How to Transfer WhatsApp to a New Phone

Moving WhatsApp to a new phone comes down to three routes: a direct QR code transfer between the two handsets, a cloud backup restored through Google Drive or iCloud, or WhatsApp’s built in migration tools for switching between Android and iPhone. All three keep your chats, media, and groups intact on the same number. The right method depends entirely on which two phones you are holding, so find your combination below and follow that section.

What is the fastest way to transfer WhatsApp to a new phone?

If both phones run the same operating system, the QR code chat transfer wins every time. It moves your entire chat history directly between the two phones over an encrypted local connection. No cloud account, no storage quota, no waiting for a 40 GB backup to crawl up to Google’s servers and back down again.

Here is the flow:

1. Install WhatsApp on the new phone and verify the same phone number you use on the old one.
2. During setup, the new phone offers to bring chats over from your old device and shows a QR code.
3. On the old phone, open Settings > Chats > Chat transfer and scan that QR code.
4. Keep both phones unlocked, plugged in, and on the same Wi-Fi network until the progress bar finishes.

The catch: it only works Android to Android or iPhone to iPhone. Crossing platforms needs a different tool, covered further down.

How do I move WhatsApp from Android to Android?

You have two solid options. The QR transfer above is the best one. The fallback is a Google Drive backup, which is also the only route if your old phone is broken, lost, or already wiped.

For the Google Drive route:

1. On the old phone, go to Settings > Chats > Chat backup and tap Back up. Wait for it to finish completely.
2. On the new phone, install WhatsApp and sign the phone into the same Google account.
3. Verify your number. WhatsApp finds the backup and asks if you want to restore. Tap Restore before you do anything else, because you cannot restore later without reinstalling.
4. Chats appear first, then media downloads quietly in the background.

One thing that trips people up in 2026: WhatsApp backups count against your Google account storage now, so a huge media library can blow past the free 15 GB. If your backup keeps failing, that is usually why. The fix is to exclude videos from the backup or clear out old media first. There is a separate walkthrough of every backup setting in this guide to backing up and restoring WhatsApp chats if you want the full detail.

How do I move WhatsApp from iPhone to iPhone?

Three ways, in order of convenience:

• Quick Start. If you set up the new iPhone by holding it next to the old one and doing Apple’s full device transfer, WhatsApp and its entire chat history come across as part of the clone. You just verify your number on the new iPhone afterward and everything is already there.
• QR chat transfer. Same steps as the Android version: verify your number on the new iPhone, then on the old one open Settings > Chats > Transfer Chats and scan the code the new phone shows.
• iCloud backup. On the old iPhone, run Settings > Chats > Chat Backup > Back Up Now. On the new iPhone, sign in with the same Apple ID, install WhatsApp, verify your number, and tap Restore Chat History when prompted.

The iCloud route needs enough free iCloud space to hold the backup, and the free 5 GB tier fills up fast if you have years of photos in your chats. Quick Start dodges that problem entirely.

How do I transfer WhatsApp from Android to iPhone?

You need Apple’s Move to iOS app, and you need the iPhone to be factory fresh or freshly erased. This does not work on an iPhone you have already set up.

1. Install Move to iOS from the Play Store on your Android phone.
2. Start setting up the iPhone. On the Apps & Data screen, choose Move Data from Android.
3. Enter the code the iPhone displays into the Move to iOS app on Android.
4. Tick WhatsApp in the list of things to transfer. The Android phone packages your chats and hands them over.
5. Once the iPhone finishes setup, install WhatsApp from the App Store, verify the same number, and your history is waiting.

Your Google Drive backup is useless here, because Android backups and iPhone backups live in different formats on different clouds. The phone to phone transfer is the only supported path, so do not wipe the Android phone until you have confirmed every chat arrived.

How do I transfer WhatsApp from iPhone to Android?

Same idea in reverse, built into Android setup:

1. Turn on the new Android phone and follow the setup wizard. When it asks about copying data from an old device, connect the iPhone with a USB C to Lightning cable, or use the wireless option if offered.
2. Samsung phones use Smart Switch for this, Pixels use the built in copy tool. Both list WhatsApp as a transferable app.
3. Select WhatsApp, then scan the QR code that appears using the iPhone camera. It opens WhatsApp on the iPhone and starts exporting.
4. Finish setup, install WhatsApp on the Android phone, verify your number, and the chats import automatically.

Again, iCloud backups cannot be restored on Android, so the cable transfer during setup is the moment that matters. If you skipped it, you can usually rerun the copy tool from settings, but on some phones a factory reset is the only way back to that screen.

What actually transfers, and what gets left behind?

Every method above carries your personal chats, group chats, photos, videos, voice notes, and chat settings. Your account itself, meaning your number, name, About text, and profile photo, lives on WhatsApp’s servers and follows you automatically the moment you verify.

A few things do not make the trip:

• Call history often gets dropped when you cross between Android and iPhone.
• Your phone contacts. WhatsApp reads names from your phone’s address book, so if the new phone’s contacts did not sync, chats show up as bare numbers like +1 212 555 0164 instead of Sophie or James. Sync your Google or iCloud contacts first, and if you need to hand a batch of contacts to someone else during the move, a vCard generator turns names and numbers into a file any phone can import in one tap.
• Live location shares and open view once media simply expire and do not carry over.

What if I am changing my number at the same time?

Do it in this order or you will make life hard for yourself. First, while WhatsApp is still active on the old phone with the old SIM, go to Settings > Account > Change number. WhatsApp migrates your account, groups, and settings to the new number and can quietly notify your contacts, so Emma sees your new number attached to the same chat instead of a message from a stranger.

Only after the number change is done should you run the phone transfer using whichever method fits your devices. Trying to change the number and the phone in a single step is where people lose group admin rights and chat history.

FAQs

Will my chats be deleted from my old phone?

The chats stay on the old phone, but WhatsApp itself deactivates there the moment you verify your number on the new one, since one number can only have one primary phone. You can read old messages on the old device until you uninstall the app or wipe the phone.

Can I use WhatsApp on both phones at once?

Yes. Instead of transferring, you can add the new phone as a linked device: on the new phone choose Link to existing account during setup and scan the QR code from Settings > Linked Devices on the old one. WhatsApp allows up to four linked devices, and recent chat history syncs across. It is a genuinely good option while you decide whether to keep the new phone.

Why does WhatsApp ask for a 64 digit key or password when restoring?

You turned on end to end encrypted backups at some point. Nothing restores without that password or 64 digit key, and WhatsApp cannot reset it for you. Dig it out of your password manager before you wipe the old phone. The backup and restore guide covers where this setting lives and how to manage the key safely.

Do I need the SIM card in the new phone to transfer?

No. You just need to receive the verification code for your number, by SMS or a call, on any device. The SIM can stay in the old phone while you type the code into the new one. eSIM users can verify first and move the eSIM whenever convenient.