What is Archiving a Chat?
Archiving a chat on WhatsApp essentially hides it from your main chat list. It’s a way to declutter your chat window without permanently deleting the conversation. Archived chats can be individual chats or group chats.
Why Archive Chats?
Here are some reasons you might archive a chat:
- Reduce Clutter: If you have a lot of chats, archiving inactive ones can make it easier to find the ones you’re currently using.
- Silence Notifications: You won’t receive notifications for archived chats unless you’re mentioned or directly replied to within a group chat.
- Temporary Hide: Maybe there’s a chat you don’t want to see all the time, but don’t necessarily want to delete. Archiving provides a middle ground.
Locating Archived Chats
Archived chats aren’t entirely hidden. You can find them at the bottom of your Chats list. Here’s how to access them:
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Android: Swipe down to the very bottom of your Chats list. You’ll see a section titled “Archived chats” where you’ll find all your archived conversations.
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iPhone: Swipe down on your Chats screen until you see “Archived Chats” written in faint gray lettering. Tap on it to view your archived chats.
What Happens When You Reply to an Archived Chat?
If you reply to a message in an archived chat, it automatically unarchives the conversation and brings it back to your main Chats list. You’ll start receiving notifications for new messages in that chat again.
Keeping Archived Chats Archived (Optional Setting):
By default, archived chats stay archived even if you receive a new message. However, you can change this behavior in WhatsApp settings.
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Android: Go to Settings > Chats > Chat history and toggle off the “Keep chats archived” option.
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iPhone: Go to Settings > Chats and turn off the “Keep chats archived” switch.
With this setting off, any new message in an archived chat will automatically unarchive the conversation.
Can You Retrieve Deleted Messages from Archived Chats?
Unfortunately, no. Archiving a chat doesn’t affect deleted messages. Once a message is deleted, it’s gone, regardless of whether the chat is archived or not. WhatsApp message backups might include the message if it wasn’t deleted before the backup, but that depends on your backup settings.
In Conclusion
Archiving chats is a useful way to organize your WhatsApp conversations. It hides inactive chats while keeping them accessible if needed. Remember, archived chats don’t take up extra storage space and can be easily unarchived whenever you want to resume a conversation.
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