How to migrate your WhatsApp data from iPhone to Android

WhatsApp is one of the most widely used instant messaging services all over the world. While it has improved over the years with new features and additions, one major caveat was the inability to transfer chats across platforms. WhatsApp does offer backup and restore functionality but it only works when switching from one Android to another, or one iPhone to another.

If you’re switching from an Android device to an iPhone or vice-versa, there was no official way to transfer your chat and media history from one phone to the other. Fortunately, that has now changed with WhatsApp’s official announcement at the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 launch in October 2021.

For now, WhatsApp has rolled out the ability to transfer chats from an iPhone to an Android device. However, only the following devices are supported on the Android side:

• Samsung Galaxy smartphones
• Google Pixel smartphones
• Devices launching with Android 12 out of the box

The feature will hopefully be made available to all Android devices in the near future.

Here’s how you can transfer all your WhatsApp data, including chats and media, from your old iPhone to your new Android device.

While WhatsApp has published a support article with instructions to transfer WhatsApp data from your old iPhone to your new Android, we found that the steps mentioned in that article are inaccurate, and following them will not help you migrate your data. So we decided to make the process simpler for you by breaking down the steps we followed to successfully carry out the migration process.

We performed the migration from an iPhone 12 Pro to a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. However, the process should work on any Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel device running Android 10 and above, as well as on devices running Android 12 and above out of the box.

How to Transfer WhatsApp data from iPhone to Android

Before we begin, there are a few things to note here. The Android phone to which you want to transfer the data must be in a brand new state. This means it either needs to be just unboxed and not set up or if it’s a phone you’ve already been using, you’ll have to factory reset it. We tried performing the steps on a phone that was already set up and in use, but it failed to work. Once we wiped the phone, we were able to transfer the data.

You’ll also need a USB-C to lightning cable for this process to work since the transfer happens via a wired connection and not wirelessly. The last thing you’ll need is some patience since the transfer process is painfully slow. Depending on how large your WhatsApp data is, the process may take even up to an hour.

Now we have all this out of the way, let’s get to the steps:

• When your Android phone is in a brand new state, or once you’ve factory reset it, connect it to an iPhone via the USB-C to lightning cable. Keep this cable plugged into both phones until the entire process is completed.

• The iPhone will give you a pop-up asking if you want to Trust this Computer. Select Trust.

• Begin the setup process on the Android phone by agreeing to the terms and conditions and connect it to your Wi-Fi network.
• You’ll then see a screen asking if you want to transfer data from an existing device. Tap on yes, and the phone should now download the latest version of Smart Switch.

Samsung Smart Switch Mobile (Free, Google Play) →

• Once Smart Switch has been launched, select Transfer from iPhone or iPad. You’ll now get an option to transfer WhatsApp chats from your iPhone accompanied by a QR code.

• Scan this QR code with your iPhone, or launch WhatsApp on your iPhone and navigate to Settings > Chats > Move Chats to Android.

• Tap on the option and your iPhone will start preparing your chats and other data to be transferred. Once done, it will ask you to continue on the new phone.
• On the Android device, you’ll now see the option to transfer other data from your iPhone like contacts, messages, photos, etc. You can select these options based on whether you want that data to be transferred to your new phone.

• Smart Switch will now ask you to install WhatsApp on the new phone to which you need to agree. You can also choose to install the other apps that were previously on your iPhone.
• Once you have performed these steps, the transfer process will begin. Depending on the data you’re transferring, this process may take anywhere between 30-60 minutes.

• After the setup is complete, open WhatsApp on your Android device and log in with the same phone number that was used to log into WhatsApp on your iPhone.

• When you log in, you should see the prompt asking you whether you want to transfer your chat history from the iPhone.

• Select Start and the transfer should take place in a few minutes.
• You’ll now have all your chats, images, videos, audio files, and just about everything from WhatsApp on your iPhone transferred to your Android device.

You have now successfully migrated your WhatsApp data from your iPhone to your new Android device!

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You can install the rest of your apps and transfer any other data you may need and continue to use the phone. The chat transfer process for WhatsApp is slightly complex and involves a lot of work and time, but hopefully, it gets more seamless once the feature is rolled out to all Android devices.

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