Forgot Your WhatsApp Encrypted Backup Password? What You Can Recover
Source-checked · About 10 minutes
Answer
If WhatsApp still works on the original phone, change the encrypted-backup password or move to a passkey where available, then create a fresh backup. If you are restoring and have neither the password, 64-digit key, nor configured passkey, WhatsApp cannot decrypt that backup for you.
Use the original phone while its chats are still accessible. Do not uninstall WhatsApp, clear its storage, or erase the phone before confirming a new usable backup exists.
2
Open Chat backup settings
In WhatsApp, open Settings, choose Chats, then Chat backup. Check the account and cloud destination before changing encryption settings.
3
Open end-to-end encrypted backup
Select End-to-end encrypted backup and authenticate on the phone when asked. The available controls depend on how encryption was originally configured.
4
Change the protection while access remains
Use Change password and complete the device or account verification WhatsApp offers. Create a unique password and store it in a trusted password manager rather than in the chat history.
5
Use a passkey when WhatsApp offers it
A passkey-protected backup can use the device's biometric, passcode, or screen lock instead of requiring you to remember a separate backup password or 64-digit key.
Run Back Up Now, keep the phone online until completion, and confirm the displayed backup time updates before changing phones or removing the app.
7
Know the restore limit
During restoration, provide the password, 64-digit encryption key, or configured passkey that protects that backup. Neither WhatsApp nor the cloud provider holds the secret needed to decrypt it for you.
Video walkthrough
If it does not work
Repeated password guesses can trigger delays and do not recover a missing encryption key; stop before account or device safeguards impose additional waiting.
If the original phone no longer opens the chats and no valid password, key, or passkey exists, preserve the device and backup records but do not pay a third party promising to decrypt the backup.
ⓘ Sources and verification
Checked against official documentation on . Scope: Platform not recorded.
Follow the linked first-party guidance if labels differ after a platform or app update.
