How to open a WhatsApp chat ZIP file
When you export a WhatsApp chat with its photos, you get a .zip file. It holds the messages as a text file and every photo, video and voice message as a separate file. You can unzip it to look inside, or open the .zip as it is in Amberword and read the chat as a PDF.
What's inside the ZIP
- The messages, in one plain text file. On iPhone it is called _chat.txt. On Android it carries the chat name, such as WhatsApp Chat with Sarah.txt. Each line has the date, the time, the name and the message.
- The media: photos, videos, voice messages (.opus files) and documents, each as its own file with a name like 00000012-PHOTO-2026-03-14-13-02-44.jpg on iPhone or IMG-20260314-WA0003.jpg on Android.
In the text file a photo appears only as its file name, in the line where it was sent. Nothing links the two, so on a long chat it is hard to see which photo goes with which message.
Opening the ZIP on your phone or computer
- iPhone: open the Files app, find the .zip and tap it. A folder with the same name appears next to it.
- Android: open Files by Google (or your file manager), tap the .zip and then Extract.
- Mac: double-click the .zip. Windows: right-click it and choose Extract All.
Can't find the file? On iPhone, look in the folder you picked under Save to Files. On Android, look in Drive or Downloads, depending on where you shared it. If you haven't exported the chat yet, here is how to export a WhatsApp chat.
Reading the chat without unzipping it
Open Amberword and choose the .zip, without extracting it first. Your browser reads the text file and the photos, puts each photo back next to its message and shows the chat as pages with bubbles, dates and names. The preview is free, and you can download it as a PDF to keep or print. The file is opened on your device and never uploaded.
Is the ZIP a backup of the chat?
No. You can't import it back into WhatsApp: it is a copy to keep, read or print. WhatsApp's own backup (to iCloud or Google Drive) is the one that restores chats, but it only works inside WhatsApp.
What if I only have a .txt file?
That is an export made Without media: the messages without the photos. Amberword opens it too. To keep the photos, export the chat again and choose With all media on iPhone or Include media on Android.