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WA Transfer

A free, open-source Windows desktop app that migrates WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business chat history from Android to iPhone — no root required, no paid subscription, no cloud upload.

Built with Electron + React.


Use Cases

1. Switching from Android to iPhone

You bought a new iPhone and want to keep your entire WhatsApp chat history — messages, photos, voice notes, documents. WA Transfer extracts your chats from Android and injects them into an iOS backup that iTunes restores onto your iPhone.

2. Migrating WhatsApp Business chats

Business owners switching from Android to iPhone can migrate their WhatsApp Business conversations, customer threads, and media using the same flow — without paying for commercial tools.

3. No root required (Android ≤ 11)

On Android 9, 10, and 11, WA Transfer uses the legacy ADB backup method to extract encrypted chat data without rooting the device. Just enable USB debugging and connect via USB.

4. Rooted device — full extraction

On rooted Android devices (any version), Root Mode directly accesses the encryption key and database via su, then decrypts locally on your PC. Works on Android 12, 13, 14, and beyond.

5. Keeping chat history after losing your Android phone

If you still have a WhatsApp backup file (.crypt15) from Google Drive or a previous ADB backup, WA Transfer can decrypt it (with the matching key) and transfer it to your iPhone.

6. Archive and read your WhatsApp chats on PC

The app decrypts and parses the Android WhatsApp database into a readable SQLite file. You can open it with any SQLite viewer to search, export, or archive your messages.

7. Privacy-first migration

All processing happens locally on your PC. No chat data is uploaded to any server, cloud service, or third party. The app is fully open source — every line is auditable.

8. Testing with Android emulator

Developers and testers can use an Android Studio emulator (API 28+) with ADB to test the extraction pipeline without a physical Android device.


How It Works

Android Device                     Your PC                        iPhone
──────────────                     ────────────────────           ──────────────
WhatsApp crypt15  ── ADB pull ──►  Decrypt (AES-256-GCM)
Encryption key    ── ADB pull ──►  Parse SQLite DB        ──►    iOS Backup
                                   Map to iOS schema              iTunes Restore
                                   Patch Manifest.plist

Extraction Modes

Mode Works On How
No Root Android ≤ 11 Pulls crypt15 from external storage + run-as for key
APK Mode Android ≤ 11 Installs legacy APK, triggers adb backup to get key + DB
Root Mode Any rooted device Uses su to copy key from /data/data/com.whatsapp/files/key

Requirements

  • Windows 10 / 11
  • Android phone with USB debugging enabled
  • iTunes installed (for iOS restore)
  • ADB drivers for your Android device

Installation

Download the latest installer from Releases and run WA Transfer Setup x.x.x.exe.


Building from Source

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/wa-transfer.git
cd wa-transfer
npm install
npm run dev          # development
npm run build        # production build
npm run dist         # package as .exe installer

Tech Stack

  • Electron 29 — desktop shell
  • React 18 + Vite 5 — UI
  • Tailwind CSS — styling
  • adb-ts — ADB communication
  • better-sqlite3 — SQLite parsing
  • Node.js crypto — AES-256-GCM decryption

Disclaimer

This tool is intended for personal use to migrate your own WhatsApp data. Always comply with WhatsApp's Terms of Service. The authors are not responsible for any data loss — always keep a backup before migrating.


License

MIT

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Free open-source Windows app to migrate WhatsApp chats from Android to iPhone. No root, no subscription.

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