Recovering Messages and Pictures After Unblocking Someone on WhatsApp

Spending time managing your contacts on WhatsApp, you might accidentally block someone without realizing that their chat history is still intact. However, if you've lost access to the messages and pictures in the process, fear not! There are several methods you can use to potentially recover them.

Unblock the Contact

The first step is to unblock the contact you've mistakenly added. To do this, open the WhatsApp app and navigate to Settings > Account > Blocked contacts. Locate the number you need to unblock and remove it from the list. Once unblocked, you should have access to the conversation again.

Check Your Media Folder

Even after blocking, you might still have saved pictures and videos from the chat on your phone's storage. To locate them:

Android: You can find WhatsApp media files stored in the following folder: Internal Storage/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Images. Check for any image or video files here that might have been saved before the block. iPhone: If you saved images, check the Photos app to see if any of the files are still there.

Backup and Restore

If you had WhatsApp set up to automatically backup your messages to an external storage (such as a computer or Google Drive), you might be able to restore the chat history using the backup.

Android: Open WhatsApp > Settings > Chats > Chat Backup. If there is a backup available from before you blocked the contact, uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp and follow the prompts to restore from the backup. iPhone: Ensure you have an iCloud backup that includes the chat history. The process is similar to Android; you can re-install WhatsApp and restore from the backup.

Check Archived Chats

Occasionally, chats might be archived instead of being deleted. To check for archived chats, scroll to the bottom of your chat list and see if the archived chats are listed there.

Third-Party Recovery Tools

If the messages are crucial and you can't access them through the methods mentioned above, there are third-party recovery tools available for both Android and iOS. These tools are designed to restore deleted or lost chats, but use them with caution as they may not always be reliable or secure.

Lastly, if you had set up backups and had uploaded your chats to Google Drive as a backup, you can reinstall WhatsApp and retrieve most of the deleted chats from that backup. However, recently done chats might not be available.

Conclusion

Losing access to important messages and pictures on WhatsApp can be frustrating, but by following these steps you may be able to recover most of your data. Always ensure to set up backups and manage your contacts carefully to avoid such issues in the future.