How to archive, unarchive and find WhatsApp chats

To archive a WhatsApp chat, tap and hold it and tap the archive icon on Android, or swipe left on it and tap Archive on iPhone. The chat leaves your Chats list but nothing is deleted. You'll find it under Archived at the top of the Chats tab, and you can unarchive it from there at any time.

Archiving is the tidy-up option: last year's coaching batch group, the wedding planning chat once the wedding is over, the seller you bought one sofa from. This guide gives the steps for Android, iPhone and WhatsApp Web, shows where archived chats sit on each, explains the Keep chats archived setting, and compares archiving with muting, locking and leaving. Menu names match WhatsApp's help centre as of October 2026.

How to archive a chat on Android, iPhone and WhatsApp Web

Archiving works the same way for individual chats and groups. Only the gesture changes from one platform to the next. On Android, from the Chats tab:

1. 1Tap and hold the chat or group you want to hide.
2. 2Tap the archive icon at the top of the screen. The chat moves into Archived straight away.

On iPhone, from the Chats tab:

1. 1Swipe left on the chat or group.
2. 2Tap Archive.

On WhatsApp Web:

1. 1Hover over the chat in your chat list and click the small arrow that appears.
2. 2Click Archive chat.

How to archive all chats at once

Both phone apps can clear the whole Chats list in one go, which is useful when the list has become a wall of old groups and you want to start again from what's actually active. Nothing is deleted.

1. 1On Android, tap the three-dot menu, then Settings → Chats → Chat history → Archive all chats, and confirm with OK.
2. 2On iPhone, tap Settings or your profile picture, then Chats → Archive all chats, and confirm with Archive all.

On iPhone, once everything is archived the Chats tab shows a line saying all of your chats are archived, with Archived just below it. With the default settings, new messages in those chats leave them where they are, so the list only refills with new conversations and the chats you unarchive.

Where are archived chats on WhatsApp?

Archived chats sit behind a single Archived entry at the top of your chat list. The number beside it counts archived chats with unread messages, and an @ appears next to it when someone mentions you or replies to you in an archived group.

You don't have to open Archived to find one chat. Type the person's name or the group's subject into the search bar at the top of the Chats tab: archived chats appear in the results, and on iPhone and WhatsApp Web you can unarchive straight from there. Searching WhatsApp covers the filters for photos, links and documents when you're hunting for a message rather than a chat.

What does Keep chats archived do?

It decides what happens when a new message lands in an archived chat. With Keep chats archived on, which is the default, the chat stays in Archived. With it off, a new message brings the chat back to your main list. The switch is in the same place on both phones:

• Android: three-dot menu → Settings → Chats → Keep chats archived.
• iPhone: Settings or your profile picture → Chats → Keep chats archived.
• WhatsApp Web has no switch of its own. Archived chats there follow the setting on your phone.

Leave it on for chats you're finished with but don't want to leave, such as an old office group or a large family group you'd rather read in your own time. Turn it off if you use Archived as a 'dealt with' pile, so anything new comes back to your attention. WhatsApp's Android help adds that with the setting off, archived chats sit at the bottom of the Chats tab rather than the top.

Do archived chats still send notifications?

Mostly not. WhatsApp doesn't notify you about an archived chat unless someone mentions you or replies to one of your messages, and you can't change the notification settings of a chat while it's archived. That makes archiving a quieter cousin of muting for chats you rarely need. Two things don't change:

• The other person isn't told. Archiving only rearranges your own chat list; on their side the chat looks exactly as before.
• Reading still counts. Open an archived chat with read receipts on and the sender sees blue ticks as usual. How read receipts work explains what they show in groups.

Archiving groups inside a community

Communities work slightly differently. You can archive any group you're in inside a community, but not the community as a whole. Open the Communities tab, tap the community, tap and hold the group and tap Archive chat. Archived groups are then listed under View archived inside that community, and an archived announcement group stays at the top of the community with an Archived label.

Archive every group in a community and the community disappears from your Chats tab, though it's still waiting in the Communities tab. That is often the quietest way to keep a residents' or school community you need occasionally without it filling your chat list. Community vs group explains how the pieces fit together.

Archive, mute, lock or leave: which one?

Archiving is one of four ways to make a chat less noisy, and each hides something different.

Lock is the one to use when the point is privacy rather than tidiness. Anyone holding your unlocked phone can open Archived and read what's in it, but a locked chat needs your phone's authentication, and you can hide the Locked chats folder behind a secret code so it only appears when you type that code into search. To find locked chats, swipe down on your chat list and tap Locked chats. For groups you want to be out of for good, leaving a group silently covers who sees what.

Pinning is the opposite move: it keeps up to three chats fixed at the top instead of hiding them. The two work well together: pin the handful of chats that matter this week and archive everything you've finished with. If most of the clutter is groups, managing many WhatsApp groups has a fuller routine.

On a business number, archiving is a personal filing habit rather than a team process: it hides chats on that phone without recording who dealt with them. Teams that answer customers together usually need filters instead, by unread, label or the person a chat is assigned to, which is how the WavesFlo shared inbox organises chats from every linked number.