Hello, everybody! Did you ever use Windows Phone or are you using it right now? Unfortunately, Windows Phone was officially announced dead since 14 Jan 2020, when it received it’s last update. By this this, you will switch or already switched to another platform, such as Android or iOS.

Quick Windows Phone to Android transfer info

If you’re switching from Windows Phone to Android, you will see that only contacts and media files can be transferred from your Windows Phone.

SMS, MMS or group messages can be transferred, but not so straight forward. A solution for SMS, MMS or group messages is offered by me: Import SMS from Windows Phone app. More details about it can be found here.

WhatsApp 2.20.89+ on Android

Starting with this version, it may happen that you received an error which said WhatsApp couldn’t restore your messages. Your current Android backup couldn’t be loaded (local or from Google Drive). For me, the issue was that WhatsApp couldn’t create an index which was required for their newest version. The indexes are automatically created by WhatsApp when a local backup is performed and from version to version many more appear. I relied that WhatsApp will take care of them. Now my app is adding the most important ones just to be sure.

If you experienced that, the fix is to reimport again your Windows Phone messages. You need to update my app, which I republished earlier with an update and follow the import steps from this article. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.

I managed to extract my Android backup only on Linux. This is how I saw what was the issue and I fixed my backup. The procedure is complicated and I cannot provide it as a tool for everyone, because I couldn’t managed to make it work on Windows.

The problem

WhatsApp support for Windows Phone ended between 31 Dec 2019 — 14 Jan 2020.

Many users asked for a WhatsApp restoration from Windows Phone to Android. Almost everyone is using it to chat, send files, audio conversations, share locations and so on. How can these conversations be transferred?

I searched how to do this transfer, and WhatsApp is not cross platform. Officially, this cannot be done for different platforms. By that, I mean that officially, WhatsApp conversations cannot be restored from a platform such as Windows Phone to another, such as Android.

Solution to this problem

It was a very long and tedious process, but I managed to do the impossible. I wrote the code to do this, which I’m sharing to all of you as an app. The app is called Import That App messages from Windows Phone. It is called like that because according to WhatsApp guidelines, I cannot use WhatsApp in the app name.

It can import text messages, images, videos, audio files, locations, contacts, documents and other kind of files which you've transferred. It cannot display a message as quoted or as forwarded.

The app will receive the messages database from Windows Phone alongside the Media files from Windows Phone transferred via WhatsApp (if you have any). The app will read that database and will export a database specific for Android with all that data. That exported database will be imported with the latest version of WhatsApp from Play Store.

The process can be a bit complicated for an average user, but there’s no other way. I tried to simplify it as much as I could, so here’s what you need to do:

First of all

• This procedure works ONLY for devices which are running Windows Phone 10 and have made at least once a WhatsApp backup!
• This procedure will REPLACE (NOT MERGE) your current messages from WhatsApp on your Android phone, if you've used WhatsApp on it. If you've never used it on your Android phone, then it doesn’t affect you.
• If you’ve used WhatsApp on your Android phone, my app will backup your chats in a directory called originalWhatsApp. If you’re not pleased with the import from the Windows Phone, you can revert your chats which you had on Android. This is explained later on in the article.
• You can import media files even from OneDrive backup beside locally collected files (only media files can be imported from OneDrive)
• CANNOT IMPORT messages.db from OneDrive or SD Card because they are encrypted
• Check if the app is available in your country; if it’s not, I’m sorry but I have it available only in countries where Google handles the VAT payment

Please follow the rest of the article and contact me when you get stuck or have any questions.

Windows Phone requirements

Unfortunately, the decrypted messages from WhatsApp cannot be accessed from devices which are running Windows Phone 8 and 8.1. You will need a Windows Phone which runs on Windows Phone 10.

Here is a list of Windows Phone devices which CAN extract the messages if they run on Windows Phone 10 and have made at least once a WhatsApp backup:

• Lumia 1520
• Lumia Icon, 930, 950, 950XL
• Lumia 830
• Lumia 730, 735
• Lumia 635 1GB, 636 1GB, 638 1GB, 640, 640XL, 650
• Lumia 532, 535, 540, 550
• Lumia 430, 435

Windows Phone incompatible devices:

• HP Elite x3
• Alcatel Idol 4S and 4S Pro
• Alcatel OneTouch Fierce XL
• BLU Win HD w510u, BLU Win HD LTE x150q
• MCJ Madosma Q501
• Lenovo Softbank 503LV
• Trinity NuAns Neo
• VAIO Phone Biz (VPB051)

Note

You can try to use WP Internals on any of the unsupported devices above; if the bootloader is unlocked, you can follow the instructions which are written in this article. Announce me if you managed to unlock any of them so I can update the list. Thank you!

Export WhatsApp messages from Windows Phone

Since your Windows Phone device runs Windows Phone 10 and it made at least once a WhatsApp backup, you’re good to go. You will have to extract the WhatsApp messages database and the media files transferred so you import them on your WhatsApp from your Android phone.

Unlock your Windows Phone (NOT FOR Lumia x50 series(950,650,550), HP Elite, Alcatel Idol)

The decrypted messages database and the media files from WhatsApp are not stored locally in plain sight. Even the backup from OneDrive is encrypted and cannot be used because without the encryption key, it cannot be decrypted.

After that, reboot your Windows Phone and open Interop Tools app.

Select This device as the provider when you’re opening the app. Expand the menu and select Interop Unlock. In that screen you need to:

1. Enable Restore NDTKSvc (1) option and reboot your Windows Phone
2. Enter again in Interop Tools as described above and enable Full System Access (2) For newest models, New Capability Engine Unlock must be enabled too (2.1).

After you’ve enabled those options in the order mentioned above, restart again your Windows Phone. See screenshots below.

The Interop Tools process is explained on xda-developers: https://forum.xda-developers.com/windows-10-mobile/interop-tools-appx-windows-10-mobile-t3373675

Extract WhatsApp messages and media files

After a tedious work to unlock your Windows Phone, finally there is access to the WhatsApp messages and media files. Connect your Windows Phone to your Windows PC and don’t panic if it isn’t recognized immediately; worst case scenario, give it a few minutes and it will appear as a device on your PC.

WhatsApp messages database

There are 2 possible paths in which the decrypted WhatsApp messages lay:

• Phone\Data\USERS\DefApps\APPDATA\LOCAL\Packages\5319275A.WhatsApp_cv1g1gvanyjgm\LocalState
• Phone\Data\USERS\DefApps.Windows Phone\APPDATA\Local\Packages\5319275A.WhatsApp_cv1g1gvanyjgm\LocalState

Open your Windows Phone device with Windows Explorer. Copy the first one and paste it on your Windows Explorer path; if it isn’t valid, copy the second one and paste it. Inside of the opened directory, you should see a file called messages.db. That is the messaging database from WhatsApp. Copy it into your PC.

WhatsApp media files

If you've ever shared media files such as images, videos, audios, they were stored in your Windows Phone. If you never did send or receive any media files or you’re not interested about your media files, skip this step.

On Windows Phone, unfortunately the media files transferred via WhatsApp are spread in multiple locations. They are the following:

• Phone\Pictures\WhatsApp
• Phone\Users\DefApps\AppData\Local\Packages\5319275A.WhatsApp_cv1g1gvanyjgm\LocalState\shared\transfers
• Phone\Data\USERS\DefApps\APPDATA\Local\Packages\5319275A.WhatsApp_cv1g1gvanyjgm\LocalState\Shared\Transfers
• Phone\Data\Users\Public\Pictures\WhatsApp

If you've sent via WhatsApp photos made by you, they are linked to Camera directory, where all of your photos are stored.

• Phone\Data\Users\Public\Pictures\Camera Roll

Probably that directory is huge and you may want to consider if you’re gonna copy all of it for some photos shared by you via WhatsApp. Take into account that every media content you've got from those directories must be transferred into your Android Phone.

Create on your PC a directory called Media. Please put all the media files/directories found in that Media directory.

Open again Windows Explorer, copy each location and paste it and copy everything you get from that path in the Media directory which you created. In this way you will collect all of your media files.

Note

It is mandatory to have all the media files in a directory called Media.

Extract from Lumia x50 devices

Only text messages can be retrieved from these devices, which are unsupported by Interop Tools.

Media files from Lumia x50 devices

In order to transfer media files with WP Internals, you would need to give all rights to each file individually, beside their parent directory. That’s overkill and I came up with a better solution:

I’ve updated my app to import media files from OneDrive backup. Open OneDrive with your Microsoft account, and follow the path: Files > Apps > WhatsApp > (your phonenumber) > media.

Transfer the media directory from OneDrive, into a directory created by you which you will name Media.

Take in consideration that media backup from OneDrive may not contain all the media files which we’re used in WhatsApp, but only a part of them at a certain point in time.

Requirements:

1. Functional Windows Phone(even x50 series) which:
2. a) has a working USB port
3. b) runs Windows Phone 10
4. c) has\had WhatsApp installed
5. d) has a WhatsApp local backup made from some date when it worked
6. e) have a decent battery (won’t drain all battery in like 1 hour)
7. Functional PC (not Mac) which:
8. a) runs Windows 7/8/8.1/10
9. b) has a working USB port

Install WP Internals latest version on your PC from: https://www.wpinternals.net/index.php/downloads

WP Internals Note

Make sure you have your Windows Phone’s battery fully charged before you start using WP Internals!

Disable Device encryption from your Lumia phone if you have it enabled before you use WP Internals! You can check that on your Windows Phone, by going to Settings > Update & security > Device encryption.

While your Windows Phone is connected to your PC and WP Internals its doing its job:

• don’t unplug your Windows Phone
• don’t restart it if WP Internals doesn’t say to do it so

If WP Internals said that the bootloader unlock wasn’t successful, you click on restore, let it restore and then try again to unlock the bootloader.

I am not responsible of the WP Internals outcome. To some users, their Windows Phone couldn’t be unlocked, or worse, got stuck in Flash mode.

Follow the video tutorial below in order to retrieve messages.db with WP Internals:

Note

I’ve tested successfully the steps from the video above on both Lumia 950 and Lumia 930.

Transfer the Windows Phone WhatsApp messages and media files to your Android device

Now that you've got the messages database and your media files in the Media directory on your PC, it’s time to transfer them to your Android device.

You can either:

• Connect your Android device via USB to your PC and transfer the messages.db and the Media directory into your Android device
• Upload them to cloud solutions such as Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox and download them from your Android device

The key location where the WhatsApp messages and media files from Windows Phone should be on your Android device is the Download directory. I've chosen this because it is common on every Android phone and most Android phones when they’re connected by USB to a PC, they don’t display a new created directory.

So, you’ll have to transfer them manually into the Download directory on your Android device.

Prepare the import on Android

Before you’ll start the import on Android, you’ll need to disable WhatsApp backup on Google Drive, make a local backup and then uninstall WhatsApp on your Android phone.

Note

If you’ve never used WhatsApp on your Android phone you can SKIP this step.

Disable backup on Google Drive for real

An extra step must be done: to disable WhatsApp backup on Google Drive inside Google Drive. This must be done, because the newest versions of WhatsApp import directly from the Google Drive linked to your Google account. If this backup is not disabled on your Google account, it won’t look for local backups to restore.

Go to https://drive.google.com/ and connect with your Google account linked to your Android phone. I did this on my PC.

On the top right, click on the wheel and select Settings. You should a new dialog window: on the left click on Manage Apps. A list with all the applications connected to your Google Drive must appear. Scroll it until you will see WhatsApp Messenger. Click on Options and select Disconnect from Drive. Look at the screenshot below:

Don’t worry, after you will import your WhatsApp messages from Windows Phone, you can enable again WhatsApp backups on Google Drive. We will get there.

Import your WhatsApp messages

Install Import That App messages from Windows Phone app from Play Store.

Since you've transferred the WhatsApp messages and possible media files from Windows Phone, open the app and tap on import messages.

Steps left to finish the import

Unfortunately, there are some things to be done to finish the import.

Install specific version of WhatsApp from APKMirror and update it from PlayStore after

1. Install specific version (2.19.360) from APKMirror: https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/whatsapp-inc/whatsapp/whatsapp-2-19-360-release/whatsapp-messenger-2-19-360-2-android-apk-download/.
2. Open it and register with your phone number.
3. After you type in the received activation code, and you’re seeing the screen below, tap Continue and quickly cut off the internet (WIFI and mobile data) on your Android device.

4. Make sure to allow all the permissions. Wait for a while and tap on SKIP looking for backups, like on the screenshots below:

5. You will see a message like below. Tap on restore and you will see that the restore was successful.

6. After the restore was successful, tap Next, turn on Internet on your Android phone (WIFI or mobile data), close WhatsApp and open it again.

7. After you reopened it, set your name and check if your messages from Windows Phone are there

8. If your messages are there, go to Settings > Chats > Chat backup. Create a local backup and make sure backup to Google Drive is set to Never.

9. After you created a local backup, go to Play Store, search for WhatsApp and update it. Open the latest WhatsApp version and see that your messages are there and the latest version now works. That’s it.

If you followed all the steps, WhatsApp said that it restored successfully your messages and you can see your contacts but with empty conversations, that’s happening with the latest WhatsApp version. In order to fix that, perform a local backup with Google Drive backup to NEVER and your messages should be there.

Check your imported messages

Check if your messages from Windows Phone are there; open them and scroll the conversations, especially the group conversations. If they’re OK and you’re pleased with them, you need to perform a backup, to have an encrypted database of your messages.

Note

If you cannot see yourself in the group chats, click on "group info" into each group and you will be added. It's a WhatsApp bug.

Inside WhatsApp, tap on the ellipsis from the top and select Settings. From there, select Chats and after that select Chat backup.

You can enable Google Drive backup if you want that and you can enable Include videos option also.

Tap on BACK UP and wait until your messages are backed up. In this way, they are encrypted and the encryption key is stored into their servers and you’re done.

Revert to WhatsApp chats from Android which you had before you used my app

Because you set backup to Google Drive to Never and performed a local backup before you ran my app, you have the opportunity to get back to your Android chats if you’re not pleased by the import from the Windows Phone backup.

As I stated in the beginning of the article, you cannot merge backups from Windows Phone with Android backups. If, for some reason, you’re not pleased with the import made by my app and you had used WhatsApp on your Android phone, you can get back to your messages which you had so far on your Android phone.

When you’ll run my app for the first time, it will move your current WhatsApp directory in a directory called originalWhatsApp.

If you want to get back to your old Android messages:

• perform again a local backup with Google Drive backup set to Never
• uninstall WhatsApp
• delete WhatsApp directory
• rename originalWhatsApp to WhatsApp
• install WhatsApp normally and select to restore from local backup and that’s it

Of course, that will happen if you didn’t deleted the originalWhatsApp folder.

Very important

If you’ve never used WhatsApp on your Android phone, but you ran my app twice, you will get a originalWhatsApp directory. That’s because there was a WhatsApp directory created by my app when you ran it the first time. The second time you ran my app, it was considered as WhatsApp data which you already had. In that case, originalWhatsApp is useless and must be deleted.

Install my app

Import That App messages from Windows Phone can be bought from Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.leonardocezary.transfer.thatapp.message

After import

After the import, remove the Media directory and messages.db from Download directory in order to save space on your Android phone.

Notes

I know this is a long process, but it is the only way. Please follow all the steps precisely.

Since it is not an easy task, feel free to contact me by email for any issue or question you have. I usually respond very fast (max 12 hours because of the time zone differences) and I offer support to all of the users.

Don’t lose your important messages and your memories from WhatsApp! Import them right away using Import That App messages from Windows Phone app. It is possible now!

Special thanks to Claudiu Ciobanu, who helped me with analyzing both WhatsApp databases, onboarding screens structure and QA.

Disclaimer

Import That App messages from Windows Phone application is NOT an official WhatsApp application; It is NOT associated, affiliated with or sponsored, endorsed by WhatsApp Inc or any other third party.

Import That App messages from Windows Phone application is NOT an official Microsoft application; It is NOT associated, affiliated with or sponsored, endorsed by Microsoft Corporation.

WhatsApp is a registered trademark of WhatsApp Inc.

Android is a trademark of Google LLC.

Windows Phone is a trademark and brand of Microsoft Corporation.