A CRYPT12 file is an encrypted database created by WhatsApp Messenger, an Android messenger application. It contains a 256-bit AES encrypted database of messages sent and received through the app.

The "crypt12" extension is often appended to a .DB file to create a .DB.CRYPT12 file, which is used by WhatsApp to secure a user's message database on his or her Android device. For each new installment, WhatsApp Messenger uses a different algorithm to encrypt the DB files. The extension appended to the DB file, such as .CRYPT7 or .CRYPT8, signifies the algorithm. If you are looking to decrypt a CRYPT12 to view the message history of the app's user you must locate the key file, which stores the encryption key. The key file is stored in the following location: /data/data/com.whatsapp/files/key CRYPT12 database files are located on the SD card of an Android device with WhatsApp Messenger installed. You can find it in the following directory: /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases There may be multiple CRYPT12 database files in the folder with YYYY-MM-DD dates included in their filenames. These files were created by WhatsApp Messenger as backups to the original msgstore.db.crypt12 database file. The date in their filename represents when the file was created. The dated backup files can be deleted to free up space on the SD card without affecting the messages in WhatsApp Messenger. However, the backup databases will not be available to restore a corrupt database if it is deleted. You can use the Omni-Crypt app to convert CRYPT12 files to .CRYPT legacy files on your Android device. You can also use the WhatCrypt web program to decrypt and upload/store your CRYPT12 files.