How to export and archive your WhatsApp chats

Your WhatsApp chats are a pocket-sized city. Neon memories, bad jokes, receipts, apologies, the kind of proof that keeps showing up when you’re trying to sleep.

If you want to export WhatsApp chats, you’re not being dramatic. You’re being practical. Phones get lost. Accounts get locked. People rewrite history. You don’t have to.

Built-in WhatsApp migration is still rather rudimentary and not at all transparent between different platforms.

This guide shows you how to export chats on iPhone and Android, how media behaves during export, and how to turn the result into a searchable PDF you can file away like a case folder.

Archive vs export vs backup

Three similar words that don’t mean the same thing

WhatsApp uses familiar words, then quietly changes what they do. Here’s the clean split:

The part that trips people up is the last two. Export is for reading, sharing, and archiving outside WhatsApp. Backup is for disaster recovery inside WhatsApp.

WhatsApp’s own wording is plain, and worth checking if menus shift over time: WhatsApp’s “How to export your chat history”.

One more blunt caveat: exports are snapshots. They’re not living things. If you export today, then keep chatting, you’ll need another export later.

How to export WhatsApp chats on Android

With and without media

Android makes this feel like moving evidence from one envelope to another. Still easy, if you don’t rush.

Before you start, decide what you want:

• Without media: bigger message history, smaller file, faster.
• Include media: adds photos, videos, and files, but usually exports fewer messages because the package grows fast.

Here are the exact steps most Android builds use:

1. Open WhatsApp.
2. Open the chat (person or group) you want to save.
3. Tap More options (the three dots).
4. Tap More.
5. Tap Export chat.
6. Choose Without media or Include media.
7. Pick a destination (Gmail, Google Drive, a notes app, a file manager, etc.).

What you get:

• Without media usually produces a .txt file.
• Include media usually produces a .zip file containing the .txt plus attachments.

Limits are the quiet killer. As of early 2026, exports tend to cap at around 100,000 messages without media, and far fewer with media (often around 10,000), because sending and storing large bundles breaks ordinary sharing targets like email. It also tends to be biased toward the most recent files rather than the entire history.

If you’re exporting a group chat and want to keep timestamps and sender labels tidy, the built-in export flow is still the cleanest starting point. This walkthrough stays close to what you’ll see on-screen: export WhatsApp group chats with media and timestamps.

Small habit that saves pain later: once you’ve exported, rename the file wherever you store it. Use a format you can sort, like 2026-02-ChatName-Android.zip. Future you will not guess what “WhatsApp Chat with Sam (1).zip” is.

How to export WhatsApp chats on iPhone

And actually save the file

On iPhone, exports can feel like they vanish into the Share Sheet fog. They didn’t vanish. They just got handed off.

Do this:

1. Open WhatsApp.
2. Open the chat you want.
3. Tap the contact name or group name at the top (this opens Contact Info or Group Info).
4. Scroll down and tap Export Chat.
5. Choose Without Media or Attach Media.
6. Choose where it goes:
   • Save to Files (best for archiving),
   • Mail (fine for small exports),
   • Notes (okay for text-only you want handy).

What you get is the same story as Android: a .txt for text and a .zip for attached media.

Two iPhone-specific realities:

First, Mail is a narrow hallway. If you try to email a fat export with media, it may fail, hang, or quietly refuse. Use Save to Files instead, then upload from there if needed.

Second, “Attach Media” is not a promise. It’s an attempt. If the chat has years of photos and videos, iOS will usually include only what fits. The rest stays back in the dark.

If you want the export to land somewhere sane, put it in a dedicated folder in Files (for example: On My iPhone > Archives > WhatsApp). Then back up that folder the way you back up anything that matters.

Make a searchable PDF from your export

And keep media in reach

WhatsApp doesn’t give you “Export to PDF.” Not on iPhone, not on Android. You get text, and sometimes a zip bag of media. The PDF part is on you.

The good news: if you build the PDF from the exported .txt, it is searchable because the text is plain text. No OCR. No blurry screenshots. Just words you can find later.

Android: .txt to searchable PDF

Open the exported .txt file in Google Docs (or any document app that preserves the text). Then use the print-to-PDF route: open the menu (often the three dots) and select Print. Select "Save as PDF" as the printer destination. Name it like you mean it, then save it to Drive or local storage.

iPhone: .txt to searchable PDF

Open the .txt in the Files app (or copy it into Notes if you prefer). Tap Share, then Print. On the print preview screen, zoom in on the preview with two fingers (the preview “opens” into a full PDF view). Then tap Share again and choose Save to Files.

Now the media question, the one everyone asks: can you get media into the same searchable PDF? Not neatly, not automatically, not with WhatsApp’s built-in export. Media arrives as separate files inside the zip. You can attach key images manually into a document before exporting to PDF, but that’s editorial work, not export.

If you’re tempted by online converters or apps that promise one-click “WhatsApp to PDF,” treat it like handing a stranger your diary. If you still want to understand the options and risks, read a neutral explainer first, like this step-by-step overview: how to export a WhatsApp chat on iPhone and Android.

Your iCloud or Google Drive backup can save your skin after a phone loss, but it won’t hand you a clean, readable archive you can search, print, or store in a case file.

Close the file, keep the truth

You archive chats to reduce noise. You back up chats to survive accidents. You export chats to keep a record you can hold in your own hands.

Do it when you’re calm, not when you’re desperate. Name the files. Store them somewhere you control. Then let the conversation fade back into the phone, where it belongs.

Quick checklist (run it like a ritual):

• Export the chat using Export Chat (text-only or with media).
• Save the export to Files (iPhone) or Drive/storage (Android), not just email.
• Convert the exported .txt into a searchable PDF using the Print to PDF flow.
• Store the .zip (media) beside the PDF, same folder, same date stamp.
• Remember: Export is for reading, Backup is for restore, Archive is just hiding.