Whatsapp group chats are one of the most frequently used features of Whatsapp, and every day billions of messages, photos, and videos are being shared through Whatsapp group chats.
However, due to the recent privacy concerns and policy changes of Whatsapp, many people are now considering moving to more secure and privacy focussed messaging apps like Signal or Telegram.
The one thing stopping these people from making the switch is that they think they have to abandon their Whatsapp group chats and start from scratch in Signal.
Related: How to set a custom wallpaper for an individual chat in WhatsApp
However, that is not the case, and it is actually quite simple to transfer all your Whatsapp group chats to Signal, including the group members. The only sad part is that you won’t transfer any of the messages or the group’s media.
So, if you are also concerned about Whatsapp’s recent privacy policy change and are planning to switch to Signal, here is how you can make the switch as seamless as possible by transferring all your Whatsapp group chats to Signal.
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How to transfer Whatsapp group chats to Signal: Switching to Signal
A lot of people have been asking how to move their group chats from other apps to Signal, and Signal group links are a great way to get started. Drop a group link into your former chat app of choice like you're dropping the mic on the way out. pic.twitter.com/q49DeZufBG
— Signal (@signalapp) January 7, 2021
Step 1: Install and Setup Signal Messenger
If you have not done this already, Install the Signal Messenger app on your Android or iPhone.
Once the installation is complete, make sure you set up the app with your phone number and provide it with the necessary permissions.
Step 2: Create a group
Now, click on the pencil icon in the top right corner and then select the New group option to create a new group and add the contacts you want to the group.
Step 3: Get the group link
Once you have successfully created a group and have added the contact you want to it, the next step is to copy the group link.
To do this, click on the menu in the main group page to go to the group chat settings and then click on the Group link option from this page.
In the next step, turn on the group link option and click the share option to copy the shareable link for joining the group.
Step 4: Share the group link to transfer Whatsapp group chats to Signal
All you need to do now is to share this Signal group link to your Whatsapp group chats, and anyone who is clicking on this link will be automatically added to the group you created on Signal.
The only downside to this method is that you won’t transfer any of the messages in the Whatsapp groups to your Signal groups.
If you really want to preserve your Whatsapp group chats, you might be happy to know that Whatsapp takes regular backups of all your chats and saves them to a Google Drive folder.
You can log in to your Google account and access your group chats’ backup files from there.
There are also options to include your media files like photos, videos, and audio files in the backups if you want.
