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Exporting a chat from WhatsApp Web: why it is not possible

WhatsApp Web and the WhatsApp desktop app show your chats, but do not offer to export them. The feature only exists in the phone app.

Step by step

  1. Go back to the phone

    Export happens in the WhatsApp app of the iPhone or Android phone that holds the account: see the iPhone guide or the Android guide.

  2. Move the file

    The resulting .zip then goes to the computer the usual ways: Files, iCloud Drive, Google Drive, AirDrop, cable.

  3. Lost or replaced phone

    First restore the WhatsApp backup (iCloud or Google Drive) on the new phone, then export from it.

Good to know

  • WhatsApp Web shows a copy synchronised from the phone; older messages are not always loaded there.
  • Browser extensions copy what the WhatsApp Web page displays and make a transcript of it. They do not come from WhatsApp, and an extension allowed to read the page reads all your chats: think before installing one.
  • A screenshot can be read, but not sorted or searched, and it cuts long messages.

Then, in Klarinbox

Klarinbox reads the phone's export, and also the Markdown transcripts some WhatsApp Web export tools produce, alone or next to the export: the two are compared message by message. Read a WhatsApp chat.

Frequently asked questions

Does the WhatsApp app for Windows or Mac export chats?
Not at present: like WhatsApp Web, it shows chats without offering to export them. Export stays on the phone.