The desktop version of the popular instant messaging service WhatsApp has been quite popular among Windows users. Many users have installed WhatsApp on their Windows 10/11 computers to send and replay messages without touching their smartphones.
WhatsApp for Windows 10/11 no longer requires your smartphone to be connected to the internet.
Now, if you have issues with the WhatsApp app installed on your Windows 10/11 computer, you can consider reinstalling the WhatsApp app.
Reinstall WhatsApp without data loss?
In order to reinstall WhatsApp, you need to uninstall it first. When you do so, all WhatsApp data saved on your PC will be removed. However, when you reinstall WhatsApp on your PC, the data on your smartphone (which should ideally have all your WhatsApp data) will be intact. In other words, when you reinstall WhatsApp on your Windows 10/11 PC, the WhatsApp data on your smartphone will be untouched.
So, unless you have been using WhatsApp only on your computer (after using WhatsApp on your smartphone only to link and sign in), you will not lose data.
How to reinstall WhatsApp on Windows 10/11?
The procedure to reinstall WhatsApp is relatively easy. All you need to do is uninstall WhatsApp and then install a fresh version of it from the Store. Here is how to do exactly that.
Step 1: On your Windows 10/11 PC, go to Settings > Apps > Apps & features page.
Step 2: Look for WhatsApp entry.
Step 3: On Windows 10, click on the WhatsApp entry and then click the Uninstall button. On Windows 11, click on the three horizontally placed dots icon and then click the Uninstall option.
Step 4: Click on the Uninstall button again when you see the prompt to uninstall and remove WhatsApp from Windows 10/11 PC.
Step 5: Now that you have removed WhatsApp from your PC, you can launch the Store app.
Step 6: Search for WhatsApp. Click on the search entry to open the WhatsApp page in the Store. Then, click on the Install button to download and install latest version of WhatsApp.
Step 7: Once WhatsApp is installed, launch WhatsApp. To sign into your WhatsApp, you need to link it to your WhatsApp account on your smartphone. To do that, on your smartphone, open WhatsApp, tap Settings/gear icon, tap Linked devices, tap Link a Device button, and then scan the QR code showing up on the WhatsApp app on your Windows 10/11 PC with the smartphone to download all messages. That’s it!
