WhatsApp chat viewer for exported .zip and .txt files
Choose the file that WhatsApp exports and read the conversation on your computer as it looks on the phone, with photos, voice notes and search. Nothing is installed and nothing is uploaded.
- 100% free
- No usage limits
- No sign-up
- Nothing uploaded: your chat stays on your device
A short made-up conversation with a photo, to see how it works.
To get the file: open the chat in WhatsApp → tap the name at the top (iPhone) or ⋮ → More (Android) → Export chat → with or without media → save it or send it to yourself.
PDF and reading options
How to read an exported WhatsApp chat
- Export the chat from WhatsApp and get the file onto your computer: send it to yourself by email, save it to Files or Drive, or use a cable.
- Choose the .zip or the .txt here. You do not have to unzip anything.
- Read, search and filter. Pick which messages are yours, jump to a date, show one person only, or search for a word.
What the viewer does
- Looks like the phoneYour messages on the right, the rest on the left, coloured names in groups, a line for each day.
- Photos, videos and voice notesMedia from the ZIP is shown or played where it was sent. Missing files are marked instead of hidden.
- Search that forgives“reunion” finds “Reunión”. Results are highlighted and one click shows the message in its context.
- Dates and peopleLimit the view to a date range or to one participant, in chats of any length.
- Formatting keptBold, italics, strikethrough, links, emojis and multi-line messages appear as they were written.
- Then keep itSave what you see as a PDF or export it to Excel without leaving the page.
What is inside a WhatsApp export
That is all an export is: a text file called _chat.txt (iPhone) or WhatsApp Chat with….txt (Android), plus the media files when you choose to include them. iPhone writes the date in square brackets with seconds; Android writes the date, a hyphen and the name. The order of day and month, and the 12- or 24-hour clock, follow the language and region of the phone. The viewer recognises these variants and tells you when the dates are ambiguous.
How to export a chat from WhatsApp
| iPhone | Open the chat → tap the name at the top → scroll down → Export Chat → Attach Media or Without Media → Save to Files, or send it to yourself. |
|---|---|
| Android | Open the chat → ⋮ → More → Export chat → Include media or Without media → save it to your files or to Drive, or send it to yourself. |
With media you get a .zip that holds the text of the chat and its photos, videos and voice notes. Without media you get a .txt, or a small .zip with only the text. WhatsApp exports one chat at a time and, with media, only the most recent part of a very long chat: that limit is set by the app, not by this page.
Private by design
A conversation is one of the most personal files you have, and the usual converters ask you to upload it. This page works the other way round: your browser opens the file, reads it and builds the result on your own device. No message, photo or file name is sent anywhere, and there is no account that could keep a copy.
You can verify it yourself: open the developer tools, look at the Network tab while you load a chat, or disconnect from the internet once the page has loaded. Everything keeps working.
Limits worth knowing
- Only exported chats. It does not open WhatsApp backups (
msgstore.db.crypt14, iCloud or Google Drive backups) or read chats from WhatsApp Web. - Media formats depend on the browser. Voice notes (.opus) play in Chrome, Edge and Firefox and in recent Safari; HEIC photos are only shown in Safari. Files that cannot be shown can still be saved.
- Reactions, polls, replies and “view once” media are not in the export, so they cannot be shown. A reply appears as a normal message.
- Memory: the text of the chat is kept in memory (a test chat of 200,000 messages opened in under a second); media is read from the ZIP only when it comes into view, instead of loading the whole ZIP. The practical limit is your device’s memory.
- Formats: exports from WhatsApp for Android and iPhone, with 12- or 24-hour clocks and dates written with
/,.or-. Exports whose dates use other scripts or calendars (Arabic or Persian digits, for example) are not recognised. - Day/month or month/day: the order is worked out from the dates themselves. When a chat gives no clue (every day is 12 or lower), the page tells you and lets you choose.
Frequently asked questions
Is it really free?
Yes. It is 100% free, with no usage limits, no message cap, no account, no sign-up, no watermark and no paid plan.
Is my chat uploaded?
No. The file is opened and processed inside your browser and never leaves your device. The page only downloads its own code from this site. If you accept analytics cookies, Google Analytics receives anonymous usage data such as page views, never your chat, its file name or its contents.
How do I open an exported WhatsApp chat on my computer?
Choose the .zip or .txt file on this page. The conversation is shown as bubbles, with a line for each day. There is nothing to install and the ZIP does not need to be unzipped.
How do I export a chat from WhatsApp?
On iPhone, open the chat, tap the contact or group name at the top, scroll down and tap Export Chat. On Android, open the chat, tap the three dots, then More, then Export chat. Choose “Attach media” or “Include media” if you want the photos, and save the file or send it to yourself. You get a .zip, or a .txt if you export without media.
Does it show photos, videos and voice notes?
Yes, if you exported the chat with media and choose the .zip. Photos are shown in the conversation, and videos and voice notes can be played in the page, as long as your browser supports the format. Other files can be saved from the chat.
Why is the raw .txt file so hard to read?
The export is a plain list of lines with a date, a name and the text, with attachments mentioned only by file name. The viewer rebuilds the conversation: who said what, on which day, with each photo in its place.
Can I search a long chat?
Yes. Type a word or a name and only the matching messages remain, highlighted. “Show in chat” takes you to that message inside the full conversation.
Can I import the chat back into WhatsApp?
No. WhatsApp cannot restore a chat from an exported .txt or .zip, and this page does not change your WhatsApp in any way. It only lets you read, search, print and export the file.
Is this an official WhatsApp tool?
No. This site is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to WhatsApp or Meta. It only reads the export file that WhatsApp itself creates.
Analytics: only if you accept cookies, the page loads Google Analytics (through Google Tag Manager) to count visits and see which tools are used. It never receives your chats, your files or their names. You can change your choice at any time with “Cookie settings” at the bottom of the page.