The loss of important correspondence or valuable photos in the messenger is a stressful situation familiar to many smartphone users. The moment you accidentally press the delete button or the app crashes, it seems like your information is lost forever. However, the architecture of the operating system Android and the functions of the Viber provide for several data rescue scenarios if you act quickly and competently.
The effectiveness of recovery directly depends on whether you had the automatic backup function enabled before the incident. If regular backups were created, the process of returning information will take a matter of minutes. In cases where there are no cloud copies, the task becomes more complicated, but there are still options for using local files or third-party software to deeply scan the device’s memory.
In this article we will analyze in detail all existing data recovery methods, from standard messenger tools to specialized utilities. You will learn how to properly set up synchronization with Google Drive, how to extract files from the phone's internal memory, and what actions absolutely cannot be performed immediately after discovering a loss, so as not to reduce the chances of success.
Using Google Drive cloud backup
The most reliable and easiest way to get back lost messages and media files is to restore them from a cloud copy stored on Google servers. For this method to work, it is critical that the automatic backup option is activated in your Viber account settings. The system creates a data archive that is associated with your phone number and account Gmail.
The recovery process starts automatically when you reinstall the application or after clearing its data. When you first log in, the messenger will detect the presence of a saved copy in the cloud and offer to restore your chat history. If you skip this step during the initial setup, you won't be able to start the process later without completely resetting the app, so be extremely careful.
Make sure that the same Google Account is installed on your device that was used to create the backup. The difference in accounts is a common cause of errors when users see a message about the absence of a backup, although it physically exists in the cloud of a different profile. Also check that you have a stable network connection Wi-Fias downloading large amounts of data via the mobile data may be limited by system settings.
⚠️ Attention: The recovery process from Google Drive completely replaces the current messenger database. All new messages received between the creation of the last copy and the moment of recovery will be permanently deleted.
Before starting the recovery, manually create a copy of the current database through the file manager if it contains important new messages that you do not want to lose.
Local recovery via the Android file system
If cloud synchronization has not been configured, the next step is becomes a search for local backups that the application may have created in the device's internal memory by default. Messenger Viber periodically saves database files in hidden system folders, even if the user has not activated cloud functions. Access to these directories may be limited in newer versions of Android, but it's worth a try.
To search for files, you will need any file manager with access rights to system partitions. You need to follow the path where application service data is usually stored. The searched files have the extension .db or .zip and contain the creation date in the name. The presence of such files gives hope for returning correspondence without using the Internet.
Having found a suitable file, it must be renamed to the standard database name that the application expects to see when launched, and placed in the root folder of the messenger. After forcibly stopping the application and restarting it, the system should pick up the substituted archive file. This method requires caution, since an error in the file name or location path will result in the recovery not starting.
☑️ Search for a local backup
It is worth considering that in versions of the operating system Android 11 and higher, access to the folder Android/data for third-party applications is significantly limited by Google security policies. If your file manager does not display the contents of this directory, try connecting the phone to the computer in file transfer mode or use specialized explorers that request special permissions through the system menu.
Data recovery using a computer and specialized software
When standard methods do not work, computer apps designed to deeply scan the smartphone’s memory come to the rescue. These utilities analyze the file system for data that has been deleted but not yet overwritten. The effectiveness of this approach depends on the time that has passed since deletion and the activity of using the phone after the incident.
To get started, you need to install the selected software on your PC and connect your mobile device via a USB cable. An important condition is to activate the mode USB debugging in the developer menu on your smartphone. Without this permission, the computer will not be able to gain deep access to system memory sections where traces of deleted information are stored.
There are many solutions from different vendors, each of which has its own operating algorithms. Some apps specialize only in extracting media files, others are capable of reconstructing text correspondence. Before purchasing a licensed version, it is recommended to use a trial period to make sure that the app really sees your deleted data.
| app name | Type of data to be recovered | Requirement of root access | Difficulty of use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr.Fone | Messages, photos, contacts | Desirable | Low |
| Tenorshare UltData | Attachments, chat history | No (basic) | Average |
| iMyFone D-Back | Media files, audio | Yes (for full access) | High |
| FonePaw | Full data archive | Depends on the model | Medium |
⚠️ Attention: Obtaining root access (superuser rights) for deep scanning may void the device warranty and lead to unstable system operation. Use this method only if other methods have been exhausted.
Why do root access increase the chances of success?
Obtaining superuser rights allows access to protected system memory sections where deleted data is stored until it is physically overwritten by new files. Without these rights, scanning is limited to public areas only.
Manually retrieving media files from the application cache
Often users worry not so much about the text of the correspondence as about lost photos and videos. The good news is that messengers often save received media files in open folders on the device before the user has time to delete them from the chat. These copies may remain on the system even after clearing the message history.
Check the standard gallery of your smartphone, as well as the downloads folder. In the file manager, go to the directory Viber Media. Subfolders Images, Video and Audiomay be located here. Even if the files are displayed as deleted in the application itself, their physical copies often lie unchanged in these directories.
If the files are not found in the main folders, it is worth looking for them in hidden cache directories. The cache may contain thumbnails or original files that were not correctly deleted when clearing the chat. Use the search function by file extension (for example, .jpg or .mp4) in the root of the internal memory, indicating the date of intended deletion.
- 📁 Check the folder
DCIM/Viber—photos from the camera are often automatically saved there via messenger. - 📂 Go to
Android/media/com.viber.voip—media files of new versions of the application are stored here. - 🔍 Use a search by file modification date to sort old and new data.
Media files are deleted from the chat visually, but copies of them often remain in storage folders until the cache is manually cleared or formatting the device.
Preventing data loss and setting up auto-save
In order not to encounter the problem of recovery in the future, you need to correctly configure the backup settings right now. Go to Viber settings, select section Account and find item Viber backup. Here you can set the frequency of creating copies: daily, weekly or monthly.
It is recommended to enable the option to automatically download media files to the device gallery. This will create a duplicate of all received images and videos in the phone's public folder, making it much easier to recover them if the app crashes. In addition, regular synchronization with Google Drive ensures that even if you lose your phone, you can restore your chat history on a new device.
Don't forget to periodically check the status of the latest backup. Sometimes the process may be interrupted due to unstable Internet or lack of space in the cloud storage. Make sure that your Google Drive has enough free space to accommodate an archive with messenger data.
What you absolutely cannot do when deleting data
The first and most important rule when detecting data loss is to immediately stop actively using your smartphone. Every new message, photo taken, or application installed is written to the device's memory, potentially overwriting sectors where deleted files were stored. The fewer operations you perform, the higher the chances of successful recovery.
Do not try to install new recovery applications directly onto the phone’s internal memory if you plan to use deep scanning methods. It’s better to download and install the necessary software on your computer, and connect your phone as an external storage device. Installing heavy apps on your smartphone can destroy traces of lost data.
Avoid performing a Hard Reset in the hope that it will somehow help. This procedure completely clears the user partition of memory, making data recovery almost impossible even for professional laboratories. Also, you should not format the SD card if messenger media files were stored on it.
⚠️ Attention: If the data is critical (legal evidence, financial information), do not attempt to recover it yourself. Contact a specialized service to avoid irreversible damage to the file system structure.
Questions and answers (FAQ)
Can I restore correspondence if I changed my phone number?
Recovery is only possible if you know the password for the Google account used for the backup and can log into it on a new one device. However, Viber itself is tied to the phone number, and when changing the number, chat history may not be transferred automatically without a special procedure for changing the number inside the application settings before deleting the old account.
How long are backups stored in Google Drive?
Google stores backups until they are deleted by the user manually or automatically when creating a new version of the backup (the old version is replaced new). If you haven't logged into your account for more than 2 years, Google may delete your data due to inactivity, according to its retention policy.
Will deleted messages be restored if I reinstall Viber?
Yes, but only if there was a current backup before deleting the application. When installing and logging in using the same phone number, the system will offer to restore data from the found backup. If there is no copy, the messages cannot be returned.
Why does the recovery app not see my files?
This can happen for several reasons: the files were overwritten with new data, there is no access to the root folder (no root access), or the files were deleted long ago and the file system marked the space as free. It is also possible that the data was stored in encrypted form, inaccessible to third-party software.
Is it possible to recover messages that I deleted from the interlocutor?
No, the “Delete for everyone” function in Viber sends a command to the server to delete the message from the interlocutor’s database. It is impossible to restore such messages on the recipient’s device using standard means, since they are deleted from both the server and the recipient’s device.