Whatsapp chats split over 2 handsets - any way to combine?

[NewToRenting]

I traveled overseas to help my mom through cancer treatment and forgot my phone at home. So downloaded whatsapp onto an old handset at my mom's place.
So here's the problem: I have chats upto my date of travel on one phone and chats after that (2 months' worth) on another phone. I think if I back up chats on the replacement phone, it will overwrite the previous backup from the original phone.
I really dont want to lose my chat history on either handset. Is there any way I can fix this and have everything in one place?

Do both phones have same phone number? If not I don't think you can merge them.

If they are the same (so all chats linked to one phone number), think both phones would show all the messages.

If I use WhatsApp on my PC, next time I open it on mobile, all the PC chats are up to date

Can you link the devices it’s under setting in the menu

Yes same phone number for both. I can only open whatsapp on one phone. On the PC the web version works differently.

I will check thanks

Sorry for the rushed reply earlier. Yes same phone number. But neither phone shows full chat history I'm afraid. And I cannot open whatsapp on both devices. If I open whatsapp on my original phone, it will deregister me from the replacement device.

Hi do you mean phone settings or whatsapp settings?

WhatsApp setting

That's annoying! Have you tried contacting or searching their Help online, and asking there? We had problems with a work phone last year, and the WhatsApp support was able to help, so maybe they can suggest a work around for you

I have now sent them a query. Thanks!

Yes the replacement handset is linked to the whatsapp account. I cannot open whatsapp on both devices. If I open whatsapp on my original phone, it will deregister me from the replacement device, and vice-versa.

Forgot to say, as far as I can tell, at a time only one handset can be linked to the whatsapp account.

Yes, this is my experience.

Are all the chats from both phones there on the PC?

Unfortunately they are not, else that would be an ok solution to the problem. On the web version I see chats from whichever phone has whatsapp linked to it at that point of time. Weird!

I found this - it looks a bit scary (and I'm at the geek end of the spectrum!).

forum.xda-developers.com/t/guide-merge-multiple-whatsapp-backup-file-into-one-no-root-required.3142974/

It's also quite old so may be out of date. If you are careful you would be able to restore back to the current position though, so might be worth a try.

There is an export chat option which makes a zip file - try that on both phones and see if you can open the zip file somewhere?

This looks like WHAT I need to do, basically download chat backups from both phones, merge them into one, and upload into my primary handset.

Now if I could only figure out HOW to do it! I'm not very techy and worried that I'll mess it up somehow. Will go through the whole thread and try when am back home and have access to both handsets. Thank you!

I was looking at this too, but you can only download chat with a particular individual or group. It doesn't do a mass export, as far as I can see.

Apart from the hack posted by sleekitbeastie, officially it looks like it's not possible. Here's the response from Whatsapp Support:

"It's not possible to merge different backup files.
Each backup file is linked to a unique WhatsApp account and can only be restored by that specific account.
You can restore the chat history that's associated with your old phone number if you have physical access to that phone and SIM. WhatsApp backups are always tied to the phone number registered to the account that created the backup.
If you don’t have access to your old WhatsApp account, it's not possible to migrate your account information or backups to the new phone number. However, you can create a brand new account. In this case, you’ll have to set up your new profile information.
You can verify your phone number on your old device, then you will be asked to restore your backup, if available."