I was so confident that WhatsApp was backing itself up to Google ever since I got my new pixel but I just wasn’t. Then yesterday I factory reset my phone to fix something else and I lost it all. Years worth of chats from so many times in my past just aren’t there, all my texts with my mom and my family, group chats with old friends… I can’t even look at the app anymore, I’ll never use Whatsapp as much as I used to. I just don’t feel right with this change. There’s no way to get those chats back and now it doesn’t feel like there’s any point backing up WhatsApp now! I really wanna cry like this is so unfair!! And all I had to do was check Whatsapp before I did a factory reset… the TINIEST THING I could have done and prevented this and I didn’t fucking do it!!!
How do I get past this?
You need to move over your SIM to log in though…
So I spent half a minute googling and found this: https://faq.whatsapp.com/209942271778103/
And this goes over setting up the existing account on your computer by scanning a QR code, no mention of a SIM being required, so I guess you can indeed set it up either this way or using an emulator, for the purpose of testing backups 🤷♀️
ok, but we’re talking about testing backups, which isn’t this.
The process with a new phone (I just had to do this due to water damage) is put SIM in new phone, then it logs in and asks if you want to restore from the backup (you need to enable file access first) and then it restores from a hidden area of your Google account.
Edited my original response but no, the backup is not in a “hidden” area of Google Drive: https://www.androidpolice.com/find-whatsapp-backups-google-drive/
And yes, I am talking about testing your backups without needing a new phone or to wipe all your existing data, by restoring the data to an emulated instance of the WhatsApp app. In what way is restoring your backup not testing your backup?
I saw your edit and replied to it - that backup is still inaccessible other than via WhatsApp, although I guess it’s a comfort to see that they’re there.
You’d linked “How to transfer your chat history”, which isn’t testing the backup. If you deleted the data in the emulator, you’d need to login again to test the backups, which puts you back needing a SIM.