How to export a WhatsApp chat, and why you might want to

How to export a WhatsApp chat on iPhone

1. Open WhatsApp and open the chat you want to keep.
2. Tap the person's name at the top of the screen. For a group, tap the group's name.
3. Scroll to the bottom and tap 'Export Chat'.
4. Choose 'Attach Media' or 'Without Media'.
5. Choose where to send the file. 'Save to Files' is the simplest.

How to export a WhatsApp chat on Android

1. Open WhatsApp and open the chat you want to keep.
2. Tap the three dots in the top corner.
3. Tap 'More', then 'Export chat'.
4. Choose 'Without media' or 'Include media'.
5. Choose where to send the file. Google Drive is a good choice.

If the chat has a lot of photos and voice notes, WhatsApp can take a few minutes to prepare the file, so give it a moment.

Can you export a WhatsApp chat on a computer?

No. This is the part that catches a lot of people out, me included. You can read and search your chats on WhatsApp Web and in the desktop app for Windows and Mac, but neither of them has an 'Export chat' option. It can only be done from the WhatsApp app on your phone.

If you'd like the file on your computer, export it on your phone first and save it somewhere both can reach, like iCloud Drive or Google Drive. Then open it on your computer from there.

Should you export with media or without?

WhatsApp asks you this every time, and it is worth knowing what each choice gives you.

Without media gives you one small text file with every message in it (on iPhone it comes zipped). Photos, videos and voice notes are left out. It is quick, easy to store, and it tends to reach further back in a long chat.

With media gives you a zip file holding that same text file, with the photos, videos and voice notes beside it. It is much larger, and in a long chat it may not reach as far back.

If the conversation matters to you, I'd do both. They hold different things. I wrote about what each one includes, and how to check what you received, in 'Is your WhatsApp export missing old messages or voice notes?'

Where should you save the file?

Somewhere you'll be able to find it again. Files or iCloud Drive on an iPhone, Google Drive on Android. Emailing it to yourself works for a text-only export, but a zip with media is often too large to send.

There's no need to unzip it or rename it. And because an export is a plain file that anyone can open and read, keep it somewhere private. If you're bringing it into EM, open it once on your phone first so it's fully downloaded.

Why export a WhatsApp chat?

The steps are the easy part. The more interesting question is why you would.

To keep it somewhere other than WhatsApp. Until you export it, a conversation lives in one place. An export is a copy that belongs to you, whatever happens to the app or the phone.

Because you're changing phones or numbers. A move to a new phone usually brings your chats along with it. Having an export means that one conversation is safe either way.

To keep someone's words, and their voice. Some conversations hold the way a person spoke, their jokes, the voice notes they sent. An export with media keeps those together in one place.

For a milestone. A wedding speech, an anniversary, a big birthday. The first messages two people ever sent each other are often still sitting there, waiting to be found.

Before you delete a chat or leave a group. Once it is exported, you can tidy up WhatsApp without wondering what you've let go of.

To read it again. This is the one I care about most. Some people export a chat simply to have a record of it, and that is a good enough reason. But most of the conversations we keep, we keep because we'd like to go back to them one day.

What to do with your export next

An exported chat is a text file in a folder. It is safe there, but it isn't something you'd sit and page through, and it's easy never to open it again.

That's why I built EM. You upload your export exactly as WhatsApp gave it to you, with no unzipping, and EM gives those messages back to you on the day they were sent, in years past. A message from this day three years ago. A voice note you'd forgotten about.

EM can't read your messages. They're encrypted so only you can open them. You can start free, and voice message playback is part of EM Premium.

Export, upload, relive. The first step is the one on this page.