How to Export WhatsApp Chat With Media (Photos, Videos & Documents) to PDF
alltoolscombined.com Editorial Team
WhatsApp export & privacy tools specialists · alltoolscombined.com ·
Media & Images
When you export a WhatsApp chat "Without Media", you only get a text file — no photos, no voice notes, no videos. But exporting with media gives you a complete record of the conversation including every photo, video, voice note, document, and sticker that was shared. This guide shows you exactly how to do it on both Android and iPhone, and how to convert the result to a beautiful PDF with all media embedded.
- With Media vs Without Media — What Is the Difference?
- How to Export WhatsApp With Media on Android
- How to Export WhatsApp With Media on iPhone
- What Is in the ZIP File?
- Converting the ZIP to PDF With All Photos
- Media Export Limits and Workarounds
- Which Media Types Are Supported?
- Frequently Asked Questions
With Media vs Without Media — The Key Difference
When WhatsApp exports a chat, it always creates a TXT text file with all the messages. The question is whether media files are included alongside it.
Without Media gives you a single TXT file. Photos are shown as IMG-20240315-WA0012.jpg (file attached) in the text — a reference to the file, but the actual image is not included. Voice notes appear as PTT-20240315-WA0012.opus (file attached). You can still convert this to PDF, but photos and voice notes will show as placeholders.
With Media gives you a ZIP file containing the TXT plus all the actual photo, video, audio, and document files. When you upload this ZIP to our converter, every photo is embedded inline in the PDF exactly where it appeared in the conversation.
For most purposes — legal evidence, personal records, complete memories — you should always choose With Media.
How to Export WhatsApp With Media on Android
Internal Storage/WhatsApp/Media.How to Export WhatsApp With Media on iPhone
What Is Inside the ZIP File?
When you export a WhatsApp chat with media, the resulting ZIP file contains a specific set of files. Understanding the structure helps you work with the export more effectively.
The ZIP typically contains: a main text file named something like WhatsApp Chat with Ahmed.txt (the full conversation in plain text), JPEG or PNG image files for every photo shared (named like IMG-20240315-WA0012.jpg), OPUS or M4A audio files for voice notes (named like PTT-20240315-WA0012.opus), MP4 video files for shared videos, PDF files for shared documents, and WEBP files for stickers.
The filenames in the TXT file match the filenames of the media files in the ZIP, which is how our converter knows which photo belongs at which point in the conversation.
Converting the ZIP to PDF With All Photos Embedded
This is where our converter shines. Upload the entire ZIP file — not just the TXT — and every photo is automatically placed inline in the PDF at the exact position it appeared in the conversation.
Photos appear in the PDF inside the chat bubble, exactly as they looked in WhatsApp — followed by the timestamp and sender information. Voice notes appear as a waveform graphic. Videos and documents show descriptive icon placeholders.
Media Export Limits and Workarounds
WhatsApp imposes some limits on media exports that can affect the completeness of your PDF:
Android media limit: WhatsApp on Android includes the most recent 10,000 messages with media in a single export. For longer chats, use our date range filter to export in multiple batches (e.g., January–June, then July–December) and convert each batch to a separate PDF.
iPhone file size limit: iOS restricts the temporary file size during export. Very large media exports may be automatically truncated. Solution: use WhatsApp's built-in storage viewer (Settings → Storage → Manage Storage → select contact) to identify and download any media that has been offloaded before exporting.
Media deleted from device: WhatsApp automatically deletes older media from your device storage to save space. If a photo was shared but the file no longer exists on your phone, it will not be included in the export ZIP. In the PDF, it appears as a grey photo placeholder. Prevention: regularly export important chats before media gets auto-deleted, or disable auto-media deletion in WhatsApp settings.
Which Media Types Are Supported?
| Media Type | In Export ZIP | In PDF Output |
|---|---|---|
| Photos (JPEG, PNG) | ✅ Included | ✅ Embedded inline |
| Voice notes (OPUS, M4A) | ✅ Included | ✅ Shown as waveform graphic |
| Videos (MP4) | ✅ Included | ⚠️ Shown as video placeholder (PDFs cannot play video) |
| Documents (PDF, Word, Excel) | ✅ Included | ⚠️ Shown as document icon with filename |
| Stickers (WEBP) | ✅ Included | ✅ Shown as image where supported |
| GIFs | ✅ Included as MP4 | ⚠️ Shown as video placeholder |
| Contacts (VCF) | ✅ Included | ⚠️ Shown as contact card placeholder |
| Locations | ❌ Not in media export | 📍 Shown as location text in message |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are some photos missing from my exported ZIP?
WhatsApp auto-deletes media that has not been viewed recently to save storage space. If a photo is missing from the ZIP, it means the file was deleted from your device's local storage even though the message reference still exists in the chat. You cannot recover these unless you have a WhatsApp backup from before the auto-deletion.
The ZIP file is very large — is there a size limit for uploading?
Our converter has no file size limit. It runs entirely in your browser and accesses your file directly from your device's memory. Large ZIP files with hundreds of photos may take a bit longer to process, but there is no upload limit because nothing is actually uploaded to a server.
Can I include videos in the PDF?
PDF files do not support embedded video playback. Videos in your export appear as visual placeholders in the PDF with the filename shown. To access the actual video files, open the ZIP file directly with any archive manager — the MP4 files are there and fully playable.
Does the PDF show voice note content or just a placeholder?
Voice notes are displayed as a WhatsApp-style waveform graphic — the same visual you see in WhatsApp when a voice note has not yet been played. The waveform is decorative (PDFs cannot play audio), but it clearly identifies where a voice note occurred in the conversation, including the sender and timestamp.