How to back up your chats

To ensure that you never lose any chats, we recommend backing them up.

If you uninstall the app, delete your profile, or get a new device, your chats, saved phrases, and photos in chats will be permanently deleted. This is because chats are part of the temporary data stored on your device, rather than on any of Grindr’s systems.

Initiating a chat backup enables you to save your chat history as it exists on your account at that moment. The backup will be stored on your account and will then be easily accessible on any device while you’re logged in to Grindr. Your messages and media will back up to your phone's internal storage. You can learn more about your data storage here.

Keep in mind, your profile information (ie. profile photo(s), About Me, your Favorites, and blocked profiles) won’t be affected by uninstalling the app, deleting your profile or getting a new device.

Chat backup steps
Chat Backup troubleshooting
"Update the app to latest" - Android troubleshooting Chat Backup error
"Chat backup error" message
Related articles

Chat backup steps

Chat backups work differently for the two types of operating systems. Follow the instructions below to backup your chats:

Android

Select your Profile.
Tap Settings (⚙) top-right corner of your profile photo.
Scroll down to the Chats section.
Tap Chat Backup (Here you can see information like the last time you did a Chat Backup and the current size of your inbox as well).
Hit Backup Now (Connect your device to a Wi-Fi network for better/faster results).
Grindr will ask for you to "Allow" permission to view and manage your Google Drive files.
Choose the account for your Grindr profile.
You'll see a popup asking you to not close the app while your chats are backing up.
You're good to go once you see the message: Chat Backup Successful!

iOS

Select your Profile icon - top right corner.
Select Settings (⚙) - bottom right corner.
Scroll down to the Chat section.
Tap Chat Backup (Here you can see information like the last time you did a Chat Backup and the current size of your inbox as well).
Select Backup Now (Connect your device to a Wi-Fi network for better/faster results) OR
Schedule an Automatic Backup (either daily or weekly).
You're good to go once you see the message: Chat Backup Successful!

Note:

A chat backup will be restored as long as the original profile under the backup email has not been deleted.
Photos that haven’t been sent via chat in the past 120 days are unable to be restored via chat backup, as they are no longer in our database after that period of time. Photos older than 120 days will appear greyed out when you restore.
Ensure you’re using the most recent version of Grindr.

Chat Backup troubleshooting

If you're having issues while backing up your chats, follow the advised troubleshooting steps to help you correct the issue:

Android

If you are getting the following error when attempting to back up chats on a new device or backing up for the first time: "Unable To Complete Backup".

Check you are on the latest version of Grindr Android.
Attempt to force stop the app and check your connection (Wifi is recommended).
You can clear your app's data.
Reinstalling is the very last resort we advise you to follow: Deleting Grindr from your Android Device -- reinstalling the app will, unfortunately, erase all chat history.

If the above does not work it might be because of a synchronization issue with our Google Backup Service. Grindr uses your Google Backup Services to keep your chat backups every time you make one. These are hidden and cannot be transferred or downloaded for your own security and safety.

Try the following steps:

You will need to sign out from your Google Account on your device:
Open your Phone Settings.
Select on Google (Cloud and Accounts in some OS).
Select Backup.
Select Add Backup Account.
Force Stop Grindr.
Finally, attempt to back up or restore your chats.

Note:

Here are the steps Google Support recommends you to follow in their article: Sign out of Gmail.
You cannot transfer your backups or restore them to a different profile.
You cannot transfer your chat backups among Google Drive accounts.
If you have data saver/battery saver enabled, this can limit your connection, thus affecting your app while backing up your chats.
You will be able to restore your chats across different devices only if you utilize the same Google Drive and Grindr Email address.

If the above does not seem to fix the issue reach out to us at help@grindr.com or submit a request here.

iOS

If you are attempting to process a new chat backup in your account and the process gets stuck, follow the steps outlined below in this article to help you correct the issue.

Check you are on the latest version of Grindr iOS.
Open your Settings app
Select Apple ID
Log out and log back in from your Apple ID
Go to Grindr and perform the backup.

"Update the app to latest" - Android troubleshooting chat backup error

While attempting to restore your chats on your device, you may come across the following error: "Please update the app to the latest to restore the backup file."

This is caused due by having multiple Google Play Accounts in your Google Play Store and one or more of the accounts still has an older version of Grindr installed on your device.

Please follow these steps to correct the issue:

Go to Google Play Store.
Check into each of the Google Play Account you have added as follows:

Tap on My apps & games
Tap on the Installed tab and also check the Beta Tab if you are a beta user
Search for the Grindr App into each account
Uninstall the app from every Google Play Account

You may notice the following message indicating which account was previously used to install the app, whether you are a beta user or just have an older version: "This app was installed under a different account, [account email]. To get the beta updates for the app, first switch to that account in Play Store and join the beta."

Once you have uninstalled the app from every Google Play Account follow these steps:

Reinstall the latest version of the app from the Google Play ID where you made your backup before.
Log into Grindr.
You should be prompted to restore your chats and choose the Google Drive Account where you made your backup.
Your chats should restore and you will see the confirmation message.