While you might have been aware that WhatsApp archives chats that you have, you may not have known that you have options like: viewing them, restoring them, or even unarchiving them.
Hey my friend, its Frankie here again and today I want to tell you another trick to help you archive a chat on WhatsApp.
If you are among the majority of those using WhatsApp, you tend to keep your conversation lists tidy and neat so that your most used chats are easily accessible. Or, you might just be secretive and not want anyone to see the threads you engage in.
Knowing how to delete a conversation is very simple, but archiving a conversation is a much different task.
“Archive Chat” allows you to hide a conversation and access it again later.
Deleting is said to permanently remove the chat, though there are ways that you can get it back (that are more painstaking than archives).
Archive on WhatsApp lets you organize your private messages and prioritize important conversations. Your Archived chats will now remain archived and muted but you can always change them back! pic.twitter.com/QbAY6iu81p
— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) July 27, 2021
For those that are unfamiliar with the process, below you will find how to archive conversations, unarchive them, restore them, and simply view them.
Let’s begin!
Highlights:
- You can archive a single chat or a group in seconds thanks to a WhatsApp feature
- If you archive a single chat or a group you can still receive messages (and you can also send them) but you will not get any notifications. Also, your chat remain archived.
- Your archived chats disappear from your chat list
How To Archive Chats on WhatsApp With Android
Archive a WhatsApp Chat (Individual or Group)
- Step 1 open WhatsApp
- From the chats screen, tap and hold the conversation you intend to archive
- From the top bar, choose “More” options (three vertical dots icon on top right corner) and tap on “Archive Chat”
This approach archives the conversation and it is no longer visible with the rest of the chats.
Archive All Chats
- Launch the app
- Tap “Menu” from the Chat screen and access “Settings”.
- Tap “Chats”, then “Chat History”, and then “Archive All Chats”.
Unarchive a Chat
- Scroll to the very bottom of the Chats screen.
- Tap “Archived Chats”.
- Tap and hold on the saved conversation you want to unarchive.
- Select the “Unarchive” icon from the top bar.
View Archived Individual or Group Chats
- Open WhatsApp
- Select “Chats” near the top of the screen. If a chat directly opens, simply hit the “Back” button in the top-left corner.
- Move to the bottom of the chat inbox. You can see an option for Archived Conversations here. If there is no option available, no conversation has been archived to this point.
- Tap “Archived”, this will open a list of all available options.
- Select the one that you wish to view, and it will open this conversation and allow you to scroll through its contents.
How to Archive Chats on WhatsApp on iPhone (iOS 15 Updated)
The following process works for all Apple devices iOS 13 or later.
Archive an individual or group chat
- Launch WhatsApp
- Find the conversation you intend to archive
- Swipe from right to left. Next tap on the “Archive” option
There is also an alternative – which is faster in my opinion – method to archive a single chat or group on WhatsApp. Let me show it to you:
- Start WhatsApp
- Find the chat you want to archive and then press it for a few seconds
- A popup will appear. Click on “Archive“
Archive All Chats
- Open the app
- Click on “Settings” (cog icon)
- Tap “Chats”, and then “Archive All Chats”.
View Archived Chats
- From the “Chats” tab, scroll to the top left and then pull down.
- Select “Archived Chats”
Unarchive a chat or group
Conversations will automatically reappear when a new message comes through on the thread. You can manually complete this task by searching the list by contact name or message.
- From the “Archived Chats” screen, swipe across on the chat from right left.
- Tap “Unarchive”
View Archived Chat on WhatsApp on iPhone
- Open the WhatsApp Messenger.
- Tap on “Chats” at the bottom of the screen.
- Swipe the middle of the screen and you will see “Archived Chats” in blue lettering at the top of the screen. If all of your threads are already archived, you will not need to swipe down to access the information.
- Tap “Archived Chats”. This will display the list of chats you have chosen to archive. If nothing appears, you have no chats that you have added to this point.
- Choose a conversation. Once it is open, you can view the entire conversation. You can also swipe left on the chat and send it back to your active inbox.
Restoring An Archived Conversation On All Platforms
There are actually two ways that you can bring an archived WhatsApp thread back to your active list. The first is to view the archived chat you want to restore, and swipe left (or long press for some platforms) and from the menu choose “Unarchive”. This selection restores the conversation to the active list again.
You can do this in another way by simply sending that contact or group a new message. Once it is sent, the entirety of conversation (included the archived portion) will restore itself to active threads.
Conclusion
I hope the information included within this guide has been helpful to you – as it has been to so many others.
If you have doubts or questions, I am here to help. Leave a comment down below.
For more tips and tricks about WhatsApp I suggest you subscribe to my free newsletter or join to my YouTube channel where you’ll find tons of super interesting videos and easy to follow “how to” guides.
A hug,
Frankie Caruso
Ps – If you are not very familiar with WhatsApp I would recommend you to take a look at this guide: 42 Secret WhatsApp Tips and Tricks You Should Know.
