Guide
How to export a WhatsApp chat to PDF
WhatsApp exports a chat as a text file, with its photos in a .zip if you ask for them. Here is how to get that file on an iPhone or an Android phone, and save the chat as a PDF that looks like WhatsApp.
To export a WhatsApp chat to PDF, export the chat from your phone with its media, then drop the file on a converter and print it to PDF. On an iPhone: open the chat, tap its name, then Export chat and Attach media. On Android: the three dots, More, Export chat, Include media. Then drop the file on Circles' free WhatsApp chat to PDF converter, which draws the chat in your browser, and press Save as PDF.
Updated
Export the chat on an iPhone
On an iPhone, open the chat
Open WhatsApp and the chat or group you want.
Tap the chat's name
At the top of the chat. Scroll down to Export chat.
Choose Attach media
WhatsApp makes a .zip with the chat and its photos. Save it to Files, or AirDrop it to your computer. Without media works too, without the photos.
Export the chat on an Android phone
On Android, open the chat
Open WhatsApp and the chat or group you want.
Tap the three dots
At the top right, then More and Export chat.
Choose Include media
Save what WhatsApp makes to your files or Google Drive. A .zip brings the photos along; a .txt alone makes the PDF without them.
The menu names change a little between WhatsApp versions; WhatsApp's own help page shows the current ones.
Turn the export into a PDF
Open the converter
Open the WhatsApp chat to PDF converter on your computer or your phone.
Drop the file
Drop the .zip or the .txt on it. Your browser draws the chat like WhatsApp, and nothing is uploaded.
Choose your side
Pick whose messages are yours, and they move to their own side, as on your phone.
Save as PDF
Press Save as PDF. In the print window, choose Save as PDF as the printer. On an iPhone, share the print preview and save it to Files.
Good to know
- The PDF holds the chat alone: the bubbles, the dates and the photos, without this page around them.
- Hebrew reads right to left. Each message keeps its own direction, so mixed chats read well.
- Voice notes and videos are named. A PDF cannot play them, so each one is named in its bubble.
- There is a limit. WhatsApp's own help says an export holds up to the latest 10,000 messages with media, or 40,000 without.
Questions and answers
Can WhatsApp export a chat to PDF by itself?
No. WhatsApp exports a chat as a text file, with media in a .zip if you ask. A converter draws that file as a chat, and your browser saves it as a PDF.
Do I need an app?
No. The converter runs in your browser, on a computer or on your phone, and nothing is installed.
Is the chat sent to a server?
No. Your browser reads the file and makes the PDF on your device. Circles never receives it.
Convert your chat now
Free, in your browser, and the file stays on your device.
Open the chat to PDF converter
Next time, find it by asking your AI. Circles connects ChatGPT, Claude or Instinct to the WhatsApp chats you choose.