How to export a WhatsApp chat
WhatsApp can hand you a conversation as a file, but the option is several taps deep and the wording differs between phones. Here is where it lives, and the two things about it that surprise people.
On an iPhone
- Open the chat or group.
- Tap the contact or group name along the top.
- Scroll to the bottom and tap Export Chat.
- Choose Without Media or Attach Media — see below.
- Choose Save to Files, or mail it to yourself.
On Android
- Open the chat or group.
- Tap the three dots in the top corner.
- Tap More, then Export chat.
- Choose whether to include media.
- Share it to Drive, or mail it to yourself.
Two things that catch people out
“Attach Media” exports fewer messages. WhatsApp has to fit the photos into the file, so it includes only the most recent part of the conversation. Without Media carries far more history. If you want everything and the pictures, export twice and upload both.
The dates follow your phone, not a standard. The same chat exports as 13/04/2026 on one handset and 4/13/26 on another, because WhatsApp writes whatever your phone’s locale uses, and nothing in the file records which it was. Every message is read either way. The dates are read day-first, which is right everywhere except the United States: a US export has its day and month swapped where both are 12 or under, and shows no time at all where the month reads above 12. Your archive says which order was assumed on its first page, so you can tell at a glance.
Now turn it into something readable
Upload the .zip — or the bare _chat.txt if you exported without media. You will see how many messages it found before paying anything.
Your export
A WhatsApp export (.zip or _chat.txt), an .mbox, or a Slack export .zip.
Your export is read to count the messages, held only until your archive is delivered, then deleted. If you never pay it is deleted within 24 hours and nothing is charged. What the finished archive looks like.