Do you use WhatsApp on your PC (via WhatsApp for Web)? Want to save conversations so that you’ve got them stored somewhere for future reference? At first glance, it doesn’t look like you can save a WhatsApp chat on PC, but there are workarounds. Here are a couple of options.
Save a WhatsApp chat on PC via the Android/iPhone app
It might sound a bit weird to use the Android/iPhone app to save a conversation to your PC, but trust me, this is the cleanest way. There is another method outlined below if you purely want to use WhatsApp for Web, though.
In the Android app, open the chat you want to save, tap the three dots in the top-right corner and select More > Export Chat (as highlighted in the screenshot below).
The process is the same on iPhone, but you tap the name of the conversation to find the Export Chat function, instead of three dots.
When you hit Export Chat, you’ll be given the option to export with or without media (ie. photos, videos etc). If you choose to export with these, they will come as attachments, they won’t be embedded in the text conversation.
When you’ve made your choice, you’ll be asked which app you want to export to. Here, a file sync service such as OneDrive or Dropbox would be ideal, presuming you have that service also syncing files to your PC.
Alternatively, choose an email app such as Gmail. If you’ve chosen to export without media the files should be very small, even with massively long chats going back years, so you shouldn’t have any problems sending that email to your PC.
Now simply open the text file on your PC. You can save it to a new location if you wish.
Save a WhatsApp chat on PC with WhatsApp for Web
The other, less elegant way to save a WhatsApp conversation on your PC is to copy and paste it directly out of WhatsApp for Web.
If you’ve never used WhatsApp for Web, it allows you to read and send WhatsApp messages from your PC or Mac web browser. It doesn’t have quite as many features as the mobile apps, but it’s handy if you’re sat at a computer for work all day, for example. To set it up, you’ll need to visit the WhatsApp for Web website and follow the instructions, which basically involve scanning a QR code from within the WhatsApp app on your phone to verify it’s you.
WhatsApp for Web doesn’t have the same Export Chat featured above. It does, however, let you click into a conversation and drag the cursor upwards, until you’ve copied the contents of an entire conversation.
When you’ve got as much of the conversation highlighted as you want to copy, press Ctrl + C on a PC or Command + C on a Mac to copy the conversation to the clipboard.
Then open a blank document in a text app such as Microsoft Word and press Ctrl + V (PC) or Command + V (Mac) to paste the contents of the chat into the document. You can now save that document on your PC/Mac.
Find out what you get when you request your WhatsApp info
hey, I have tried on my mac and iphone but I never get any options of exporting chat,
is this still doable on the latest update of the App?
Exported on my Android phone, opened in Pages and got 99% of the icons. None showed up in Word. Will have to screengrab the stickers, they won’t open in Photoshop, and add all the saved photos. The links to music still open. I’d love to know if I can add the voice memos, or convert them somehow and then add them.
My phone is Android, but just in case… open the program, then the individual chat. Under the 3 dots I see “More.” Under More I see Report, Block, Clear chat, Export Chat, Add shortcut. Hope that helps!