How to preserve WhatsApp messages as evidence
A phone breaks, someone turns on disappearing messages, a number changes, and a chat is gone. These steps keep what you have safe, whatever you end up doing with it.
Eight steps, in order
This is general guidance and it isn't legal advice, because the rules differ from place to place.
- 1
Keep the chat on your phone
Don't clear the chat, delete messages or uninstall WhatsApp, even after you've exported it. An export is a copy. The chat on your phone is the original, and someone may ask to see it. Turn on chat backup as well, under Settings, then Chats, then Chat backup, so a lost phone doesn't lose the chat.
- 2
Check whether messages are set to disappear
In a chat with one person, either of you can turn on disappearing messages, and new messages then vanish after 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days. Look at the chat's settings. If the timer is on, export the chat today. You can also keep an individual message so it doesn't disappear.
- 3
Export the whole chat, with media
Export the full conversation with voice notes and photos, and do it soon. On a very long chat the export starts from a later date, so you may need a second export without media to reach further back. If Export chat is missing, someone has probably turned on Restricted chat, which blocks exporting.
- 4
Save the file untouched
Keep the ZIP file as WhatsApp made it, in two places, such as your computer and a cloud drive. Don't open the text file and save it again, and don't correct typos in it. A record's fingerprint is calculated from the exact text, so one changed character gives a different fingerprint.
- 5
Write down who is who
The export shows each person under the name saved on your phone, or their number if you never saved it. It doesn't show the number of someone you saved by name. Take a screenshot of the contact's info page showing the number, and note who each person in a group is and how you know them.
- 6
Make a copy people can read
A lawyer, a mediator or a housing officer won't scroll through your phone. Give them something that shows the whole conversation in order, with dates, that they can read and refer to. That can be a printout or a PDF record.
- 7
Write a short timeline
On a separate page, list the moments that matter: the date, who said it, and where to find it. For example: 13 January, Tom says in a voice note he'll take the cost of the heaters off the rent, message 17. Keep what happened separate from how you felt about it. A reader can check every line against the record.
- 8
Keep everything else with it
Save the original photos, receipts, emails, letters and bank statements that go with the chat. After an important phone call, send a short message confirming what was said, so there's a dated note of it.
What can make a chat harder to rely on
None of these rule a chat out. Each one is a question the other side can raise, so it's worth dealing with early.
Cropped or chosen screenshots
A reader can't tell what came before or after, or what was left out.
No way to tell who is who
A first name at the top of a screen doesn't show whose phone number it was.
Gaps in the chat
Deleted messages and disappeared messages leave questions, even if the gaps are innocent.
Only one side of a conversation
If your replies are missing, the other person's words can look different.
An edited copy
Any sign that the text was changed can make the rest harder to trust, even if the change was small.
Voice notes nobody has heard
A written version helps, but someone may still want to check it against the audio.
What a Chat on File record does
- Sets out everything in your export, unchanged and in order, with a number on every message.
- Writes out voice notes and puts photos where they were sent.
- Prints a SHA-256 fingerprint of the export text, so anyone with the same export can check it matches.
- Says plainly how it was made, on its first page.
What it can't do
- It isn't certified, by us or by WhatsApp, and it says so.
- It can't prove that an export wasn't changed before you opened it. The chat on your phone is what backs it up.
- It can't bring back messages that aren't in the export.
- It can't tell you whether a court will accept it. Each court decides that for itself.
If you already know what the dispute is about
Each of these says what to look for in that kind of chat, and what tends to go wrong.
Common questions
Will a court accept this?
We can't promise that. Each court decides for itself. Your PDF is a clear, complete copy of your export, and it says it isn't certified. If your case depends on it, ask your lawyer what they need and keep the chat on your phone.
Are WhatsApp messages admissible as evidence?
Often they can be, but the rules differ between countries, courts and types of case. Some ask for the phone itself, a statement from you explaining how you got the messages, or an examination by a specialist. A lawyer in your area can tell you what yours will expect.
Can I use a chat if the other person doesn't know I exported it?
WhatsApp doesn't notify anyone when you export a chat you're part of. Whether you may use it depends on where you live and what it's for. Using a chat to protect your own rights is allowed in many places, but ask a lawyer if you're unsure.
Can I export someone else's chats from their phone?
Don't. Opening another person's phone or account without their permission can be illegal, and evidence obtained that way can be thrown out and cause you problems of your own. Stick to chats you're part of, on your own phone.
Start with what's in your chat
Open your export and read it on your own device. It's free, it stays with you, and you can search it for the messages you need.