| File | Extension | Key required |
|---|---|---|
| Exported chat (.txt or .zip with media) | .txt.zip | No key |
| Decrypted database | .db | No key |
| Encrypted backup (crypt14) | .crypt14 | Needs your key |
| Encrypted backup (crypt15) | .crypt15 | Needs your key |
Decide which of the two routes you need
Export one chat
Two minutes, no computer, works on any phone. Matched by the sender’s display name, with no phone numbers in the file.
Right when you need one conversation and you know whose it is.
Upload the database
The complete history with real phone numbers and reliable direction of each message.
Right when the numbers matter, when you need every conversation, or when the export will be put in front of someone who will challenge it.
Route A — export a single chat
On iPhone
- Open WhatsApp and the conversation you need.
- Tap the contact or group name at the top to open its info screen.
- Scroll to the bottom and tap Export Chat.
- Choose Attach Media for a
.zipincluding pictures, or Without Media for a.txtof the text alone. - In the share sheet choose Save to Files. That keeps it on the phone, which is all you need if you are uploading from the phone.
On Android
- Open WhatsApp and the conversation you need.
- Tap the ⋮ menu at the top right, then More → Export chat.
- Choose Include media for a
.zip, or Without media for a.txt. - Share it to Files, Google Drive, or email.
Choose media now or not at all
A text-only export does not contain the images, so they cannot be added to the reports afterwards — you would have to export the chat again. If photographs are part of what you are proving, take the.zip.Route B — the full database
WhatsApp stores everything in a single database file. There are two forms of it, and which one you have decides whether you need a key.
If you have a decrypted msgstore.db
Upload it as it is. No key is needed. Choose WhatsApp as the source and select the .db.
If you have an encrypted backup
- On the phone, open WhatsApp → Settings → Chats → Chat backup → End-to-end encrypted backup and have your 64-digit key to hand. Without it an encrypted database cannot be read by anyone, including us.
- Copy the database off the phone. On Android it is at
Internal storage/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Databases/msgstore.db.crypt15— reachable with a file manager, a USB cable, or by sharing it to cloud storage. - On the extractor, choose WhatsApp, select the
.crypt14or.crypt15file, and paste the key into the Decryption key field.
What happens to the key
It is used to decrypt your upload for that one job and is never stored or logged. If you would rather not provide it at all, decrypt the database yourself and upload the resultingmsgstore.db.Uploading from the phone, with no computer
- Export the chat first, saving it to Files (iPhone) or Files/Drive (Android).
- Open any browser on the phone and go to yourlegalaitools.com.
- Sign in, open the SMS/MMS Extractor, and choose WhatsApp.
- Tap to choose a backup file, browse to where you saved it, and select the
.txtor.zip. - It uploads directly to secure storage. Carry on with number selection.
If something goes wrong
- It says the scan finished but found no numbers
- A chat export carries display names rather than phone numbers, so a conversation appears under a name. If you uploaded a database and still see nothing, check it is not an empty or partial file — and note that the file extension now decides how it is read, so a
.dbcan no longer be misread as a text export. - The reports have names where I expected phone numbers
- That is the chat-export route working as designed; the numbers are not in the file. Use Route B above if the numbers are needed.
- I do not have the 64-digit key
- Then the encrypted database cannot be opened — the encryption is end-to-end and the key exists only on the phone. Either retrieve it from Settings → Chats → Chat backup on the device, or use the chat-export route instead, which needs no key.
- The export is missing older messages
- WhatsApp exports a limited number of recent messages per chat when media is included. For a complete history use the database route, which is not capped.
Phone texts rather than WhatsApp?
SMS, MMS and iMessage are stored separately from WhatsApp and need their own export. See the Android and iPhone guides.