Exporting and printing

How to turn a WhatsApp chat into a PDF on iPhone

Last reviewed 2026-10-17 · 2 official sources cited below

1. Export from WhatsApp

1. Open the chat and tap the contact or group name at the top.
2. Scroll down and tap Export Chat.
3. Choose Without Media (text only) or Attach Media / Include Media (adds recent photos, videos and voice notes; WhatsApp says the most recent media is added).
4. In the share sheet, tap Save to Files and pick a folder in iCloud Drive or On My iPhone.

WhatsApp’s official instructions are in How to export your chat history.

2. What you get

On iPhone the export is a ZIP named like WhatsApp Chat - Name.zip. Inside is _chat.txt plus any media files, named like 00000012-PHOTO-2024-01-02-08-30-00.jpg. Lines look like this:

[1/2/24, 8:30:15 AM] Mark Ellison: Payment sent.
[1/2/24, 8:31:02 AM] Mark Ellison: <attached: 00000012-PHOTO-2024-01-02-08-30-00.jpg>

The bracketed timestamp includes seconds. The format follows your phone’s region settings, for example [02.01.24, 08:30:15] on a German-format phone. WhatsApp also inserts invisible direction marks and narrow spaces, which is why copying the text into Word often looks odd.

3. Convert to PDF

On a computer (or the iPhone itself, in Safari), open TextExhibits and choose the ZIP. Don’t unzip and re-zip it: the tool reads the ZIP directly and hashes the exact file you exported. Then check the detected date format, set the time zone the phone was in, and download.

You’ll get a cover page with the file name, SHA-256 and participants, then each message with its timestamp. Photos appear inline and other attachments are listed by name.

Why not use “Print” from the share sheet?

Printing the raw _chat.txt gives you one long block of text with no page numbers, no cover page and no way to show the file it came from. Under the U.S. federal rules an accurate printout of electronically stored information counts as an “original” (FRE 1001(d)), but accuracy is the point. A clean, complete, verifiable layout helps show it.

Sources

1. WhatsApp Help Center — How to export your chat history
2. Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 1001 — Definitions (“original” of electronically stored information) (Cornell LII)

Sources were opened and checked on 2026-10-17. Laws and rules change; always read the current version.