I've lost access to my phone, with a Signal installation with a lot of old messages I'd rather not lose. I know that most likely I'll get the phone back within 6 months though.
I would also like to be able to access my old group chats and number in the meantime, on my new temporary phone.
I've understood that if i transfer my number and account to my new phone, my lost phone shouldn't lose its messages, it should just "stop all messaging and calling on your old phone" https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007062452-What-do-I-do-if-my-phone-is-lost-or-stolen-
But when I get the lost phone back, will I be able to reactivate that installation and not lose the history? If not, would I at least be able to create a backup from it, to be able to reinstall and recover the backup? The documentation doesn't clarify exactly what a "deactivated" account is able to do.
When going back to my old phone, I'd be fine with losing the short history on my temporary phone.