WhatsApp chat guides
Learn how to export, keep, read, and share a real WhatsApp conversation, from getting the file off your phone to choosing what someone else sees, and how to back up your chats or get deleted messages back.
Start with an export
How to export a WhatsApp chat
Save a conversation from Android or iPhone, choose whether to include media, and understand what your export contains.
Read the guideExport a group chat
How to export a WhatsApp group chat
Export a group conversation, understand what it contains, and share one part without exposing everyone in it.
Read the guideFix a failed export
WhatsApp chat export not working? What to check
Find out why Export chat is missing, why an export stops short, and why media or messages did not come through.
Read the guideSave the conversation
How to save a WhatsApp chat
Keep a conversation you do not want to lose, store the export where you control it, and check what actually saved.
Read the guideKeep their messages
Keeping WhatsApp messages from someone you have lost
Keep the messages, photos, and voice notes from someone who has died, and make sure they last.
Read the guideShare the right part
Share a WhatsApp conversation without screenshots
Choose between forwarding messages, sending a file, and sharing a readable conversation page.
Read the guideMake the export readable
Read a WhatsApp chat export beyond the text file
Understand exported files, search a transcript, and check missing messages or attachments.
Read the guideFind an old message
How to find old messages in a WhatsApp chat
Search inside WhatsApp by word, date, or media type, and search an export when the chat is too long to scroll.
Read the guidePDF or a link
WhatsApp chat to PDF, or a link people will actually read
Compare a PDF of a WhatsApp conversation with a readable link, use case by use case.
Read the guideChat to spreadsheet
How to export a WhatsApp chat to Excel or CSV
Put a chat export into Excel or Google Sheets with separate columns for date, time, sender, and message.
Read the guideExport on a computer
How to export a WhatsApp chat from WhatsApp Web or Desktop
Get a WhatsApp chat export onto a PC or Mac when WhatsApp Web or Desktop has no Export chat option.
Read the guideKeep voice notes
How to save WhatsApp voice notes
Save one voice note or all of them, find them on Android, and play the .opus files anywhere.
Read the guideRead the export format
What is inside a WhatsApp chat export? The format explained
What each file and each kind of line in a WhatsApp export means, on Android and iPhone.
Read the guideMake a WhatsApp link
How to create a WhatsApp link
Make a wa.me link to a number or username, share a group invite, and fix links that do not open.
Read the guideRecover deleted messages
How to recover deleted WhatsApp messages
Check archived chats, restore from a backup before it is overwritten, and know what no method can bring back.
Read the guideDeleted messages
How to see deleted WhatsApp messages
What “This message was deleted” means, the few honest ways to read one, and what the apps really do.
Read the guideBack up your chats
How to back up WhatsApp chats
Turn on Google Account or iCloud backups, encrypt them, check they worked, and keep one chat as a file.
Read the guide
Making an example conversation instead? See WhatsApp chat use cases