. Then go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone and tap “Erase All Content and Settings”. This erases everything on the iPhone, so only do it once you’ve confirmed that the backup is recent and complete. Then follow the setup steps until you reach the Apps & Data screen
5. On the Apps & Data screen, tap “Restore from iCloud Backup” and sign in with your Apple ID. If you bought iTunes or App Store content with more than one Apple ID, you’ll need to sign in to each of them. You can tap “Skip this step” and do it later, but you won’t be able to use those apps until you sign in with the corresponding Apple ID(s)
6. Next, tap “Choose backup” and select the one you want from the list of available iCloud backups.
7. A progress bar will appear and must fill up completely for the restore to finish. This can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the backup and the speed of your network. If the Wi-Fi connection drops before it finishes, the restore pauses until you reconnect.

Once the bar is full, you can start using the device, but apps, photos and music will keep downloading in the background for a few hours (or days, depending on how much data there is).

To make sure the process finishes, keep your device charging and connected to Wi-Fi.

You can also restore your iPhone from a backup on your computer.

To do this, use the Finder on a Mac with macOS Catalina (10.15) or later, or iTunes on a Mac with macOS Mojave (10.14) or earlier, or on a Windows PC.

Follow these steps to restore from your computer:

1. Open the Finder (macOS Catalina or later) or iTunes (Windows PC or macOS Mojave or earlier)
2. Connect the device to the computer with a USB cable. If you’re asked for the device passcode or see a “Trust This Computer?” alert, follow the instructions on your phone’s screen
3. When your device appears in the Finder or iTunes window, select it
4. Click “Restore Backup” (you may need to turn off Find My on the iPhone first)
5. Choose the backup with the most suitable date
6. Click “Restore” and wait for the restore to finish. If prompted, enter the password for your encrypted backup.
7. The device will restart. Don’t disconnect it when this happens: wait for it to sync with the computer and only disconnect it once syncing has finished.

04How to restore a backup on Xiaomi

Xiaomi has its own cloud service, Mi Cloud (now Xiaomi Cloud), for backing up your data in the cloud.

Users get 5 GB of free storage, and you can buy more if you need it.

To restore from Mi Cloud, follow the steps below:

1. Go to “Settings” > Mi Account
2. Make sure your device is signed in to the same Mi account that was used to store the backup
3. Go to “Restore from a backup”
4. Select the backup file you want to use
5. Tap “Restore using this backup”. Keep your internet connection stable until the process is complete.

To restore a backup from local storage, copy the backup file from where you keep it (memory card or PC) to the phone’s internal storage.

To do this:

1. Move the backup to the MIUI > backup > AllBackup folder
2. Make sure the backup folder is named with the date and time of the backup
3. Move any other backup files to another location (rather than deleting them) to avoid confusion
4. Go back to Settings > Additional settings > Backup & reset > Local backups and check the available backup files
5. Select the backup you want to use and tap “Restore” to start the process.

05How to restore a backup in Windows 10

If you want to restore a backup on Windows 10, you can do it with File History.

To restore files or folders that you backed up with File History:

1. Type “Restore files” in the search box on the taskbar
2. Select “Restore files with File History”
3. Look for the file you need and use the arrows to see all its versions
4. When you find the version you want, select “Restore” to save it to its original location. To save it somewhere else, click the gear icon next to “Restore” and select “Restore to”.
5. Then simply choose the new location.

06How do I restore my WhatsApp backup?

WhatsApp is a messaging app that often holds important conversations, both personal and professional, since many businesses use it to deal with their customers.

That’s why it’s important to back it up regularly, so you can restore your chat history if needed.

How you do this depends on the device (phone or PC) and the system (iOS or Android).

Below, we explain how to restore the backup in each case:

Android

To restore your backup (on a new phone or on the same one):

1. Install and open WhatsApp. It will ask for permission to access your contacts, photos, media and files. Tap “Continue”
2. Verify your phone number and choose the Google account where your backup is stored so that WhatsApp can find it
3. WhatsApp will show the latest backup it found. Tap “Restore” to recover it (if you tap “Skip”, you won’t be able to restore that backup at this stage).
4. Finally, choose how often WhatsApp should back up your chats and media.

Keep in mind that a backup can’t be recovered once it has been deleted, and that backups that haven’t been updated for several months may be removed from Google Drive automatically.

If you want to locate and manage your WhatsApp backups in your Google Drive:

1. Open the Google Drive app
2. Open the menu and select “Backups”. Look for the file named “WhatsApp backup” with your phone number
3. To delete the backup or turn it off, tap the three-dot menu.

iPhone

On iPhone, you can restore your WhatsApp chat history from iCloud.

To do this:

1. Check that you have an iCloud backup: open WhatsApp and go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup
2. If you can see when the last backup was made, delete WhatsApp and install it again
3. After verifying your phone number (the same one used for the backup, with the same Apple ID), follow the on-screen instructions to restore your chat history.

Windows Phone

WhatsApp stopped supporting Windows Phone at the end of 2019, so these steps only apply to older devices that still have the app installed:

1. Tap the three dots in the bottom right-hand corner
2. Tap Settings
3. Under “Backup”, you can see when the last backup was made.

Then:

1. Uninstall WhatsApp from your Windows Phone
2. Go to the Microsoft Store and reinstall WhatsApp
3. Set it up again and verify your phone number
4. A pop-up will ask whether you want to restore your messages from the backup
5. Tap “Yes” and your WhatsApp messages will be restored on your Windows Phone.

PC

There are two ways to recover WhatsApp data on a Windows PC: without a backup and with a WhatsApp backup.

Without a backup

If you’ve deleted WhatsApp messages, images or videos from the desktop app, don’t worry: your chats are still on your phone, which is the main device, and syncs with the desktop app.

Instead of restoring a backup, you can export or sync these WhatsApp files from your iOS or Android phone to your PC.

If you’ve deleted the local data folder, or lost it after a system update, a virus attack or for any other reason, you’ll need data recovery software or a data recovery company to get it back.

If you decide to use software:

• 1 – Choose the program you’ll use, install it on a different drive from the one where the files were lost and run it as administrator
• 2 – Select the drive where the files were lost and start a scan. If you lost the files on an external storage device, connect it to the PC before scanning
• 3 – The program will search for deleted files and list them on screen. When the scan is complete, you can filter by file type
• 4 – Preview the files, choose the ones you want to recover and save them to a different drive from the one you’re recovering from.

With a backup

This option only works for restoring lost WhatsApp files from your phone’s backup.

Here’s how:

• 1 – Open WhatsApp on your phone and tap More options (on iPhone, go straight to Settings)
• 2 – Go to Settings > Chats
• 3 – Tap “Chat backup” and check the date of the latest backup (in iCloud on iPhone, in Google Drive on Android)
• 4 – Don’t tap “Back up” now: a new backup would overwrite the previous one, along with the chat history it contains
• 5 – Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp, verify your number and accept when you’re asked whether you want to restore your message history from the backup

07Conclusion

Restoring backups of your devices and WhatsApp helps you keep your data and files safe when software or hardware fails.

As we’ve seen, the way you restore a backup differs from one device and system to another.

That’s why you need to follow the right procedure for each one to give the process the best chance of success.

However, both backing up and restoring may require some technical knowledge to make sure all the data is recovered properly.

After all, getting it wrong when you do it yourself can put your data at risk and even make recovery impossible.

That’s why the safest option is to rely on professional services, like the ones we provide at Bot!

We work on data recovery from phones, laptops and PCs, in all kinds of situations.

Just request a free collection (islands not included) and you’ll receive your free diagnosis within 48 hours. The recovery is then carried out by our team of specialists.

To get started, simply fill in this form and count on our 96% success rate.