The decision is smaller than it looks. Three things settle it: whether both phones run Android, whether the old handset is still in your hands, and whether the number is staying the same. Chats and media sit outside the ordinary Android device backup, which is why the general new phone move leaves this piece undone, and why getting it wrong usually ends with wiping WhatsApp and starting again.
Every route starts on the old phone with a backup made today, not whenever the last automatic one ran. Open WhatsApp, tap the three dots, then Settings, Chats, Chat backup, and tap Back up. Let it finish.
Note which Google account it lands in. Google's troubleshooting for a backup that cannot be found starts with one line: be signed in to the same Google Account on both phones. It then asks you to check backup is enabled and has run on the old device, and to close WhatsApp on the new one and set up again. A second account on the new handset is why the restore offer never appears.
One widely repeated fact is out of date: Google's page on how your storage works lists WhatsApp backups on Android among the things counting towards your Google Account storage, so a media heavy history can fill the free 15 GB. Read the meter first: how to free up Google storage.
The setup wizard, the eSIM and your authenticator codes belong to setting up a new Android phone.
This route survives a cracked screen or a handset already passed on: the backup sits in your Google account and the new phone collects it. It needs the same number and the same Google account.
Google's guidance: when the cloud backup is up to date, restoring from it is the recommended choice. Its troubleshooting expects older images to lag behind the text, and treats them as missing only after 24 hours.
With both phones on the table, nothing touches Google Drive. WhatsApp calls this Transfer chats; on the new phone it appears as Transfer from old phone, which Google describes as restoring over Wi-Fi.
Two permissions carry this route: the camera, for the code, and access to nearby Wi-Fi devices, which lets the handsets find each other. Nothing is uploaded and no mobile data is spent, but once the old phone is gone so is this option.
Restoring is not a menu item you can go back for. It is offered during first setup, straight after the number is verified, and tapping past it starts an empty history instead.
Google is blunt about it. You cannot merge chat history created on the new phone with the history from the old one, and restoring the old history replaces anything new. Its fix is to uninstall WhatsApp on the new device and install it again. So do not open WhatsApp on the new phone just to see whether it works.
An ordinary Drive backup is not end to end encrypted. That is a separate switch, and it changes what the new phone asks for at the restore prompt.
WhatsApp's announcement says an end to end encrypted backup is secured with either a password of your choice or a 64 digit encryption key that only you know, and that neither WhatsApp nor your backup service provider can read your backups or access the key required to unlock it. Nobody holds a spare.
There is now a third option. On 30 October 2025 WhatsApp announced passkey encrypted backups: a fingerprint, face or screen lock instead of a password or a 64 digit string, under Settings, Chats, Chat backup, End-to-end encrypted backup. It rolled out gradually, so look at that screen. Whichever of the three you choose, confirm the new phone will accept it before the old one is wiped.
If you still carry a 64 digit key, keep it somewhere that outlives the handset you are about to reset. A password manager is the natural home.
A backup restores to the number that made it. Google states it plainly: you cannot transfer your WhatsApp data to a new phone number. The workaround it gives is to change the number on the old device first.
Two conditions decide whether it works at all: the new number has to be able to receive an SMS or a call for verification, and the old number has to still be registered on WhatsApp. So run it on the old handset, before the new number is registered anywhere else. The tool is Change Number, under Settings then Account. WhatsApp's help centre describes it as migrating your account information, groups and settings to the new number, and deleting the account attached to the old one so contacts stop seeing it. Your groups are notified whether or not you turn on Notify Contacts.
The history stays put: the help centre says it remains available on the phone with the new number for as long as you keep using that phone. So change the number, back up, then set up the new handset; in the other order you register an empty account. An eSIM is its own transfer.
Android to iPhone is Apple's Move to iOS app, installed on the Android phone. Apple's support page lists WhatsApp messages and media among what it moves, and so does the Play listing. Timing is the catch: it runs from the Transfer Your Apps and Data screen during setup, and Apple says an iPhone already set up has to be erased first. That list also names call history and calendars; free apps come across only where the same app sits on both stores and supports it. The app sits at 3.6 stars and has not been updated since May 2025.
iPhone to Android has a guide of its own here: moving from iPhone to Android runs the WhatsApp chat move step by step, alongside turning off iMessage and shifting contacts, photos and texts. Two of Google's limits matter here: do not open WhatsApp on the new phone until the transfer finishes, because once that option has gone the fix is a factory reset, and skipping the transfer during setup leaves three to seven days to come back to it.
Open a few of the oldest chats and scroll up, then look in a group that matters. Set the backup schedule again, and check the Linked Devices list, since browser sessions are paired from the phone: the WhatsApp Web guide covers it.
Leave the old handset unwiped for a few days. WhatsApp documents a separate route for restoring from a backup kept on the phone's own storage, and that only helps while the phone exists.
Messaging apps, spam call blocking and call screening fill out the communication category. First, take one warning literally: Google's page ends by saying other data migration apps are not supported and can cause migration issues. The paid desktop programs sold for this job route your whole history through unsupported software, and every official route costs nothing.
Back up on the old phone first, under Settings, Chats, Chat backup. Install WhatsApp on the new phone, verify the same number, then choose Restore from backup, or Transfer from old phone if both handsets are with you. Google recommends the cloud route when the backup is current.
Usually yes, by starting setup again. Google's stated fix is to uninstall WhatsApp on the new phone and install it again, which brings back the screen where restoring is offered. Google also warns that restoring the old history replaces anything sent or received on the new phone since.
Yes. Google's page on how Google storage works lists WhatsApp backups on Android among the items counting towards your Google Account storage, alongside Gmail, Drive files and Google Photos. That allowance is 15 GB free and shared, so a long history of photos and video can fill it.
That backup stays shut. WhatsApp says neither it nor your backup service provider can read an end to end encrypted backup or access the key required to unlock it, so nobody can reopen it for you. Since October 2025 WhatsApp has also offered passkey encrypted backups, using a fingerprint, face or screen lock.
Only if you change the number first, on the old phone, using Change Number under Settings then Account. Google states that WhatsApp data cannot be transferred to a new phone number. WhatsApp describes Change Number as moving your account information, groups and settings across and deleting the old account.