Restore your chat history on a new phone

When you sign in to an existing account, Zaplog brings your conversations back onto the phone. You don't need to make a backup first: your history follows your account.

What you see

After you sign in, a Restoring your messages screen shows how many messages have come back so far. Because your messages are end-to-end encrypted, the phone unwraps each one as it arrives, so this can take a little while on a large account.

Tap Continue in the background to start using Zaplog straight away. Your messages keep arriving while you use the app.
When everything is on the phone, Zaplog says You're all caught up and opens your chats.

You only have to do this once on each phone. After that, your chats open instantly and work offline.

If your account has a PIN

If you set an Account PIN, your history is protected by it. Zaplog asks you to Enter your account PIN before it brings your messages to the new phone. If you skip that step, you'll see Restore your history in your chat list with the note Your older messages are waiting for your PIN.

If the restore stops

If Zaplog shows We couldn't reach your messages just now, check your connection and tap Try again. You can also tap Continue without waiting and Zaplog keeps trying in the background.

How this works

Each message is encrypted for the devices that existed when it was sent, so a phone you sign in on later couldn't read older chats on its own. To solve that, Zaplog keeps a backup key for your account and applies it the moment you sign in. You can read more in Settings > Encryption and security, and in End-to-end encryption.

Frequently asked questions

Do photos and videos come back too?

Yes. The messages come back with references to their photos, videos and files. Each attachment downloads again when you open it, or automatically if your auto-download settings allow it.

I reset my PIN. Where are my old messages?

Resetting a forgotten PIN deletes the copy of your history that the PIN protected. Messages from before the reset don't come back, and a new history starts. See Forgot your Account PIN.