WhatsApp allows you to Archive and Unarchive both individual and group Chats. Let us take a look at the Archive Chats feature as available in WhatsApp and the actual steps to Archive and Unarchive Chats in WhatsApp.
What Happens When You Archive WhatsApp Chats
The Archive Chat feature in WhatsApp can be used to hide conversations from the Chats screen, without actually deleting them.
When you archive a chat in WhatsApp, the entire conversation is moved from the Chats screen to the Archive screen on WhatsApp. The archived Chat is not deleted, it can be easily accessed at any time by going to the archive screen.
This feature can be used to remove Chats from the Chats screen for privacy purposes and also to clean up the Chats screen by archiving unwanted or unimportant Chats.
Archiving Chats in WhatsApp does not lead to any disturbance or misplacement in the sequence of conversations. The entire Chat gets automatically unarchived and becomes available on the My Chats screen, as soon as you get a new message from the Chat that you had archived.
As soon as you are done with the Chat, you can archive the chat yet again and remove it from the Chats screen.
Archive WhatsApp Chats on iPhone
Follow the steps below to archive WhatsApp Chats on iPhone or iPad
1. Open WhatsApp on your iPhone.
2. On the Chats screen, locate the Chat that you want to Archive and Swipe that Chat to the left.
3. When you swipe the Chat to the left, you will see two options More and Archive. Tap on Archive.
The selected Chat will be immediately removed from the Chats screen and archived on your iPhone.
Archive WhatsApp Chats on Android Phone
Follow the steps below to archive WhatsApp Chats on Android Phone or Tablet.
1. Open WhatsApp on your Android Phone.
2. On the Chats screen, tap and hold on the Chat that you want to Archive, until it is selected and you can see a check mark appearing on it.
3. On the top menu bar that appears, tap on the down arrow shaped Archive Chats icon (See image below)
Once you tap on the Down Arrow icon, the selected Chat will be removed from the Chats screen and archived on your Android Phone.
Unarchive WhatsApp Chats on iPhone
Follow the steps below to manually unarchive WhatsApp Chats on iPhone or iPad.
1. Open WhatsApp on your iPhone.
2. Once in WhatsApp, tap on the Chat option located in the bottom menu on your iPhone.
3. On the Chats screen, scroll down to make sure that you are on the top of the Chats screen and then pull down on the screen to reveal the Archived Chats option. Tap on Archived Chats link (See image below).
4. On the Archived Chats screen, locate the Chat that you want to Unarchive and Swipe it to the left to reveal the Unarchive option.
5. Next, tap on the Unarchive option (See image below).
The selected Chat will become Unarchived and you will be able to see this Chat on your Chats screen.
Unarchive WhatsApp Chats on Android Phone
Follow the steps below to manually unarchive WhatsApp Chats on Android Phone or Tablet.
1. Open WhatsApp on your Android Phone or Tablet.
2. Once in WhatsApp, make sure that you are on the Chats screen and then scroll down and tap on the Archived Chats Link.
3. On the Archived Chats screen, tap and hold on the WhatsApp Chat that you want to Unarchive, until it is selected. Once the Chat is selected, tap on the Up Arrow icon to Unarchive the selected Chat in WhatsApp (See image below).
The selected Chat will become Unarchived and you will see this Chat will all its messages on the Chats Screen.