How to Export a WhatsApp Chat as a Text File (Android & iPhone)

Exporting a WhatsApp chat gives you a plain-text copy of a conversation that you can back up, keep for your records, or analyze. The whole thing takes under a minute once you know where the button is. Here is exactly how to do it on both Android and iPhone.

Before you start: with or without media?

WhatsApp offers two export options: with media and without media. For almost everything — backups, reading, or running the chat through an analyzer — choose without media. It produces a single clean .txt file instead of a huge bundle of photos and videos, it is much faster, and it is all you need if you only care about the messages themselves.

Export a WhatsApp chat on Android

1. Open WhatsApp and go to the individual chat (or group) you want to export. 2. Tap the three dots (⋮) in the top-right corner. 3. Tap More. 4. Tap Export chat. 5. Choose Without media. 6. Pick where to send it — save to Files/Drive, email it to yourself, or send it to another app. You now have a .txt file.

Export a WhatsApp chat on iPhone

1. Open WhatsApp and go to the chat you want to export. 2. Tap the contact or group name at the top to open the info screen. 3. Scroll to the bottom and tap Export Chat. 4. Choose Without Media. 5. Choose a destination — Save to Files, AirDrop to your Mac, or email it to yourself. The result is a .txt file.

What the exported file looks like

Open the .txt and you will see one line per message, each with a date, time, sender name and the message text — something like:

• •`12/03/2024, 21:14 - Alex: are you still up?`
• •`[12/03/2024, 21:15:02] Sam: yeah what's up`

The exact format differs slightly between Android and iPhone and between regions (date order, 12- vs 24-hour clock), but every export follows this timestamped, one-line-per-message structure. Media messages appear as placeholders like `<Media omitted>`.

A note on privacy

An exported chat is a complete, readable record of a private conversation, so treat it carefully — do not email it to strangers or paste it into random websites that upload your data. If you want to analyze a chat, use a tool that processes it entirely in your browser and never uploads it. Our own WhatsApp chat analyzer is built exactly this way: your file is read and analyzed locally on your device and never sent anywhere.

What you can do with an exported chat

Once you have the .txt file, the fun begins. Because it is structured, timestamped data, you can uncover all sorts of things:

• •Who texts more and the exact percentage split — see who texts more in a relationship.
• •Who starts conversations and how fast each person replies.
• •Your own messaging habits — busiest hours, favorite emoji, monthly trends. More on that in WhatsApp statistics about yourself.

The bottom line

Exporting a WhatsApp chat is quick: open the chat, find Export/Export chat, choose "without media," and save the .txt file. Keep the file private, and if you want to turn it into insights, use a fully client-side analyzer that keeps your conversation on your device.