The situation when important correspondence disappears from the chat in WhatsApp by accidental touch or erroneous action, familiar to many owners of smartphones. For users of Xiaomi Redmi 8 operating system Android, this issue is especially acute, as built-in functions of the "basket" in the messenger itself has long been absent. However, the storage system in Android is designed in such a way that information does not disappear without a trace instantly, leaving chances of its return.
Restoring access to lost content depends on whether automatic backups were enabled and how long it has been since they were deleted. Redmi 8 owners are lucky to have enough internal memory to store local copies, which greatly simplifies the process of resuscitating data without accessing cloud storage. Below we will discuss in detail the mechanisms of the backup system and the specific steps for returning information.
It’s worth noting that the effectiveness of the method is determined by the regularity of creating backups. If you have never set up sync with Google Drive or allowed local copies to be created, the chances are reduced, but not zero. The article will consider both regular means of the messenger, and specific for the shell. MIUI nuances of working with the file system.
The principles of backup in WhatsApp
Understanding how WhatsApp manages data is key to successful recovery: Messenger doesn’t store your messages on its servers after they’re delivered, relying on local storage on the device and backups in the cloud. On Xiaomi devices with MIUI shell, folder structure can be different from stock Android, which requires careful file search.
There are two main types of backups: local, which are stored in the phone’s internal memory, and cloud, which are placed on Google Drive. Local copies are created automatically daily at 02:00 a.m. and stored for the last seven days, which means that you can restore correspondence that is relevant to any of the last seven dates, but no more.
- 📁 Local storage is on the way /Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Databases or /WhatsApp/Databases depending on the version of Android.
- ☁️ Cloud reservation requires a Google account and enabled sync in chat settings.
- 🔄 When reinstalling an application, the system will always offer to restore data from the last available copy.
⚠️ Note: When you restore from a backup, all messages received after the date of creation of this copy will be irretrievably lost.
It’s important to keep in mind that WhatsApp’s encryption works on the client side, meaning that neither app developers nor Google can read the contents of your backups without the encryption key that’s on your device, which is why recovery is only possible through the official messenger app on the same or new device with the phone number tied.
Recovery via Google Drive on Redmi 8
The easiest and most reliable way to return deleted messages is to use a cloud backup if it was set up in advance. Redmi 8 owners need to make sure that Google Drive sync is enabled in the settings of the Google account associated with the phone, which is ideal when switching to a new phone or after a complete reinstallation of the system.
To start the recovery process, you need to completely remove WhatsApp from your device and reinstall it from the Google Play store. When you first start and enter your phone number, the system will automatically detect that you have a backup in the cloud and prompt you to restore it. If the offer does not appear, check if the account is logged in.
The recovery process can take a long time depending on the size of the archive and the speed of the Internet connection. Xiaomi Redmi 8 owners are advised to use a stable Wi-Fi connection, as mobile traffic can quickly run out, and interrupting the download will lead to an installation error.
☑️ Checking before recovering from the cloud
Remember, Google Drive doesn't take into account data that wasn't in the last backup, so if you deleted a message today and the backup was done last night, you can't get it back through the cloud, so you need to go to local files that are stored directly in Redmi 8 memory.
Use of local backup copies
If the cloud backup is missing or too old, local copies come to the rescue. In Xiaomi smartphones with Android 10 and higher (which is true for Redmi 8 after the updates), the path to the files has changed for security reasons.
To recover messages from a local copy, you need to find a file with the name msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt14, where the digits indicate the date of creation. The file without a date in the title (msgstore.db.crypt14) is current. You need to rename the selected file with a date to msgstore.db.crypt14, replacing the current one.
| File name | Description | Action. |
|---|---|---|
| msgstore.db.crypt14 | Current database | Remove or rename |
| msgstore-2023-10-25.1.db.crypt14 | Copy dated 25 October | Renamed msgstore.db.crypt14 |
| msgstore-2023-10-24.1.db.crypt14 | Copy dated October 24 | Keep it as an archive. |
| wa.db.crypt14 | Backup copy of settings | Don't touch it. |
Once the file is renamed, you also need to delete reinstall WhatsApp. When you launch, the application will not look for a copy in the cloud (if you turn off the Internet or just ignore the offer), but will take a file with a standard name from the local folder, which allows you to roll back the chat state a few days ago.
What to do if the files crypt14 several?
Working with the MIUI file system and access to folders
The MIUI shell on Redmi 8 has its own system folder access features. Starting with certain versions of Android, direct access to the Android folder through a standard Explorer may be limited.
When you try to open a folder /Android/media/com.whatsapp/ You have to click "Allow" and confirm access to this directory, and without this right, you can't rename or move database files, making it impossible to manually restore the database.
- 📂 Open the "Conductor" and go to the "Internal Drive" section".
- 🔍 Find the Android folder, then media, then com.whatsapp (or WhatsApp in older versions).
- 💾 Inside, find the Databases folder where all backup files are stored.
It is important not to delete the original date files until you are sure that the recovery is successful. Better copy the desired file to another folder, for example, in Downloads, rename it there, and then move back to the Databases folder with the current file replaced.
⚠️ Note: Database files have a version number extension.crypt. Do not try to change the extension or version number manually, this will damage the file and the application will not be able to read it.
Alternative methods and notifications Android
There is a lesser-known way to read text from a deleted message without restoring the entire database. It only works if the Notification History feature has been enabled on the phone. In MIUI on Redmi 8, this feature is often active by default or can be enabled in notification settings.
If a message came, appeared in the notification curtain, and was then deleted by the sender or you, the text could have been saved to the system log. To check this, go to Settings → Notifications and Status bar → Notification history. Here you can find the text of the message, even if it is no longer in the chat itself.
💡
Enable “Advanced Notifications” for WhatsApp in the MIUI battery settings so that the system does not kill the application process and notifications are guaranteed to come and be recorded in history.
This method will not allow you to recover the media files or the entire correspondence history, but it will help you to understand the essence of an important message. However, if the notification was cleared before the message was deleted or the phone was reloaded, the data in the log may not be saved, this is more an emergency measure than a full-fledged solution.
Frequent errors and limitations in recovery
Xiaomi Redmi 8 users often face the problem of incompatibility of encryption versions. APK-A file from a third party site, and the backup was created by the official version from the Play Market, the encryption keys may differ, in which case the application will give an error when trying to restore the file.
Another common problem is space shortage: To decompress and verify the integrity of a backup, the system requires free space roughly equal to twice the size of a database file. If Redmi 8 memory is clogged, the process can interrupt in the middle, damaging the current database.
- ❌ Using unofficial modified versions of WhatsApp (GBWhatsApp, WhatsApp Plus) makes standard recovery methods inoperable.
- ❌ Changing your phone number without moving your Google account will make your cloud copy unavailable.
- ❌ Cleaning up the app’s data through Android settings before restoring will also remove the current encryption keys.
It is also worth considering that recovery is possible only within one operating system. It is impossible to transfer a backup from Android to iPhone or vice versa by standard means due to differences in file systems and encryption protocols.
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A 90% recovery success depends on having a fresh local or cloud copy created before the message is deleted.