Exporting from WhatsApp

How to turn a WhatsApp chat with photos into a PDF

Photos are often the part of a WhatsApp chat people most want to keep. This guide explains how to export a chat with its media, how the photos reach the PDF, and what to check before you pay.

Why photos need a different export

Photos are not stored in the text of a chat. They are separate files that WhatsApp attaches to the conversation. A text-only export keeps a placeholder where each photo used to be, so the photo itself is not in the file at all. To keep the pictures, you need an export that includes media.

This is the most common reason a PDF looks thinner than expected. If the photos are missing, check which export option you used before anything else.

Step one: export with media

1. Open the chat or group on your phone.
2. On iPhone, tap the name at the top, scroll down and tap Export Chat, then choose Attach Media. On Android, tap the three-dot menu, then More, then Export chat, and choose Include media.
3. Save the resulting .zip archive to Files, Google Drive or another location you can reach from a computer.

The archive contains the chat text and the media files together. Keep it intact. If you unzip it and move files around, the link between the text and the photos can become harder to follow.

Step two: upload the archive to ChatIntoPDF

Open chatintopdf.com and load the .zip file. ChatIntoPDF reads the chat text and the media from the archive and builds the conversation in order. Large archives take longer, so give the browser a moment and keep the tab open until the preview appears.

Once the preview loads, scroll through a few days of the conversation to check that the photos sit where you expect, next to the messages that shared them.

Step three: choose a layout that suits photos

• Classic: photos appear inside chat bubbles, which feels closest to the original conversation.
• Clean: photos sit in a document flow with dates and names, which works well for printing.
• Formal: each numbered entry can carry its media, which helps when you need to refer to a particular picture.
• Book: a keepsake layout, a good fit for family or event photos that you want to read like a printed album.

Photos and the higher tier

ChatIntoPDF can reproduce photos inline on a higher tier. That is the tier to choose if the pictures are the point of the PDF. The standard tier keeps the text and the layout, and represents media with placeholders. Check the current pricing on the site before you export, so you know what you are paying for.

The free preview works the same way for every tier. You can see the whole conversation, including how the layout handles photos, before you spend anything.

Managing size and speed

• A photo-heavy chat produces a large archive. Transfer it over Wi-Fi where possible.
• For a very long chat, keep the archive as one file and expect a longer wait rather than splitting the export, since the conversation is only meaningful in order.
• Close other heavy tabs while a large archive converts, since the work happens on your device.
• Keep the original .zip, so you can convert again if you change layouts later.

Checking the result before you keep it

Before you save the final PDF, look at the first page, the last page and a few pages in the middle. Confirm that the photos are in the right order, that captions and sender names are correct, and that nothing important has been cut off. If you find a problem, go back to the preview and adjust the layout rather than downloading a flawed file.

A note on privacy

Photos from a private chat are personal. Store the PDF and the archive somewhere you control, and share the finished document only with people you would share the original chat with. ChatIntoPDF is an independent tool and is not affiliated with WhatsApp or Meta.