ChatViewer

How to Export a WhatsApp Chat With Photos and Media

Updated September 15, 2026 · 4 min read

When you export a WhatsApp chat and choose to include media, you don't get a neat album — you get a .zip with a text file and every attachment loose beside it. Knowing what's inside, how large it will be and where WhatsApp draws the line saves you a surprise later. Here's the full picture.

What "Include media" actually exports

Choosing Attach Media (iPhone) or Include media (Android) bundles these into the zip alongside the chat text:

  • Photos — as .jpg files.
  • Videos — as .mp4 files.
  • Voice notes — as .opus audio files.
  • Documents — PDFs and other files shared in the chat, in their original format.
  • Stickers and GIFs — as .webp or image files.

Live location, calls and view-once media are not included — they were never stored as files to begin with.

How the .zip is structured

Open the archive and you'll find one text file plus the media, all in a single flat folder:

  • A chat transcript — _chat.txt on iPhone, or a file named after the conversation on Android.
  • The media files, named by date and an identifier, like IMG-20260514-WA0007.jpg or 00000042-PHOTO-2026-05-14.jpg.

Inside the transcript, each attachment is referenced by filename — for example IMG-20260514-WA0007.jpg (file attached) on Android or <attached: 00000042-PHOTO...jpg> on iPhone. A viewer matches those references back to the files so the media appears in the right place.

Size and the message limit

Two things surprise people:

  • Size. A media-rich chat can produce a zip of hundreds of megabytes. Use Wi-Fi, and expect email to reject anything over about 25 MB — Google Drive or a direct transfer is safer for large exports.
  • The cap. With media attached, WhatsApp exports roughly the 10,000 most recent messages (about 40,000 without media). Older media simply isn't included. For a complete text record plus recent media, export twice: once without media, once with.

Media export vs. backup — don’t confuse the two

This matters most when you're switching phones: a media-included export is a readable .zip file that you create on purpose for one conversation. WhatsApp's automatic backup (to iCloud or Google Drive) is a different, encrypted thing entirely — it exists to restore the whole app on a new phone, it covers every chat, and it can't be opened or read by anything except WhatsApp itself. If you're moving to a new device and want a permanent, readable copy of a specific conversation and its photos — independent of whether the phone transfer goes smoothly — export it with media before you switch. The backup will move your account; the export is your safety net and your archive.

Viewing the media inline

A raw zip is awkward to browse — you'd be jumping between a text file and a folder of cryptically named images. Instead, drop the whole .zip into ChatViewer and every photo, video and voice note appears right inside the conversation where it was sent. The zip is opened and matched up entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded to a server. When you want a portable copy, Export PDF embeds the photos too: free for the first 500 messages (small watermark), $9 for every message with no watermark, or $19 for a court-ready version with Bates stamps and a SHA-256 hash.

Frequently asked questions

Why are my photos missing from the export?

Either you chose "Without media" when exporting, or the photos are older than the roughly 10,000-message cut-off that applies when media is included. Re-export with media to capture recent images.

What is the .opus file in my export?

That is a voice note. WhatsApp records voice messages in the Opus audio format. Most modern browsers and media players can play .opus files directly.

Why is my export file so large?

Videos and photos dominate the size. A chat with lots of shared media can reach hundreds of megabytes. Exporting without media produces a file that is usually only a few megabytes.

Can I email an export with media?

Only if it is small. Most email providers reject attachments above about 25 MB. For larger exports, use Google Drive, iCloud, or transfer the file directly to your computer.

Is a WhatsApp backup the same as an export with media?

No. A backup is an encrypted database used only to restore WhatsApp on a phone — you can't open it yourself. An export is a readable .zip of one conversation that works independently of WhatsApp, which is what you want to keep or view elsewhere.