WhatsApp ZIP file: what is inside and how to open it

A WhatsApp ZIP file is a chat that someone exported from WhatsApp. Inside is one text file with the messages, plus the photos, videos, voice messages, stickers and documents if the chat was exported with media. You can unzip it with the Files app on iPhone, Files by Google on Android, or the tools built into Windows and Mac. To read the chat you don't even need to unzip it: the free WhatsApp chat viewer opens the .zip as it is, in your browser.

When WhatsApp makes a ZIP file

The file appears when someone chooses Export chat in a chat. It goes wherever they send it, such as a folder, an email or a message. That is how a .zip reaches you from someone else.

WhatsApp's help page on exporting describes each device like this:

Older iPhone versions say Attach Media instead of With all media. The Android page doesn't use the word ZIP. If an Android export reached you as a .zip, it opens like any other.

What is inside a WhatsApp ZIP file

Open the .zip and you find one text file and, if media was included, many other files next to it.

The chat text file. On iPhone it is called _chat.txt. On Android it is named after the chat, such as WhatsApp Chat with Sam.txt. Every message starts a new line with its date, time and sender.

The media files. Each one is something sent in the chat:

• Voice messages are .opus audio files. On iPhone the name contains AUDIO, as in 00000012-AUDIO-2025-03-03-11-21-02.opus. On Android it starts with PTT, as in PTT-20250303-WA0007.opus.
• Photos, videos and stickers are usually .jpg, .mp4 and .webp files. Their names contain PHOTO, VIDEO or STICKER on iPhone, and IMG, VID or STK on Android.
• Documents usually keep the name and type they were sent with, such as a .pdf.

The text file points to each media file by its name. Here is a voice message line from an iPhone export, then one from Android:

[3/3/25, 11:21:02 AM] Sam: <attached: 00000012-AUDIO-2025-03-03-11-21-02.opus>
3/3/25, 11:21 AM - Sam: PTT-20250303-WA0007.opus (file attached)

A voice message's file name carries a date, but not who sent it. Only the text file says that, so keep the files together. What's in a WhatsApp chat export goes through every kind of line.

How to open it on iPhone, Android, Windows or Mac

iPhone, Windows and Mac can unzip it without any extra app. On Android, Files by Google does it.

iPhone: the Files app

1. Open the Files app and find the .zip. If it came by email or in a message, save it to Files first.
2. Tap the .zip. Files creates a folder with everything that was inside.
3. Open the folder and tap _chat.txt.

Android: Files by Google

1. Open Files by Google and go to the folder that holds the .zip.
2. Tap the .zip. A pop-up shows what is inside.
3. Tap Extract, then Done. The files are saved in the same folder as the .zip.
4. Tap the .txt to read the chat.

Leave Delete ZIP file unticked if you may want the voice messages written out later. That needs the .zip itself.

Windows: Extract All

1. Right-click the .zip (or press and hold it) and select Extract All....
2. Follow the instructions.
3. Open the folder with the extracted files and double-click the .txt.

Mac: double-click

1. Double-click the .zip in Finder. The unzipped folder appears in the same place.
2. Open it and double-click the .txt.

Raw text is hard going for a long chat: one long scroll, with media shown only as file names. How to open a WhatsApp chat .txt has tips for text editors and spreadsheets.

Read the chat without unzipping it

The free WhatsApp chat viewer opens the .zip just as WhatsApp made it. Drop it on the page, or choose it from your files.

• It stays on your device. Your browser reads the file. Nothing is uploaded, and you don't need an account.
• Big exports are fine. Photos and videos inside the .zip are skipped, so even a large export opens quickly. On a phone, a computer can be faster for very big files.
• You can take the chat away. Save it as a printable PDF, a clean TXT in date order, a CSV spreadsheet with one row per message, or a single web page. Chrome and Edge add page numbers to the PDF.
• Voice messages are listed, not written out. Each one is counted and named where it was sent.

Turn the voice messages into text

Voice messages are the one part of a WhatsApp zip you can't skim. A chat with a hundred of them can mean hours of listening. The upload page takes the same .zip:

1. Choose the .zip as it is. Don't unzip it or pick out the .opus files. The text file is what puts each voice message in order, with its sender, date and time.
2. Check the free overview. It counts the messages, the people, and the voice messages with their total minutes. It writes one voice message out free and shows the exact price before you pay.
3. Pay once for that chat. LogMyChat transcribes every voice message in the language spoken and places it under the date and time it was sent. A chat with 3,200 messages and 38 minutes of voice is a Small chat: $6.

Photos, videos and documents never leave your device. Transcripts can contain mistakes, so check any that matter against the recording. How to turn a WhatsApp .opus file into text covers single files and players too.

Common problems and how to fix them

WhatsApp zip files can be big and a little confusing. Here are the usual fixes.

The file won't open

First, check your free space: unzipping needs room for every file inside. If the .zip came from someone else, it may be damaged, for example by a download that didn't finish. Download it again, or ask them to export the chat again. A file that ends in .txt has nothing to unzip: open it as it is.

It is very large

Photos and videos make an export with media far bigger than the text alone.

• Skip unzipping. The free viewer reads only what it needs from the .zip.
• Need only the text? Export again, or ask the sender to, with Without media. That file is small.
• Don't email it. Big attachments often fail. Save it to Files or a drive instead. When Export chat isn't working covers email limits.

The voice messages won't play

The .opus files are fine. If double-clicking one shows an error or does nothing, your default player probably doesn't support Opus. VLC, the free player from VideoLAN, has played Opus since version 2.0.4. Renaming the file to .mp3 doesn't help: the sound inside is still Opus.

Media shows as “attached” or “omitted”

<attached: …> on iPhone and (file attached) on Android mean the file was included. Look for that name in the folder.

“Omitted” means the file was left out. iPhone writes words like image omitted or audio omitted, and Android writes <Media omitted>. It means the chat was exported without media. Exports from WhatsApp Web and the Windows app never include media. For the files, export again on the phone, or the Mac app, with media.

On Android, WhatsApp adds only the most recent media. So in a long chat, older lines can name files that are not in the .zip. WhatsApp export limits explains how far back an export goes.

It won't go back into WhatsApp

You can't load an export into WhatsApp. The help page says it “can't be re-imported because it's a text file and not a backup file.” To move chats to a new phone, use WhatsApp's chat backup or transfer. How to import a WhatsApp chat explains what does work.

Open only zips from people you trust

A WhatsApp export holds a text file and the media sent in that chat. Treat a .zip like any other attachment, and open it only when you know who sent it and why.

If a .zip that claims to be a WhatsApp chat asks for a password, has no .txt inside, or wants you to install or run something, stop there. Check with the sender some other way. Documents inside a real export are whatever people sent in the chat, so open them with the same care.

An export is as private as the chat itself. Keep it somewhere safe, and delete copies you no longer need.

When you have a .zip you trust, the quickest way to read it is the free WhatsApp chat viewer. Drop the file on the page and save the chat as a PDF, TXT, CSV or web page, with nothing uploaded.