If you get a serious error with WhatsApp or change your device, you should delete the WhatsApp app and reinstall it. Within the options of the app you can do it without problem and in a few steps. If you want to reinstall WhatsApp without losing your data, use a local backup or WhatsApp cloud backup.

If you get stuck on WhatsApp, discover malware or are going to change devices, you must, in some cases, uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp. Thanks to the backup function you can do it without losing your data and without any changes to your account.

Quick guide: reinstall WhatsApp

  1. Create a backup by clicking “ Settings ” > “ Chats ” > “ Backup ”
  2. Uninstall WhatsApp from “ Settings ” > “ Apps ” > “ WhatsApp ”
  3. Click on “ uninstall ” and confirm
  4. Download WhatsApp through the Google Play Store or the App Store
  5. Check the installation number and click “ Restore ”

Before reinstalling: create a chat backup

WhatsApp not working, moving to a new device or having to remove the app due to malware or a system crash? Then you must create a backup of your chats to save your WhatsApp conversation histories and media content so that you can restore your account data with WhatsApp backup. Without a backup, you keep your WhatsApp account, but you will start with the app from scratch in terms of conversation histories. When you delete WhatsApp, you lose all data associated with your account.

It’s the same if you create a local backup on the device, a backup with Google Drive or in iCloud, the chat restore function does most of the work for you. You don’t have to reinstall WhatsApp like the first time you installed it, but you can recover all data from the backup file, plus your phone contacts and email.

Reinstall WhatsApp without losing your data

Android

Follow the steps below from Android to remove WhatsApp and reinstall it.

Step 1. Create a backup of your chat histories by clicking on the three dots symbol, going to “Settings” and then “Chats”. There, under “ Chat Backup ”, create a backup of the local storage on your device or a backup file in the cloud through the connection with your email account in Google Drive. Nowadays, the backup copies that are created daily can be found in the “ WhatsApp” folder of the “databases” .

Step 2. There are several options to delete WhatsApp:

  1. Click on the app icon on your smartphone, hold it down and move it in any direction. The options “Remove” and “Uninstall” will appear at the top of the screen. Drag the icon to “ Uninstall ”.

Desinstala WhatsApp arrastrando el icono hacia “desinstalar”

  1. Open Google Play Store and search for WhatsApp in the search option. Click on WhatsApp Messenger and choose the “Uninstall” option.
  2. Click the “ Settings ” symbol on your device. Go to “Apps” and then to “WhastApp”. Choose the “uninstall” option here.

Desinstala WhatsApp a través de la configuración de tu dispositivo

Step 3. The device will ask you if you really want to uninstall the app. Confirm with “OK” or “Uninstall” .

Step 4. The app will be completely uninstalled from your device.

Step 5. To install WhatsApp on the same or another device, search for the app on the Google Play Store and click “install”. Check your associated phone number and reinstall WhatsApp without losing data with the “ Restore ” option.

iOS

If you are using iOS, follow the steps below to uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp:

Step 1. Create a backup of your conversations by clicking on the three dots symbol, selecting “Settings” and then “Chats”. Decide between backing up locally to your device or to the iCloud cloud.

Step 2. To remove WhatsApp from iOS, long press on the app icon on the screen. Select the “ Delete app ” option from the menu that opens to uninstall WhatsApp.

Menú de la app para desinstalar Whatsapp desde tu pantalla de inicio

Step 3. The application will ask you if you really want to uninstall WhatsApp. Confirm and you will remove WhatsApp completely from your device.

Step 4. To reinstall WhatsApp, find the app in the App Store on your iPhone and start the installation. Here you also have to confirm your phone number to restore the function of ” Restore ” your conversation histories and multimedia content.

What to do when reinstallation doesn’t work?

If the reinstallation doesn’t work, check the following important points, as they may be the cause of this:

  • Does your device belong to the operating systems compatible with WhatsApp ?
  • Does your device meet the minimum technical requirements of WhatsApp?
  • Do you have enough storage memory available for the application?
  • Do you have a SIM card activated in the device? Read more about the topic “WhatsApp without phone number” here.
  • Have you checked with a virus scan that there is no malware on your device?

If this does not work for you, contact WhatsApp technical support through the WhatsApp website.

Alternatives to reinstalling WhatsApp

If you don’t want to reinstall WhatsApp from Google or Apple, you can download the APK file . This can be found on the WhatsApp website and on download portals such as APKMirror. It’s important to make sure the download zip is reputable, as APK downloads outside of a secure App Store can contain a lot of malware.

If you have problems downloading through the App Stores, you can download the installation files directly from the WhatsApp website. You can also save this to your computer when using WhatsApp for Windows or Mac. If WhatsApp doesn’t stop giving you problems, there are many other alternatives to WhatsApp available to you as well.