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Let’s say you bought a brand-new iPhone 13, set it up and, on top of that, you took a few photos to test out the new camera features. However, you did so before transferring WhatsApp from an old iPhone of yours.

This article will explain how to transfer WhatsApp to new phone without losing the rest of your data.

YouTube video guide below ⬇

WhatsApp restore from iCloud

You might be thinking that you need to reset your new iPhone to factory settings (which will erase all the data) to be able to restore WhatsApp history from iCloud.

WhatsApp chat backup without iCloud

Another obvious option is to make a WhatsApp Chat Backup. It backs up your whole WhatsApp history to iCloud.

Unfortunately, this step has its own limitations that may prevent you from restoring your WhatsApp media files on your brand-new iPhone.

The first solution that comes to mind is reinstalling WhatsApp and trying to restore your chat history from the backup once again. If reinstalling the app failed to restore your media files, I’m afraid there’s no way around this problem using iCloud.

    iCloud limitations:
  • Lost data: if the backup is corrupt, you won’t find out until you need to restore data but it is too late
  • Not cost-effective: need to pay for a monthly subscription that can add up in the long run, no annual subscription plan available and you’re likely to need an upgrade for bigger storage plan in the end
  • Waste of device space: cannot do incremental backup or custom restore and you can end up filling your storage fast with the data you don’t need
  • But do not worry, with CopyTrans Shelbee you can transfer WhatsApp to new phone without iCloud and without completely erasing your iPhone!

    Transfer WhatsApp to new phone:

    CopyTrans Shelbee is a great tool that will help you to selectively recover WhatsApp messages from your backup to your new iPhone 13.

    Why people choose CopyTrans Shelbee:

    🌟 You can perform a Full and Custom restore;

    🌟 Shelbee validates integrity of your data after each backup unlike iCloud or iTunes*;

    🌟 You can restore data from an iTunes backup, even a corrupt one;

    🌟 You can restore data from an encrypted backup**;

    🌟 Shelbee restores apps to any iOS device with ease even if they have been removed from the App Store***.

    *If one of the earlier backups is corrupt, iCloud and iTunes are unable to create non-corrupt backups after AND they don’t notify you if the data isn’t saved properly.

    **Encrypted backup requires a password: what to do if you forgot backup password.

    ***Provided you made a backup with CopyTrans Shelbee v2.1 and above before they were removed from the App Store.

    1. First, you will need to do a backup of your old iPhone with CopyTrans Shelbee in order to save WhatsApp chats.

      Download CopyTrans Shelbee

    2. Install the program. If you need help installing CopyTrans Shelbee, please refer to the Installation guide.

    3. Run the program and plug your iPhone to the PC. Click “Backup”. Choose Backup in the main menu

    4. Then, click “Full backup”. Choose Full Backup in Shelbee

    5. Choose a location you want to backup to (like to the Desktop, so you can easily find the backup later) and click Start. Start backup iPhone without iTunes

    6. Wait until the backup is done.iPhone backup is successful in Shelbee

    7. Now, we are ready for the WhatsApp transfer! Plug in your new iPhone to transfer WhatsApp. Choose the “Custom restore” option from the main menu to transfer WhatsApp without erasing the existing data. Custom restore in CopyTrans Shelbee

    8. Click on the pencil icon to choose the backup of your old iPhone.Select a backup to restore from

    9. Select the backup that contains the WhatsApp messages and click “Next”. Select iPhone backup to restore from

    10. Stand by while the program prepares the backup. Loading of backup is in progress

    11. Now it’s WhatsApp time! Search for WhatsApp and after selecting the app, click the “Next” button. We’re almost done with WhatsApp transfer, backup & restore. Select WhatsApp and click Next

    12. Confirm the restore and click “Next”.
      NOTE: in case you have some WhatsApp messages on your new iPhone, they will be overwritten. CopyTrans Shelbee can’t merge WhatsApp messages from different iPhones yet 🙂 But the rest of the data like photos, iMessages, notes, etc. will stay intact! Confirmation screen in CopyTrans Shelbee

    13. Wait until the restore is done.Custom restore is in progress

    14. Download WhatsApp from the App Store on your new iPhone if you haven’t done so already.

    Now you know how easy it is to move WhatsApp to the new iPhone 😉


    How to transfer WhatsApp from iPhone to iPhone

    YouTube Video

    Avatar for Iris
    By Iris

    Iris is a marketing and tech-support specialist in charge of the English-speaking market, who dyes her hair in the color of her cats' fur (future cat lady detected) and enjoys sitting on her balcony on a rainy day reading books, watching TV shows, playing video games and drinking hot chocolate. With marshmallows.