Help Can I access old phone messages?

[spman]

If I have been using a old phone and now I take out the sim card from the old phone and insert the SIM card into my new phone. No backup was done when I was using the old phone.

1. Can I switch on the old phone and read the old SMS messages that was made in the old phone without a SIM card inserted into the old phone?

2. Can I switch on the old phone and read the old Whatsapp messages that was made in the old phone without a SIM card inserted into the old phone?

Thanks.

 

[Milo Williamson]

If I have been using a old phone and now I take out the sim card from the old phone and insert the SIM card into my new phone. No backup was done when I was using the old phone.

1. Can I switch on the old phone and read the old SMS messages that was made in the old phone without a SIM card inserted into the old phone?

2. Can I switch on the old phone and read the old Whatsapp messages that was made in the old phone without a SIM card inserted into the old phone?

Thanks.

In theory you can do both, although I wonder who did attempt this.

 

[Hadron]

1. Can I switch on the old phone and read the old SMS messages that was made in the old phone without a SIM card inserted into the old phone?

Yes. SMS are nothing to do with the SIM card, they are just data stored in the message storage app on the phone (which is not the same as your SMS app - that's just a user interface, which is why you can change SMS app and still have all of your messages).

2. Can I switch on the old phone and read the old Whatsapp messages that was made in the old phone without a SIM card inserted into the old phone?

No. WhatsApp uses your phone number for authentication, so not only do you need a SIM but it needs to be associated to the same phone number that you used with the old phone. It doesn't have to be the same SIM, but it does need to be the same phone number.

 

[KarmaHunter]

If I have been using a old phone and now I take out the sim card from the old phone and insert the SIM card into my new phone. No backup was done when I was using the old phone.

1. Can I switch on the old phone and read the old SMS messages that was made in the old phone without a SIM card inserted into the old phone?

2. Can I switch on the old phone and read the old Whatsapp messages that was made in the old phone without a SIM card inserted into the old phone?

Thanks.

1) depending on the amount of SMS messages (I believe the limit is 30?) you can transfer them to your SIM card but there are apps that will let you backup and transfer SMS to the new phone and yes, if you turn on your old phone you can read them as long as you don't reset the phone.

2) You can read WA messages stored in your old phone without the SIM card, as long as you don't install and activate WA on your new phone with the same number OR if the old phone is completely disconnected from internet connectivity (WiFi since SIM card is out). When you activate WA on your new phone, the old phone will get the "warning" that the number tied to that account was activated on another phone and will disable WA on the old phone.

I had a phone that the ear speaker went bad and transfer the SIM card to an old flip-phone. I had WA working with WiFi on the smartphone (couldn't make calls) but my calls and SMS were handled by the old, trusty, flip-phone.

 

[Hadron]

Of course the best solution is just to transfer everything. Most phones come with apps to make the transfer simple, so just use that during the setup.

 

[KarmaHunter]

Of course the best solution is just to transfer everything. Most phones come with apps to make the transfer simple, so just use that during the setup.

I still find it hard to believe that, with all the technology nowadays, people still won't backup their stuff. It is so easy when setting up my new phone that everything gets transfer (apps, wifi passwords, contacts, WA messages, etc) to my new phone with very little interaction from my part

 

[svim]

Yeah, don't bother worrying about your SIM card for this matter. A SIM card is no longer used as storage media for your data so it's irrelevant to your questions. A SIM card contains your account info with your carrier, it's how your phone is authenticated to use your carrier's cellular network. So it's not about storage, it's simply an identifier between you and your chosen carrier.

To transfer phone logs you can use the 'SMS Bacckup & Restore' app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riteshsahu.SMSBackupRestore&hl=en_US&gl=US
Obviously its primary purpose is for SMS text messages but it also includes a handy phone call log backup function so you can just use that option to create a file to transfer your phone call log from one phone to another.

Regarding WhatsApp though, that's its own separate issue. WhatsApp is a proprietary text messaging service that relies upon its own also proprietary texting protocol, and the WhatsApp app includes its own backup service that you might find to be a better option. The thing is, WhatsApp will use its own default, proprietary standard when it involves WhatsApp to WhatsApp users on both ends (sender and recipient), but because it is a closed source, proprietary standard when in involves other text messaging apps than it has to fall back on SMS/MMS. While that's not a big deal in nations where WhatsApp is so prevalent, in other places there's always going to be any number of different text messaging protocols involved. So depending on where you reside, using the WhatsApp app to do backups and restores might be the best option as third-party utilities may not be able to work with all your messages.
https://faq.whatsapp.com/3010384508...sion_id=dd3ff923ecddfe02b187fd59a506621c&sr=5

But @Hadron does bring up a even better option in just using a more comprehensive utility that will transfer your entire user account data on your old phone to the new one. That over-rides having to do things in a piecemeal fashion using multiple, different apps to transfer different files and such.
But it would help if you provide more details -- What model is your old phone and which version of Android is it running? What model and Android version on your new phone?

 

[spman]

I still find it hard to believe that, with all the technology nowadays, people still won't backup their stuff. It is so easy when setting up my new phone that everything gets transfer (apps, wifi passwords, contacts, WA messages, etc) to my new phone with very little interaction from my part

What is your backup steps and what steps do you do to set up your new phone?

 

[spman]

How to backup/access old phone SMS using PC without installing any app? Old phone is a bit faulty.

 

[Hadron]

Without an app it's impossible. The messages are stored in a database in a region that cannot be directly accessed without root privileges, and is not visible to a PC over USB. You need to use a backup app in order to have a copy of the messages in a location you can access.

Most SMS backup apps are rather quick, so if the phone won't be stable long enough for one of them to run it's not going to be stable long enough to copy the database either. Once they have run you'll have a file (most will use an XML format) that you can copy to another phone and restore using the same app. Note that restoring the backup will almost certainly overwrite any messages currently on the new phone: this is why it's best to do these things as soon as possible.

 

[spman]

Without an app it's impossible. The messages are stored in a database in a region that cannot be directly accessed without root privileges, and is not visible to a PC over USB. You need to use a backup app in order to have a copy of the messages in a location you can access.

Most SMS backup apps are rather quick, so if the phone won't be stable long enough for one of them to run it's not going to be stable long enough to copy the database either. Once they have run you'll have a file (most will use an XML format) that you can copy to another phone and restore using the same app. Note that restoring the backup will almost certainly overwrite any messages currently on the new phone: this is why it's best to do these things as soon as possible.

https://www.samsung.com/us/apps/smart-switch/
Does smart switch work by connecting (cable connecting phone to PC) or (cable connecting old phone to new phone)?
Does smart switch need wifi/data plan to work?

 

[mikedt]

https://www.samsung.com/us/apps/smart-switch/
Does smart switch work by connecting (cable connecting phone to PC) or (cable connecting old phone to new phone)?
Does smart switch need wifi/data plan to work?

When I used Smart Switch last year, it did offer all those modes for transferring data. But I just used direct transfer from one phone to another, Huawei to Samsung. No computer or cables.

You say your old phone is a "bit faulty"? As long as it can run the Smart Switch app, it should work.

 

[KarmaHunter]

What is your backup steps and what steps do you do to set up your new phone?

I run a general phone backup to my Google account (I store my contacts directly to Google) and run a WA backup to G-Drive before switching phones. And then Smart Switch. Works flawlessly. I have gone from S9 to XA to XA2 to S20FE (currently). And only lost some new Whatsapp messages going from S9 to XA because I didn't cloud backup (to G-Drive) before moving on to the new phone (I was a newbie in that matter).

 

[spman]

How to do whatsapp chat backup to google drive without backing up to phone?
I notice whenever I press the backup button it will always backup to phone first then backup to Google drive. Phone is a bit faulty so I do not want to waste time backing up to phone.

 

[Hadron]

You can't. The way it works is that it backs-up to the phone and then copies the backup to Drive.

 

[spman]

You can't. The way it works is that it backs-up to the phone and then copies the backup to Drive.

Could the steps in this article work to prevent whatsapp backup to phone internal storage, and only backup to google drive? https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-dis...-of-WhatsApp-messages/answer/Rustam-Karimov-3