WhatsApp has no "save as PDF" button. It can export a chat as a text file and a folder of photos. From there you can make a PDF.
Step 1: export the chat from WhatsApp
- iPhone: open the chat, tap the name at the top, then Export Chat. Choose Attach Media to include photos.
- Android: open the chat, tap ⋮, then More, then Export chat, then Include media.
Save the .zip to your computer.
Free way: open the text and print it
- Unzip the export and open the .txt file in a text editor.
- Print it and choose Save as PDF.
This works, but you get plain lines of text. Photos are separate files, and long chats are hard to read.
Print a WhatsApp chat with photos
Printing the exported text gives you words only. To print the photos where they were sent, you need to put the two back together.
Free way
- Export the chat with media (Attach Media on iPhone, Include media on Android) and unzip it.
- Print the .txt file.
- Print the photos you need, and match them to the messages by the file names in the text.
Fine for a few photos. For a long chat it takes a long time.
Save a WhatsApp chat as a record for court or a dispute
If you need to keep a chat as a record, keep the original export and make a readable copy with dates and page numbers. This page is not legal advice; ask your lawyer what your court accepts.
Free way
- Export the chat from WhatsApp with media (iPhone: tap the name, Export Chat, Attach Media. Android: ⋮, More, Export chat, Include media).
- Keep the .zip exactly as WhatsApp made it. Do not edit it.
- Write down when and from which phone you exported it.
- For a readable copy, open the .txt and print it to PDF.
Screenshots are another option, but they take hours for long chats and can cut off dates.
The tool I made for this
I make and sell WhatsApp Chat to PDF. Turn a WhatsApp chat export into a PDF that looks like the chat, with names, dates, times and photos. Runs in your browser.
Top comments (1)
For the records use case, one question: does the export include any integrity marker like a file hash, so the archive can later be verified as unaltered? Noting when and from which phone it was exported is good practice, but a checksum would make it much stronger for anything that might end up in court.