ChatReader FAQ: reading exported WhatsApp chats

No. Your file is processed on your device and never uploaded to our servers. ChatReader.app reads your WhatsApp export inside your browser, so your messages, history and other contents stay on your device.

To be completely open: the page itself also loads ad, consent and analytics scripts (Google AdSense and a cookieless Umami counter). Those scripts never receive your file or anything read from it. See the privacy policy for details.

Opening and browsing your file is free, and stays free. A one-time €5.99 unlock (no subscription) adds exports and downloads and lifts the free size limits for large files on ChatReader.app. It pays for development and hosting. Ads stay on for everyone, and free viewing never goes away.

Lost access on a new browser? Use Restore purchase with the email you paid with.

ChatReader can help you read a chat and turn it into a tidy PDF, but it cannot prove anything about it. A WhatsApp export is a plain text file that anyone can edit, so ChatReader can’t certify that a chat is authentic or complete. It also only contains the messages WhatsApp chose to include (see the next question).

Courts and authorities have their own rules about digital evidence, and they differ by country. If it matters, ask a lawyer before relying on an export, and keep the original phone and the original export file.

WhatsApp limits how many recent messages one export includes. Figures commonly cited are about 10,000 messages when you export with media and about 40,000 without media, but WhatsApp doesn’t publish exact numbers. For a long chat, the export starts part-way through and older messages are left out.

ChatReader shows the date of the first and last message in your file, so you can see what the export covers. Exporting without media usually gets you further back.

In your browser. The file is unzipped and parsed in a Web Worker on your device, and the viewer, search, stats and exports all run there too.

The page also loads ad and analytics scripts. ChatReader doesn’t pass your chat to them, and analytics records only events such as “a chat was opened”, never names or messages.

The .zip or .txt file you get from WhatsApp’s Export chat option. You can drop several files at once. Exports from Android and iPhone both work, in any language and with any date format. There’s no need to unzip the file first.

WhatsApp writes dates the way your phone displays them, so 03/04/2024 could be 3 April or March 4. ChatReader usually works it out from dates where the day is above 12. If every date in the file could be read both ways, it shows you a preview of both readings and lets you pick the right one. What’s in the file explains the formats.

Photos only appear if they are in the file you opened. If the chat was exported without media, you’ll see “<Media omitted>” or “image omitted” instead; export again with media. If you exported with media, make sure you open the .zip itself rather than the .txt taken out of it. Media that was never downloaded to the phone, or was deleted from it, is not included by WhatsApp.

Voice notes are .opus audio files. Browser support for this format varies, and Safari in particular may not play some of them. If a voice note won’t play, try Chrome or Firefox.

A one-time €5.99 payment for ChatReader.app (no subscription) adds:

• Exports: PDF, HTML (a single offline file), CSV and Markdown
• Media included in the exports, such as photos embedded in the PDF
• Chats with more than 30,000 messages
• Merging several exports of the same chat

Reading, search and stats are free. If you switch browsers, use Restore purchase.

Yes, with the unlock. Drop all the exports together and ChatReader combines them into one timeline, removing duplicates (messages with the same time, sender and text). This helps when you exported the same chat at different times, or from two phones.

Yes. ChatReader runs in the browser on Android and iPhone, so you can open the export straight from your Files app or Downloads. Very large chats with lots of media are more comfortable on a computer.

No. ChatReader.app is an independent tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Meta. WhatsApp is a trademark of Meta Platforms, Inc.

No. WhatsApp backups (the .crypt14 / .crypt15 files on Android, and backups in Google Drive or iCloud) are encrypted and meant only for restoring WhatsApp. To read a chat here, use Export chat in WhatsApp instead.

Yes. Group exports show every member’s messages and system messages such as members joining and leaving. The stats include a breakdown per member: messages, words and more.