How to export a WhatsApp chat (and open it in Excel)

Need a copy of a conversation for your records, a hand-over to a colleague, or your accountant? WhatsApp has a built-in Export chat option. Here is how it works, what you get, and where it falls short.

Export a chat on iPhone

1. Open the chat you want to keep.
2. Tap the contact or group name at the top.
3. Scroll down and tap Export Chat.
4. Choose Attach Media (photos, voice notes and files included) or Without Media (text only, much smaller).
5. Pick where to send or save the file, for example Mail or Files.

Export a chat on Android

1. Open the chat.
2. Tap the ⋮ menu, then More → Export chat.
3. Choose Include media or Without media.
4. Send it to Gmail, Google Drive or another app.

💡 Export is only available in the phone app. WhatsApp Web and the desktop app cannot export chats.

What the exported file looks like

You get a plain text file (on iPhone inside a .zip) with one line per message: date, time, sender name and the text. Media, if you included it, comes as separate files next to it.

Things to know before you rely on it:

• There is a size limit. WhatsApp only includes the most recent messages, and the limit is lower when media is attached. Long-running chats are often cut off.
• It is a snapshot. Messages that arrive afterwards are not in the file; you have to export again.
• One chat at a time. Ten customers means ten exports, on each phone you use.
• The date format follows your phone's language settings, which makes the file awkward to sort or filter.

Opening the export in Excel or Google Sheets

The .txt file is not a spreadsheet, so Excel puts each line into a single column. To split it:

1. In Excel, use Data → From Text/CSV (in Google Sheets: File → Import).
2. Split on the first " - " or "] " to separate the timestamp from the rest.
3. Split the rest on the first ": " to separate the sender from the message.
4. Check multi-line messages: each extra line starts a new row with no date and needs to be joined back to the line above.

It works for one chat, but it is fiddly and has to be repeated every time you need an updated copy.

An easier way: a running archive

WhatSmall links to your number as a companion device (like WhatsApp Web), keeps the messages it receives in a private archive, and lets you export any chat as a ready-made spreadsheet file with separate columns for time, sender and message. Exports are always up to date, and it works across several numbers.