Spending hours of reading old outdated user guides I make this quick fix to migrate WhatsApp to a new Samsung Galaxy XCover smartphone in a few minutes using a SD-Card only. But doing it in the right order is mandatory otherwise WA fails to restore and migrate with success. My 3-step guide makes you up and running in a few minutes on a new device.
I Use a local SD-Card as backup media. Not Google nor Samsung Cloud.
This has been tested on:
♦Samsung Galaxy XCover 4s (SM-G398FN/DS) with Android 11, User Interface UI 3.1, kernel 4.4.177, and on
♦Samsung XCover 5 (SM-G525F/DS) with User Interface One UI ver. 5.0, running Linux Kernel 4.19.111.
I have not verified this procedures on others but I guess it might work.
Prerequisites before migration
You new smartphone, or your factory reinstalled Samsung xCover.
Site note: Personally I fist do complete upgrade and update of all the standard software, including Knox. Then I do a factory reinstall and get rid of all the bloatware and uninstall or disable them first.
Also testing the phone before taking it into production in order to make sure everything works like camera, display, mics, etc.
But I use to do a lot of scouting method and learning by doing and testing new features before I take it into production its at rapid way to test and restart in a few minutes with no needed settings or app.
Then next time I need a factory install they internal recover partition on the smartphone contents the latest version (until its upgraded at Google or Samsung of courses).
Lets go:
1) Backup WhatsApp on your old smartphone
Since XCover 3s i.e. ver. 4 the files are hidden a new place. The folder might be hidden so you might need tools as Total Command and have “Show Hidden files = Yes” as option.
Make a backup in WhatsApp:
- find folder “Internal shared storage” also seen as “/storage/emulated/0/Android” on some smartphones.
- Copy folder: “/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp” and everything below to an external place like your SD card on your smartphone and keep this safe just in case. On our PC might be a good place as well just in case you need it again and everything has gone to the last graveyard of the electrons.
Note: When first you are logged in to your new devices xCover 5, it seems like the data on the old one are automatically delete. Another good reason to have backup external places.
- Go to Settings/Apps/WhatsApp -> Force Stop your WA in order to avoid messages reach you while your are in transit for the migration.
There are no logout button on WA so you cant’ do anything but this (you might enter flight mode though when you have made a transfer of the data to external place).
2) Restore WhatsApp data on your new Samsung XCover
Since WhatsApp do not support any kind of restore after the app has been installed and are in operation ,we do some tricks to make sure WA understand your vision to restore from your local backup:
Do:
- Copy all the files and subfolders 1:1 to /Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp
- now go to folder /Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Databases and delete all files except the file “msgstore.db.crypt14“.
This is the only files we need for now to make WA recognize you have a backup to restore.
3) Install WhatsApp
- Install WhatsApp, either by transfer via Samsung Smart Switch or via apps in Play Store.
- Open WA, and follow the start procedures, add your phone number, add the SMS-6-digit response code.
When its ask for a restore from local data, you answer YES! You only got this chance.
If you are lucky you are having all your contact, chats and media restored respectively.
All done!
If not: Delete the WA app, delete all the data, start all over again. This is the only way WA would accept you have a backup to restore. If you install WA first it will NOT work (and don’t ask my why this is so silly).
Total Commander is a smart tool for coping here. Use your PC as gateway or temporary storage while in transit is the fastest way so far. ‘You might do wifi transfer of TotalCommander. When you first got the idea behind it its very smart. Or ftp-server on your new xcover top copy. Only thing is the original timestamp of files and folders are altered to the current for the day.
Consider SIGNAL app instead. It works must safer and faster and are stores on the servers.
Happy chatting : )