How to convert a WhatsApp chat to PDF

The short answer

Export the chat from WhatsApp, move the export to wherever you want to work, and then either print the text file to PDF or open the export in a viewer that lays it out as a conversation and saves that as a PDF. Printing the raw text is free and works anywhere, but the result looks like a log. A viewer gives you a document someone else can read without squinting.

The rest of this page walks through each step and the trade-offs, so you can pick the method that fits what the PDF is for. A copy for yourself has different needs from one you are handing to a lawyer, an HR team or a family member.

Step 1: Export the chat from WhatsApp

The export is the same whichever method you use afterwards.

On Android:

1. Open the chat you want.
2. Tap the three dots in the top corner, then More, then Export chat.
3. Choose Include media or Without media.
4. Pick where to send it. Email to yourself, Google Drive, or saving to the phone all work.

On iPhone:

1. Open the chat and tap the contact or group name at the top.
2. Scroll down and tap Export Chat.
3. Choose Attach Media or Without Media.
4. Send it on from the share sheet: Mail, AirDrop, Save to Files, or a cloud drive.

Without media you get a single .txt file. With media you get a .zip holding that text file plus the photos, videos, voice notes and documents from the chat.

Step 2, option A: Print the text file to PDF

This is the free method most guides describe, and it works on any computer.

1. If you have a .zip, extract it first. On Windows, right-click it and choose Extract All. On a Mac, double-click it.
2. Open the .txt file in a text editor or word processor. Notepad, TextEdit, Word, Google Docs and LibreOffice all open it.
3. Choose Print, then pick Save as PDF or Microsoft Print to PDF as the printer.
4. Save the file.

It costs nothing and nothing leaves your computer if you use a desktop program. The downside is the result. Every message is one line of date, time, name and text, with no gap between speakers and no sense of who is replying to whom. Photos and voice notes appear as filenames, not as the media itself. Long messages wrap awkwardly. For a short chat you only need for yourself, that may be fine. For anything another person has to read, it is hard going.

If you open the file in Google Docs, bear in mind that you have uploaded the chat to your Google account to do it. That may be acceptable to you, but it is worth knowing.

Step 2, option B: Use an online converter

Search for this topic and you will find many sites and apps that promise to convert a WhatsApp chat to PDF. Some produce tidy results with chat bubbles and photos. The question to ask is where the conversion happens. Many of these services ask you to upload the export to their server, which means a full copy of the conversation, including every photo and voice note you exported, sits on a computer you know nothing about. Some also ask you to create an account or subscribe.

For a group chat about weekend plans that may not matter. For a chat about a dispute at work, a family matter, a client, or anything that might end up in front of a lawyer, it is a real risk. Read the privacy policy before uploading, and prefer a tool that can show you the file stays on your device.

Step 2, option C: Open it in ChatXport and save the PDF

ChatXport is a browser app built for this job. You drop in the .zip or .txt and it lays the chat out as a conversation again, with each person on their own side, dates grouped, and photos shown with the message they were sent with. The file is read inside the browser tab on your own device. There is no upload and no account.

To make the PDF:

1. Go to app.chatxport.com and drop in your .zip or .txt file.
2. If you only want part of the chat, search for a word or name, or set a date range, so the view shows just those messages.
3. Click Save PDF.
4. Choose the current view or the entire chat, and a comfortable or compact layout. Compact fits more on each page.
5. Save the file.

The PDF opens with a short summary: the chat name, when the PDF was made, the date range, the number of messages, and who took part. The transcript follows, with a different colour for each sender and photos embedded where they appeared. On a computer, the browser's print dialog produces the PDF, so the text stays selectable and searchable. On a phone, ChatXport builds the PDF on the device and downloads it. In that case each page is stored as an image, so the text cannot be selected, but emoji and photos come through intact.

Chats of 300 messages or fewer are free to view and export in full. For longer chats, the first 300 messages are free to read, and a one-time $9 unlock opens the whole chat along with PDF and Excel export. It is not a subscription.

Which method should you use?

It depends on who will read the PDF.

• A quick copy for yourself. Printing the text file is free and good enough.
• A record for someone else to read. A viewer that shows names, times and photos clearly saves the reader a lot of effort. A colleague in HR or a lawyer should not have to decode a raw log.
• Only the part that matters. Being able to filter by date or search term before saving keeps the PDF to the messages that are relevant, rather than hundreds of pages.
• A chat that is private. Use something that runs on your own device. A word processor installed on your computer qualifies. So does ChatXport.

If you need the messages as rows you can sort or count, a spreadsheet may serve you better than a PDF. ChatXport can save the same chat as an Excel file with a row per message, including date, time, sender, type and attachments.

A note on chats used as evidence

People often make a PDF of a WhatsApp chat because it is needed for a dispute, a complaint or a court case. A PDF is a convenient way to share and read a chat, but no PDF proves by itself that a conversation is genuine or complete, whichever tool made it. Courts and investigators may want to see the phone itself or the original export. Keep the original .zip exactly as WhatsApp produced it, do not edit the text file, and ask your lawyer what form they need before you send anything.

If you do this often

If you handle WhatsApp exports regularly, for example as part of casework, the ChatXport desktop app for Windows keeps chats stored on your computer with no message limit, and adds workspaces, search across chats, bookmarks and notes. Like the browser version, it works on your own machine.

Frequently asked questions

Can WhatsApp save a chat as a PDF by itself?

No. WhatsApp can only export a chat as a text file, or as a .zip with the text file and media. Making a PDF from that export is a separate step.

Will photos appear in the PDF?

Only if you exported with media and the tool you use reads the .zip. Printing the plain text file gives you filenames where the photos were, not the images.

Can I make a PDF of only part of a chat?

With a plain text file you would have to cut out the lines by hand. In ChatXport you can search or set a date range first and then save just that view as the PDF.

Does the PDF include the other person's messages?

Yes. The export holds both sides of the conversation, every sender with their name and timestamp, so the PDF does too.

Is it safe to use an online WhatsApp to PDF converter?

Many of them upload the file to a server to do the conversion, so a copy of your chat leaves your device. If the chat is private, use a method that works locally, such as a word processor on your own computer or ChatXport, which reads the file in the browser without uploading it.

Can I do this on my phone?

Yes. On an iPhone or Android phone you can open the export in a browser with ChatXport and save the PDF straight to the phone. You can also print the text file to PDF from the share sheet, though it will be the raw text.