You can now transfer your WhatsApp history from iPhone to Samsung phones — here’s how

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How to move your WhatsApp chats from iOS to Samsung’s Android phones.

How to transfer WhatsApp from iPhone to Android
(Image credit: Future)

During the recent Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event there was a small but important announcement from WhatsApp. The company revealed that it would soon allow chat histories, voice notes and photos to jump between iPhone and Android devices, starting with Samsung handsets. 

The day is finally here, albeit currently limited to Samsung devices running Android 10 or later. It’s quite a complicated process, but as a one-off process it should be appealing to you if, like me, you’re strangely sentimental about your years worth of chatter and GIF exchanges. Indeed, once WhatsApp offers the ability to move from Android to iPhone, I will seriously consider an iOS device in future.

Almost everything will be transferred, with WhatsApp only highlighting call history and display names as missing out. Hardly essential. 

How to transfer your WhatsApp chat history from iPhone to Samsung phones

Before you begin, you need access to both your Samsung device (running Android 10 or later) and the iPhone you’re looking to transfer from. Both devices must use the same phone number, and WhatsApp says the Android handset needs to be either “factory new or reset to factory settings.” Otherwise you need:

Once you’ve got everything in a fit and ready state in front of you, you can begin the process. 

1. The first step is to turn on your new Samsung device, and to plug it into the iPhone via the USB-C to Lightning cable.

2. Open the Samsung SmartSwitch app and select “Smart Switch” as your mode of transfer.

3. The phone will ask you to scan the QR code on screen using your iPhone’s camera app.

4. Once that’s done, tap “Start” on your iPhone, and wait for confirmation that the step is complete.

5. Go back to your Samsung phone and open WhatsApp, being sure to log in using the same phone number as your iPhone.

6. Tap the prompt that says “Import” and wait for the process to finish. You should now see all your chats waiting for you, as if you’d never switched from your iPhone.

Note that WhatsApp says that your WhatsApp account won’t be deleted from your iPhone until you do it yourself, so be sure to do a full factory reset if you plan to sell your handset. 

Obviously ,this is all very Samsung-centric, and it will be interesting to see what transfer app is recommended when WhatsApp opens it up to other Android manufacturers. Hopefully, WhatsApp will have something to say about timelines on that front soon.

FYI: WhatsApp finally makes it easy to switch from Android to iPhone. 

Alan Martin
Alan Martin

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.