WhatsApp is one of the most used instant messaging applications in the world, this by Android and iPhone users. The app was one of the first on the market that allowed you to communicate and share media with anyone over the Internet, as long as you have their phone number.

Over the years, users were only allowed to use WhatsApp on a single smartphone at a time, and although the service had its client on Android and iOS, there was no real way to copy your WhatsApp messages and others. data between the two operating systems.

This changes now that WhatsApp has made the transfer of chats and other content between Android and iOS.

Can WhatsApp messages be transferred between iOS and Android?

Yes, WhatsApp recently announced that you can now copy your entire WhatsApp history including conversations, media, and other data between iOS and Android. This is a welcome change to the app, as until now there was no official way to transfer your WhatsApp conversations between the two operating systems. With this new feature, you will no longer lose your important messages, pictures and other media when you switch from an iPhone to an Android device.

How to Transfer WhatsApp Messages from iPhone to Android

Connect your iPhone with the Android device you want to transfer WhatsApp chats to using a Lightning to USB-C cable (the cable modern iPhones now ship with). You can officially move your chats from iOS to Android, only if both devices are physically connected. For now, there is no other way to transfer this data without cable or over the Internet.

Now you can start the actual process of moving your WhatsApp chats from iPhone to Android. For this, open the WhatsApp app on your iPhone and tap on the Settings tab at the bottom right corner of the screen.

Within Settings, select the Chats section.

On this screen, tap Move chats to Android from the bottom half of the screen.

You will now see the “Move chats to Android” screen. If you want to use the same phone number for WhatsApp on the new Android phone as your iPhone, tap the Start button at the bottom. If not, you can select the Transfer to a different phone number option just below ‘Start’.

WhatsApp will now start preparing your backup on your iPhone and you will be able to see this progress at the bottom of the screen.

When the backup is complete, the app will prompt you to continue on your Android device. For this, connect your Android phone to your iPhone and then follow the instructions below.

Now, you need to move to the Android device that is the destination of your WhatsApp chat history. On Android, you complete your device setup and once done, open the WhatsApp app and sign in to your account with your phone number.

When iOS detects that you are logged into WhatsApp on Android, it will start transferring your chats and media from iPhone and you will be able to see the progress of the transfer on the iOS device. When this process is underway, you need to make sure that both devices are unlocked and the WhatsApp app on both is open.