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Load old chats and messages from WhatsApp

After you link a number that was already in use, bring its past chats into Cortex Chat. Loading runs in the background, and you get a notification when it’s done.

4 min
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Before you start · 1 thing · for owners
A WhatsApp Web session in “Working” status
  • You need: The Create permission on a channel
  • A WhatsApp Web session that’s Working.

Steps

1
In WhatsApp Sessions, open the session’s actions menu and press Load Old Chats. Or, in Cortex Chat, open the settings menu, press Load Old Chats and choose the session.
Old chats are loading. We’ll notify you once they’re ready. shows.
2
Carry on with your work.
Chats show up in Cortex Chat gradually, newest first.
3
Inside a specific chat, press Load Old Messages to bring in its history.

How it works

Loading chats brings in the list of chats, with the latest activity in each. Loading messages brings in each chat’s messages in batches. You can ask for up to 1,000 messages per chat; the default is 100.

When it’s done, you get a WhatsApp message from the default session with the number of sessions and chats, as long as your profile has a mobile number. If the load fails, you get a message saying so.

Loaded chats go through the same record creation rules.

If something goes wrong

What you see
Why
What to do
“Failed to load old chats”
The session isn’t connected.
Make sure the status is Working, then try again. See Session states: start, stop, restart and log out.
The “done” message never arrived
There’s no connected default session, or your profile has no number.

A real example

Shield Security Co.
The situation

The company has used its number for 3 years and wants its clients’ history inside the CRM.

What they did
  1. After linking, the manager pressed Load Old Chats.
  2. The team opened the important clients’ chats and pressed Load Old Messages.
The result

The message history with major clients is now available in their records.

A made-up company, to show the idea. The numbers are rounded.

Good to know

Loading only works on sessions that are Working.
Up to 1,000 messages per chat in one request.
What loads depends on what WhatsApp keeps on the number.
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