Database Info

[Q] Android: Backups of various different things.

I have recently purchased a Samsung Galaxy S2. I have the phone set up the way i like it but i wish to try different OS versions which will require rooting and wiping my phone so a few questions regarding backups:
1) Currently i have my gmail contacts and facebook contacts "linked" together. I believe this is only stored locally on my phone. Is there a way i can save all this contact info so when i log back in to my profile in the future it will all be seamlessly placed as it was.
2) Currently i have a whole batch of homescreens with icons and widgets and my applications screen with every app in a "folder" can i back these up exactly as they are?
3) Within various different applications there are different options or save games and various things like that, are these easily accessible and able to be backed up
4) Finally can i just do an "image" of my phone and if i wipe it and mess about then simply restore that image back to exactly how it was?
Cheers for any help

boxrick,
Can't answer specifically for the Galaxy S2 as I don't have it, and because Android is "pimped" in various ways by different device makers some of the homescreens/layouts are custom implemented, and best backed up by the methods appropriate for--or offered by--that device.
Having said that, if you are using Google market, a lot of stuff (like the apps obviously) is automatically saved with them. Or the apps themselves can be backed up with any good file manager, like Astro, to an SD card or via USB.
I can't answer you about the Gmail & Facebook contacts being "linked together", but from experience most items are stored in the Google Contacts data-fields and stored remotely in your Google account (and therefore restored from there straightaway)
I have multiple Android devices, and to tell you the truth I pretty much just copy everything "en-masse" to a hard drive. If you're rooted, it's fairly easy to pull down almost everything this way. You're just dealing with files and folders, just like on your regular computer (which is why I'm pretty much done with anything "black-box" like formerly iphone/ipad, btw )
If you're looking for a "set-it-and-forget-it" type app, I don't currently use any, but on my travels I've seen a few "names" tossed around with good reviews. You can research
MyBackup Pro
Sprite Backup
Those two are pretty well known full-blown-backup type apps. They're paid apps, but cheap.
I've heard of The Missing Sync which takes a different approach by syncing all your data to a Windows or Mac desktop for backup and also for re-distribution to other devices. Sort of like a "data-centralizer" type approach, which might be up your alley. I think the app runs about $40 though.
Finally, I do use the free LifeSaver 2 app for important SMS messages and call logs-- picked it up over at F-droid.org. It's for pretty specific data types, but it's this stuff that usually is the hardest to save (since I don't actually know where it is when I backup the entire root directory + subs & files).
Hope the above gives you some ideas. My general advice would be to research, read the boards, with special attention to the threads dedicated to the Galaxy S2, because the other users have gone before you
And btw, if you find something really cool (including if one of the apps above turn out to help you), make sure you come back and post your findings. I'm always on the lookout for a "gem" app that makes my life easier.
Good luck!

Apps: Titanium.
Data: MyBackup.
MyBackup does a much better job at saving your contacts than Google does. MyBackup restores them exactly as they were, Google often loses custom fields and messes up your contact names. Just look at the mess when you sync a contact called "Al's Pizza (open 'till midnight)" back from Google. It also gets the timestamps on SMSs right, which most competitors don't.
You could forget about Tit and backup your apps with MyB too, but then you miss out on all the different batch jobs that come with Tit.
There's one thing that all backup apps choke on: widgets. I always have to set 'em up again after a wipe/restore job.

Can't titanium backup both apps & data?

Titanium can backup user data, sort of.
Restoring user data with Tit is not as straightforward as with MyB. They should add a user data screen so you don't have to hunt for your data in a long list of apps.

One final question, if I was to change from Android Phone A to Android Phone B. Will these "apps" and backups be able to restored to a totally different phone?

rogier666 said:
There's one thing that all backup apps choke on: widgets. I always have to set 'em up again after a wipe/restore job.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rogier, what widget app do you use? I use Elixir, and in it there's an option to export widget data. Search for the "edit widgets" button, click it and you'll be taken to a pane where all the widgets are replaceable. Below it, you'll see a "More" button--that's where the import/export widgets button is. After you export widgets settings (you have to type in a name for it), Elixir then saves that exact config. After flashing a ROM and restoring via Ti, you can then choose to add back your widgets via the "Import" button. Remember though: if you want to bring back a 5x5 widget, you have to choose "5x5" widget after long pressing on a blank space, otherwise the widget won't restore properly. With this, you can have as many widgets you want and not worry about the tedious process of reconstructing them after a restore.

do you have to use the paid for version of titanium?

boxrick said:
One final question, if I was to change from Android Phone A to Android Phone B. Will these "apps" and backups be able to restored to a totally different phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can with Google . Go to Settings --> Privacy --> Back up my data.
When you buy your new phone, select restore my data. At first you won't see any difference, but after a few hours your apps will be restored

Borat38 said:
rogier, what widget app do you use? I use Elixir...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right now I've got Widgetsoid, DroidStats, Smooth Calendar, PlayerPro, DroidWall, Make Your Own Clock, and seNotes on my home screens.
Some widget apps have a backup option, some only come in one flavor (like DroidWall) so they don't really need a backup option. But others (like most notes widgets) don't have any backup option at all.
This is really annoying for the sticky notes widgets, because it's often impossible to remember what info you'd have to put back in them (which is why you wrote it in a note to begin with).
So I'd really like a one click option to back up and restore all my widgets.

thetinybus said:
do you have to use the paid for version of titanium?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, you don't. The free version backs up everything too. It just takes more clicks to restore your stuff.
The free version of MyBackup only restores to the same phone that it backed up, so if you want to use MyBackup to transfer your data to a new phone you'll need the paid version.

I have purchased MybackupPro. The problem is I am fairly confident it will not back up my linked contacts. Therefore I need to root my phone and use TI backup...
Id like to post here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1125414&page=12 and find out about after unrooting, flashing back to the default kernel ( for warranty purposes ). Need 10 posts
Now it seems I am getting restrictions on the amount of times I am posting. This also doesn't help me much!

[Q] Proting SMS from Android to Windows Phone

Hey,
since I've seen that it became possible to backup up and restore SMS on Windows Phone (with backing up the store.vol), i was thinking if it could become possible to port SMS from Android to Windows Phone. Anyone an idea how to do that??

Matts12345 said:
Hey,
since I've seen that it became possible to backup up and restore SMS on Windows Phone (with backing up the store.vol), i was thinking if it could become possible to port SMS from Android to Windows Phone. Anyone an idea how to do that??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently this isn't possible. An interesting solution would be backing up the SMS messages to Gmail under a SMS label, then importing into Android under one of a couple of apps that do this already. The trick is getting a dev to write an app for WP7 that would complete the cycle.

I really do not have an idea of all this developing things, but my first thought was, that it "just" has be possible to backup the SMS of an Android device in the ".vol" format (or convert them into a ".vol" file), so can can just restore them on Windows Phones. Maybe its complete crap what I am talking about, but for me it sounds the easiest way .

Please use the Q&A Forum for questions &
Read the Forum Rules Ref Posting
Moving to Q&A

Matts12345 said:
I really do not have an idea of all this developing things, but my first thought was, that it "just" has be possible to backup the SMS of an Android device in the ".vol" format (or convert them into a ".vol" file), so can can just restore them on Windows Phones. Maybe its complete crap what I am talking about, but for me it sounds the easiest way .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was describing a method that is already in place on Android. There are a few apps that back up SMS, MMS, and call logs to those respective labels in your Gmail account. All that needs to happen is for a WP7 dev to create an app which can process those "e-mails" under those labels and sort them to their proper places. This is much easier than having to load a file, since WP7 doesn't support .vol files.

[Q] How to backup sms with emoji?

Hi!
I have been searching for this on Google and in the forums, and I cannot find any answers. I see that the most of the sms/mms backup apps are using .XML files, and I read that they do not support emoji and would corrupt the .xml file if I try to restore it.
I have only had to restore sms one time and that time i used go sms pro since I read that they support emoji backup even though they didnt so my 14000 sms got corrupted when I tried to restore, also tried with Titanium without anyluck or maybe I did something wrong (luckly I had nandroid backup and didnt update ROM), this time i want to make sure that this would not happen again and I want to update rom without loosing my sms. I feel there is a simple solution, but I cannot find it.
Would be nice if someone could help out a newb

Bump

Dns94 said:
Bump
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This

I'd like to know toO!

Why do they have to make this so damn hard. Why can't I just drag a file from old android phone and drop it in new android phone? What is the best method to COMPLETELY backup and restore SMS/MMS on non rooted phones?

Try this app (find the latest beta from release folder) : https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/blob/master/README.md#readme
Used for years and did several restore while changing my rom. It push the backup into a Gmail label.
From what I saw, it saves pictures. So I guess it saves also emoji.
Hope it helps.

baudbox said:
Try this app (find the latest beta from release folder) : https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/blob/master/README.md#readme
Used for years and did several restore while changing my rom. It push the backup into a Gmail label.
From what I saw, it saves pictures. So I guess it saves also emoji.
Hope it helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll give it a shot. I tired SMS Backup & Restore but for some reason when it restored them (which worked for the most part) it screwed up a bunch of the time stamps.

One year later and no good solution to my problem?

A solution I found
Dns94 said:
One year later and no good solution to my problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this thread was years ago, but I came across it while trying and failing to fix this issue, and after a ridiculous amount of time investigating I have a solution finally. I thought if I posted it here then others with the same problem might come across it too and it could help people.
Assuming you already have "SMS Backup and Restore" (though confusingly there are two apps in the Play Store called that, you want the one with the green icon by SyncTech Pty Ltd).
Select "Back Up Now" and send it to Dropbox (or another place, I found Dropbox the easiest). Most importantly though, click on" Advanced Options" and turn the "Emojis & special characters" slider OFF. xml doesn't understand emojis, and it will corrupt the file and cause "XML Parsing Error" when you try to open it.
There's an extra optional step to make the file easier to read (puts it in a nice table without bare code everywhere) but this website won't let me post the code because it contains two links (and because I'm a very new member, signed up just to write this). This step involves adding a file called "sms.xsl" and adding a line of code to the xml file to make it talk to the xsl file, but I can't find anywhere to download it with a quick Google search.
Let me know if anyone wants any more details.
This all worked for me very well at least, I hope it does for others.

Backup and Restore ALL Accounts on android

GOAL - a universal backup and restore solution that can take ALL device accounts and ALL their related passwords - back them up - and restore them to ANY version of android - including Phones, Tablets, and Emulators such as bluestacks, memu, nox etc. even from different android versions.
This is primarily to get all EMAILS - google - outlook - etc loaded into a new device *This is NOT for apps as there are plenty of solutions for apps already but none for ACCOUNTS
This software should basically have a database, preferably in an easy to edit CSV format - which would never need to change as it would always have ACCOUNT_TYPE,USERNAME,PASSWORD,RANDOM_DATA
-you could manually populate this via your computer or you could have the android software export it via coding magic. Maybe use a different format and have it load a spreadsheet or a different database type...
Importing would be trickier- you'd have to have a drop down asking questions like - What android version are you importing to- so that the code could be properly inserted...
I intend to ask for advice here and see what solutions you all have; I will edit this first topic to help others if a solution exists.
Some people spend 50 hours of labor installing hundreds of apps on their phone; each needing custom configured, many require having an Account to access data through the app.
What if you have to load 50+ emails into the phone; each of them having huge complicated passwords.
What if you are always buying new devices, changing roms and having to set this all up again?
=Some Solutions exist but none have worked for me.
1. Built in google 'set up new device' -
This only seems to work when you have reset your phone.. once the phone is active and you've actually used it -- there appears to be no way to turn this on and attempt to bring new accounts over...
q. How can you activate this after the fact?
If you have more than a few accounts on the device, say.. 4... maybe you have 20 or 40 email accounts loaded.. it is almost guaranteed to fail.
q. What causes it to fail? Is there any work around.
If you are on android versions too far apart its also likely to fail
q. Why? is there any work around.
*Here is a site with code related to the account transfer API; I'm not sure how accurate it is:
Account Transfer API | Android Developers
developer.android.com
2. Samsung Smart switch
This only copies ONE account - but it also does a fine job of moving text messages, SOME apps and other info over.
*Is there any way to get it to copy all email accounts; and other random app accounts to the new device?
3. Titanium backup - for non root and root.
I've played with this numerous times over the past 10 years and never successfully. I dont think it is capable of taking all accounts and backing up / restoring to different devices.
More to be added later.

Reserved for random info so I can update later;

One month later and no replies...
Anyone?
1. Is there any app on the planet that can do this - or close? ((samsung smart switch - sometimes - though it mostly fails -- Googles built in set up - which fails 95% of the time) - I know of no other solutions.
2. Is there any desire for this? have any of you been annoyed with the menial task of setting this stuff up again and again?

another month goes by.. now I have a new android tablet.. and guess what?
Samsung smart switch wont copy my accounts...
I cant seem to get the built in google 'set up device' to start == and I'm not looking forward to adding 50 email accounts and various other accounts into this manually.. thats gonna take ages...
Buying a new device every couple months.. is a grueling task when it comes to account transfers...
Nobody has any suggestions on a solution for this? I'm searching around randomly again and finding Nothing.

what is your concern?? reading your thread give me headache

I have the same issue. I am "bored" in getting another mobile because i have to setup from beggining soooo many things

IIRC then account details are stored in SQLite database named accounts.db, its location depends on Android version.
Wi-Fi passwords are stored in file named wpa supplicant.conf.

@jwoegerbauer thanks for the tip. using your filename I found a tutorial that listed the location as follows:
/data/system_de/0/accounts_de.db
I've verified this on Nox; my bluestacks still isnt rooted and it seems the phones I have with all email accounts loaded == are not rooted either== I'm going to need to find a workaround for that or make time to root bluestacks to get the account data out of it...
Problem is;
1 there are no passwords included here. Where are they? mine are all crazy long and I have no clue what they are... its very time consuming to manually input them via my password managing tool.
2 Once I export; and change the CSV into a spreadsheet to include all the other missing email /google accounts; how do I replace the accounts_de.db file on each device
3. Why isnt there an app that can do this already; lol?
EDIT
Titanium backup does have an 'accounts' export option that -sorta - works... problem is how picky the app is about using root plus super SU and refuses to work with Magisk (sometimes) or will constantly crash on (some) devices - or will fail to export/import unless you try (5 different file managers that can eventually figure out how to import their file type) - or is otherwise NEEDING root access to function...
Would be nice if a solution existed via ADB or simply in an un rooted device to do this; sorta like how google ''set up nearby device'' was supposed to work (and will; if you use only 5 or less accounts... but its also buggy and fails)

Any ideas on how we can export/import accounts?
Still no successful solution.
1. Notes regarding Titanium:
I've tried about 15 versions of bluestacks using android 4.4.2 and have had mild success with titanium to backup/restore =
however it seems to randomly restore less than all the accounts (missing a few different ones each time)
it also seems to randomly miss the google password tokens randomly =forcing me to log into 10% of the imported accounts with each restore.
It also seems to fail 100% when trying to restore a bluestacks 4.4.2 accounts file on to android 7 bluestacks; or nox / or memu
It has limited success importing into a proper non emulated tablet (again missing about 60% of the accounts randomly)
all in all Titanium doesn't appear to be a good solution.
2. Perhaps a direct edit of the Accounts DB file would be wiser;
I've attempted to export it a few times and am not sure yet how to edit it ...
HeidiSQL has errors when accessing the file
Oracle's sql developer is WORSE; most of the text is gibberish.
*Any ideas on how to edit this?
3. Other xda searches lead me to:
The google password isn't a real password. After first successful authentication, an Auth Token is downloaded to device which is stored in accounts.db.
From the Auth Token is impossible to guess the password.
So I guess I answered my own question on that... I was hoping the passwords were stored on the device database so I could import/export them via a text editor.
4.
*File manager for super users allows one to explore and edit (to a point) a sql database - but one can not add new entries; only edit existing entries.
one can only export to csv; not import.
so this is only a partial solution.
5. an open source XDA solution looks promising but will not work.
Each OnAndBackup version uses different file extensions that are not compatible between versions... so yuo can't backup one android version and restore to another.
OAndBackupX is a fork of the popular open source backup app for Android
Looking for an open source solution to backup individual apps and their data? OAndBackupX is a handy Android app for the job. Check it out!
www.xda-developers.com

Blombardo said:
2. Perhaps a direct edit of the Accounts DB file would be wiser;
I've attempted to export it a few times and am not sure yet how to edit it ...
HeidiSQL has errors when accessing the file
Oracle's sql developer is WORSE; most of the text is gibberish.
*Any ideas on how to edit this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In post #7 you were told it's a SQLite database. Hence use a SQLite browser.
Downloads - DB Browser for SQLite
sqlitebrowser.org

It appears that the art of editing the database file on this is more complicated than it should be...
1. Taking the old DB file from 4.4.2 with a million accounts loaded... -- Export the 'accounts' table into csv
2. taking the new DB file from 7.1.1 with one account loaded - delete existing and then import the old 'accounts' table -
Swap original .db file with new edited one...
and congrats you too have a bootloop...
Anyone know how to PROPERLY export / import the accounts information ?
The sql table otherwise appears the same.. but I'm by no means an expert on these databases so perhaps I missed something simple.
Can't wait to see what happens from nox to bluestacks to memu to real versions of android on multiple devices with multiple android versions...
There HAS to be a better way to do this.?
Edit: 20 plus hours and many weeks into this problem
delving deeper into Titaniums site they have a suggestion for use on emulators that I did not notice; I will try and report back.
12. I have an Android device that is x86 based, and rooted. Can I use Titanium Backup ?​
YES. Please ensure that you have a working BusyBox on your device and make the following changes in TB preferences:
enable the “Force use external BusyBox” option (under Troubleshooting) then hit MENU -> Reload application.

1. I've noticed there are two places for saved account info; I still have no success in getting my edited database to properly recognize in the emulator.
system DE on older 4.4.2
and
system CE on 7.1 (also has the DE folder)
2. No luck on titanium either.
a. I've tried making busy box work on the emulator; it pretends to install successfully but when running shell commands it doesnt seem to work; therefore the number 12 from Titanium FAQ is something I can't seem to accomplish either... so Titanium will not work yet; maybe due to the busybox fail.

Blombardo said:
@jwoegerbauer thanks for the tip. using your filename I found a tutorial that listed the location as follows:
/data/system_de/0/accounts_de.db
I've verified this on Nox; my bluestacks still isnt rooted and it seems the phones I have with all email accounts loaded == are not rooted either== I'm going to need to find a workaround for that or make time to root bluestacks to get the account data out of it...
Problem is;
1 there are no passwords included here. Where are they? mine are all crazy long and I have no clue what they are... its very time consuming to manually input them via my password managing tool.
2 Once I export; and change the CSV into a spreadsheet to include all the other missing email /google accounts; how do I replace the accounts_de.db file on each device
3. Why isnt there an app that can do this already; lol?
EDIT
Titanium backup does have an 'accounts' export option that -sorta - works... problem is how picky the app is about using root plus super SU and refuses to work with Magisk (sometimes) or will constantly crash on (some) devices - or will fail to export/import unless you try (5 different file managers that can eventually figure out how to import their file type) - or is otherwise NEEDING root access to function...
Would be nice if a solution existed via ADB or simply in an un rooted device to do this; sorta like how google ''set up nearby device'' was supposed to work (and will; if you use only 5 or less accounts... but its also buggy and fails)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip just used Titanium Backup to transfer accounts backup generated from one phone to another (using the generated backup files) both N916K rooted with Magisk version 23.0 (23000) without issues!

So is there any Progress or Solutions found yet?
A good thing would be to see all the accounts and then retype them manually if needed.
Else it would be much better to have something like Smart Switch.
Problem I noticed with SmartSwitch, when you try to transfer the Accounts. Samsung trys to grab and upload all the accounts to their server!! Why? I don't know, but it always asks for Internetconnection etc. ONLY when you want to transfer accounts, everything else works more or less.. some appdata not included sadly anyway.
Swift Backup doesn't seem to or did someone manage it to work with it?
Tipps and possible Solutions would be greatly appriciated.
It seems to be especially problematic with Android 12...

Hello, I'm having the same problem. I'm "bored" with obtaining a new phone because I have to set up so many things from scratch. real estate istanbul

A shame there still doesn't seem to be a good solution for this. TB only tries to backup the non-existent location, while the correct is /data/system_de/0/accounts_de.db
Manually moving just puts me into a bootloop, even after setting the correct permissions.

I dont know if this works, someone should test it.
GitHub - cluk33/android-multiuser-backup: A set of scripts to backup and restore apps and data of multiuser android devices.
A set of scripts to backup and restore apps and data of multiuser android devices. - GitHub - cluk33/android-multiuser-backup: A set of scripts to backup and restore apps and data of multiuser andr...
github.com

akhilkhan said:
I dont know if this works, someone should test it.
GitHub - cluk33/android-multiuser-backup: A set of scripts to backup and restore apps and data of multiuser android devices.
A set of scripts to backup and restore apps and data of multiuser android devices. - GitHub - cluk33/android-multiuser-backup: A set of scripts to backup and restore apps and data of multiuser andr...
github.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I spent hours trying to get the script to work, but it will not backup anything in A13. I even disabled DFE on the device and started it over to test.

[HELP THREAD] export Whatsapp Key crypt14 Android 11 - decrypting database

Hello dear xda users,
I wanted to transfer my WhatsApp to a new phone. I have created a local backup and transferred it to the new phone. Though WhatsApp doesn't want to recognize it and just prompts me for the google drive backup. The number stayed the same and in the past I never had problems with that. The same things happens on my old phone. So now I have all the data, but I cannot use it. It would be sad for me to lose all my chatlogs (6 years). So I wanted to decrypt the database with the help of https://andreas-mausch.de/whatsapp-viewer/. Though I haven't found a recent and decent manual on how to get the WhatsApp Encryption Key from the newest app version and newest Android (crypt 14). I can root my phone if necessary. So if someone knows how to do that, may you please provide a manual or point me in the right direction?
Kind regards,
sollo477

Ordinarily, you should be able to restore WhatsApp chatlog from your local backup.

I have the same problem... i can´t restore from local file, i spent all my SMS verification codes, i have to wait til tomorrow to try again... ;(

James_Watson said:
Ordinarily, you should be able to restore WhatsApp chatlog from your local backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, it always worked before. But now WhatsApp is just stupid. I also contacted the WhatsApp Support. They were like: "Well...tough luck. We can't help you." Maybe they should just give people an easy way to make an unencrypted export of all chats. I did everything according to the manuals and then the restore of the backup doesn't work. You don't even get any pop up, if something was wrong with the backup file or that WhatsApp cannot find any back ups on the phone. I have Threema as well, but most people I know don't use it.

I am also facing the same problems since yesterday.. And i am losing almost 3 yrs of my important chats due to this careless whatsapp bug. Anyone please help me in this..

mayur9890 said:
I am also facing the same problems since yesterday.. And i am losing almost 3 yrs of my important chats due to this careless whatsapp bug. Anyone please help me in this..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My backup database file is having crypt14 extension.. (usually it was crypt12) i already tried installing older Whatsapp version, rooted my phone and tried getting the key as well but whatsapp viewer saying invalid key as the file got skipped while authentication and activating whatsapp. Now i am stuck with a database file which i cant use and whatsapp is not at all concerned to help me with their system.

That really sounds like a bug. So maybe I should just keep the backups for now till they are old enough to be opened or WhatsApp fixes the problem.

I saw this fix on another thread and it works
Copy the files ("msgstore.db.crypt14", "msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt14"...) in "internal storages/WhatsApp/Databases" on your old Android smartphone
Create the path "sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases" on your new Android smartphone and paste the copied files there
Install Whatsapp via Google Play Store on your new smartphone
Open Whatsapp and verify your phone numer (you have to use the same number as on your old smartphone)
When it asked you to grant access to your files for Google drive, ignore the message and instead close the app (press □ and wipe Whatsapp away)
Activate airplane mode
Open Whatsapp again and wait until you see the message that scanning is taking longer than usual. Press "skip" (don't know the English word, I'm also using Whatsapp in german) and in the new message also press "skip"
You should now see your local backup, press "restore backup"
Disable airplane mode and activate Wifi
Ignore the message regarding Google Drive and, when your backup has been restored (look at the progress bar at the bottom in the background), close the app
Open Whatsapp again and you should see now your old and new messages alltogether!

Oddking said:
I saw this fix on another thread and it works
Copy the files ("msgstore.db.crypt14", "msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt14"...) in "internal storages/WhatsApp/Databases" on your old Android smartphone
Create the path "sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases" on your new Android smartphone and paste the copied files there
Install Whatsapp via Google Play Store on your new smartphone
Open Whatsapp and verify your phone numer (you have to use the same number as on your old smartphone)
When it asked you to grant access to your files for Google drive, ignore the message and instead close the app (press □ and wipe Whatsapp away)
Activate airplane mode
Open Whatsapp again and wait until you see the message that scanning is taking longer than usual. Press "skip" (don't know the English word, I'm also using Whatsapp in german) and in the new message also press "skip"
You should now see your local backup, press "restore backup"
Disable airplane mode and activate Wifi
Ignore the message regarding Google Drive and, when your backup has been restored (look at the progress bar at the bottom in the background), close the app
Open Whatsapp again and you should see now your old and new messages alltogether!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can u give the thread link to this fix?

hansdok123 said:
Can u give the thread link to this fix?
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WhatsApp cannot detect local backup file
I did a backup for my messages then uninstalled WhatsApp. The next day, I reinstalled it for a quick thing and it restored locally without problems then I uninstalled it again. 2 weeks later, when I
stackoverflow.com

@sollo47..Did you tried any of the methods above.. My WhatsApp is stuck for verification for next 48 hrs and i wont be getting sms codes to verify.

I just wanted to chip in to say that I am hitting exactly this issue right now. I wonder if it's a new bug in WhatsApp because just a couple of months ago I migrated really smoothly from my old Huawei P10 Lite to Pixel 4a and everything was fine.
Now I'm trying to migrate my wife from her Honor 9 (very similar to the P10) to a second Pixel 4a and WhatApp is being a nightmare! There are successful local and Google Drive backups on the old handset and all the messages are still present on that one, but when the new one restores from Google Drive, it only seems to retrieve the media files and none of the Chat history.
I've copied over the latest msgstore.db.crypt12 file but WhatsApp didn't seem to detect it and went back to Google Drive again. Now I've exhausted my verification options for a couple of hours so will have to wait (seriously! I've used 2-3 SMS codes and about 3 phone verifications trying to sort this out!!)
One thing I've noticed, which I really hope isn't going to be a big problem is that when it creates its own new database when restoring from Google Drive it's got a `crypt14` extension.
When I'm able to retry the verification I am going to try as above and put it into flight mode before attempting a restore so that it is forced to look at the local files for options.
Every other App on the damn planet includes menu options for both Backup and Restore, so what does WhatsApp only have Backup and make it damn near impossible to do a proper restore. :-(
I'll update with any progress.

Well... I'm no further forward :-(
I tried downgrading the App to 2.21.8.17 and then following these instructions: https://stackoverflow.com/a/67756993/4915304
By putting the phone into flight mode and skipping the internet checks the application _did_ then discover a local backup file however it then failed to Restore it :-(
There's a possiblity this failure was my fault... I've discovered that on my wife's phone there's an old Directory from 2020 containin backups, and then the external SD card has more recent ones... I'd accidentally copied the wrong ones, which I realised when it offered to restore the newest backup from nearly a year ago :-( So before accepting, I thought I'd try my luck and I replaced the msgstore.db.crypt12 via adb push to be the up-to-date one. I was hoping that it might not care. The reason for it failing was not displayed but now there's no option to restore unless I reset the app, which means waiting another 4+ hours before they'll give me a new verification code :-(
I also tried purchasing WonderShare MobileTrans as it claimed to be the only option to enable restoration of messages without reinstalling/resetting the installed application. Unfortunately that's of no use to me because it required the Source Phone to have WhatApp verified and active in order to capture the backup that it needs! Under the hood it's entirely reliant upon 'adb' access to the phone and I'm sceptical as to whether it will even work with the newer versions of WhatsApp.
On both the Android 8 source phone and A11 destination phone, it pops up with a warning that the application was built for an older version of Android and might not work ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'm sooooo annoyed about this now. If it wasn't for the fact that so many friend and family are only using WhatsApp I'd uninstall it now and use something more open instead.

I had the same problem yesterday! Spent ALL DAY trying to restore my WhatsApp local backup (I've done it before a million times and no problems).
Looks like there is a problem with the latest version (2.21.10.16) restoring local backups.
I downloaded an older version apk (WhatsApp Messenger 2.21.6.17 from apkmirror) and copied to my internal storage.
Went through the normal process of instaling and verifying my number... IT FOUND MY LOCAL BACKUP!!!!
I thought I had lost all my chats from the last 4 years or so!
Try it and good luck!

@groovy909 and all others. Many thanks for help and all the hints here. After 24 hours of using hating speak, I was able to restore least 2 years old back up.
- the downgrade of Facebook Whats-app helped and I have least something.
Many thank for awesome community and please keep the great work.

sollo477 said:
Hello dear xda users,
I wanted to transfer my WhatsApp to a new phone. I have created a local backup and transferred it to the new phone. Though WhatsApp doesn't want to recognize it and just prompts me for the google drive backup. The number stayed the same and in the past I never had problems with that. The same things happens on my old phone. So now I have all the data, but I cannot use it. It would be sad for me to lose all my chatlogs (6 years). So I wanted to decrypt the database with the help of https://andreas-mausch.de/whatsapp-viewer/. Though I haven't found a recent and decent manual on how to get the WhatsApp Encryption Key from the newest app version and newest Android (crypt 14). I can root my phone if necessary. So if someone knows how to do that, may you please provide a manual or point me in the right direction?
Kind regards,
sollo477
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My suggestion is to root your phone...it's way much easier to get the key.
Concerning whatsapp-viewer...I suggest you another parser for crypting/decrypting/viewing whatsapp databases: https://github.com/B16f00t/whapa
It works very nicely...one you have the key of course.
L

Anybody can decrypt msgstore.db.crypt14 ???

Hey guys, I was very busy the last few month and couldn't afford to lock myself out of WhatsApp again due to the limitation on the 2FA. So I have tried it as well with an older WhatsApp version from February 2021 and it still didn't work. I will go for the solution of rooting my phone once get the key and then unroot it again. Then I can use the offered Whapa Extractor to extract the old backup. Although since I can't merge the new database with the old one I will just keep the encrypted old database one for references. It's sad and I wish there would be another solution, since I am now forced to use google drive to backup my data for the future.
Unless you know a better solution to backup Whatsapp locally and can guarantee that a restore will be possible in the future. I would even pay for that.

Certainly, titaniumbackup is the best option.

VD171 said:
Certainly, titaniumbackup is the best option.
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Does it also work when I restore it to a different android phone?