Many WhatsApp users with Android devices are stuck in a nightmare situation. I’m seeing dozens of reports from users who claim they can’t restore their chat backups from Google Drive. This issue has popped up in recent days, affecting people who reset their phones or switched to new devices.
WhatsApp offers a handy feature that lets users save their chats, photos, and videos to Google Drive. The idea is simple: back up your data and restore it whenever you need it. But right now, that process is breaking down. Users report that when they try to recover their backups, the restoration stalls — often at 1% or 8% — and refuses to budge. Some have left it running overnight, only to wake up to error messages about network issues.
The problem isn’t picky about devices. It’s hitting users with Samsung, Google Pixel, Xiaomi, and other Android phones alike. This points to a glitch that’s likely tied to WhatsApp or Google Drive itself, not the hardware. People have tried everything to fix it — reinstalling the app, resetting their phones again, or tweaking settings like battery-saving mode. For most, nothing works. One user, These_Marionberry_95 on Reddit, said their restore got stuck at 1% even after hours of waiting. Another, filippo4825, worried about losing 20 years of chats, including work-related messages.
This isn’t just an annoyance for casual users. Some rely on their chat histories for serious reasons. Mental-Landscape-140, for example, mentioned needing theirs for a legal case. So this isn’t one of those minor bugs that we see popping up now and then.
A few have found workarounds, but they’re spotty at best. Turning off battery-saving mode helped one person get past the stall, though their chats still vanished. Others have tried older WhatsApp versions from APK files, with mixed results. There’s also a tool called Whapa that lets tech-savvy users manually pull backup files from Google Drive. It’s not a simple fix, though, and it’s out of reach for many.
What’s causing this mess? Some users think it’s a hiccup between WhatsApp and Google Drive. Logs have shown errors like “400 Bad Request,” hinting at a communication breakdown. The issue seems to have started this week, and it’s not affecting everyone — smaller backups sometimes restore fine. But for those with years of data, it’s a different story.
Since I couldn’t find a single workaround that guarantees chat restoration, the best bet right now is to wait for WhatsApp to sort out things in the backend. Although, WhatsApp hasn’t said a word about the problem or when a fix might come. For now, users are stuck waiting, hoping their messages aren’t lost for good.
Dwayne Cubbins
796 Posts
For nearly a decade, I've been deciphering the complexities of the tech world, with a particular passion for helping users navigate the ever-changing tech landscape. From crafting in-depth guides that unlock your phone's hidden potential to uncovering and explaining the latest bugs and glitches, I make sure you get the most out of your devices. And yes, you might occasionally find me ranting about some truly frustrating tech mishaps.
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