How to export a Telegram chat
Telegram has one of the best export tools around, but it lives on the desktop app, not on your phone. Here's how to use it, and what to do if you only have a phone.
Step-by-step tutorial
Julien
online
In Telegram Desktop, open the chat and click ⋮ at the top right.
You need Telegram Desktop
The Export chat history option is in Telegram Desktop, the official app for Windows, macOS and Linux available from desktop.telegram.org. The phone apps don't have it.
Log in with your phone number like usual. Your chats sync automatically, so everything you see on your phone shows up on the computer.
On a Mac, make sure you install Telegram Desktop specifically. The Mac App Store also has a separate Telegram app with a different interface, and the steps below are written for Telegram Desktop.
Export a chat in Telegram Desktop
It takes a minute for a regular chat.
- 1In Telegram Desktop, open the conversation and click ⋮ in the top right corner.
- 2Choose Export chat history.
- 3Untick Photos, Videos, Voice messages and Files if you only need the text.
- 4At the bottom, set the format to Machine-readable JSON, then click Export.
- 5When it says Export complete, click Show my data. In the ChatExport folder, you'll find result.json.
JSON or HTML?
Human-readable HTML is nice if you want to browse the conversation in a web browser, like an archive.
Machine-readable JSON is the one to choose if you want to analyze the chat with a tool. It keeps names, dates and messages in a clean structure. That's the format OttoKnows reads.
You can also limit the export to a date range with the From and To settings at the bottom. Handy if you only care about the last few months, but for a full picture, leave it on the whole history.
Only have your phone? Record the chat
No computer handy? You can film the conversation instead. Open the chat in Telegram, start a screen recording from Control Center on iPhone or Quick Settings on Android, then swipe down as fast as you can to scroll back toward older messages. Stop the recording and upload the video.
The video stays on your phone. Still images of the chat are picked out in your browser and sent to our AI provider, which transcribes the visible messages.
Good to know
Leaving out media keeps the export small and fast. Text is all you need to read a conversation.
Telegram may ask you to confirm the export from your phone, or make you wait a little before exporting for security reasons. If that happens, approve it in the Telegram app on your phone and try again.
Exporting a long chat with years of history can take a few minutes. Leave the window open until it finishes.
For large public groups and channels, exports can be limited. For one-on-one chats and private groups, you get the history that's on your account.
As always, export chats you're part of, and keep them private.
Turn the export into a report
Upload result.json to OttoKnows and Otto reads the whole chat: who texts first, each person's reply times, double texts, late-night messages, the longest silence and the moment things changed.
The preview is free, with all the stats and the first analysis. The full report, with scores, awards, quotes and a verdict, is a one-time payment shown before you pay. The file is read in your browser and isn't stored on our servers.
FAQ
Can I export a Telegram chat from my phone?+
Not with Telegram's own export, which is only in Telegram Desktop. On a phone, a screen recording is the way to go.
Where's the exported file?+
In a ChatExport folder, usually inside your Downloads, under Telegram Desktop. Click Show my data at the end of the export to open it.
Does the other person get notified?+
Telegram doesn't send a notification when you export a regular chat. It's still their messages too, so keep the file to yourself.