WhatsApp export without media — what you actually get

What a WhatsApp export without media actually gives you

WhatsApp's Export Chat instructions describe the choice between exporting with and without media. The practical distinction is attachment files, not whether the original conversation is deleted or changed. Exporting creates a separate copy; keep the original chat if you still need it.

The text export contains the messages supplied by WhatsApp, their exported sender labels and their timestamps. A sender label is what the export records; it is not independently verified identity. Formatting and filenames vary across operating systems and locales. _chat.txt is common, but a different text filename does not make an export invalid.

Photos, videos, recordings and documents are not embedded inside a plain text file. Their references may appear as an omitted-media marker, an attachment filename or another localized message. You cannot turn that reference back into the missing file using a PDF converter.

Do not assume completeness from file size. A small file may contain the text you need, or it may omit older history. Open it and inspect the date range. If older messages are missing, see the large and incomplete export guide.

What the media placeholders mean

Here is a fictional illustration of a text-only export. Actual timestamp formats and omission labels can differ:

06/09/2026, 09:10 - Alex: Please check the meeting time.
06/09/2026, 09:12 - Sam: <Media omitted>
06/09/2026, 09:14 - Alex: Confirmed for 10:00.

The middle line does not contain Sam's photo or recording. It tells you that a message existed where media is unavailable in this export. It does not establish what the attachment contained, or even distinguish every media type reliably.

Text messages can also span several lines. Counting line breaks in a text editor is therefore not the same as counting WhatsApp messages. A parser needs to recognize message boundaries and preserve continuation lines.

For a concrete output example, inspect our fictional CSV and Excel samples. These demonstrate the exporter's columns; they are not customer records or proof that every WhatsApp export is complete.

When Without Media is the right choice

Text-only exports are usually smaller because they exclude attachment files. There is no universal export time or guaranteed size: message volume, device performance and the sharing destination still matter.

If your only problem is an email attachment limit, exporting Without Media changes what you preserve. If the attachments matter, keep them and transfer the original ZIP through Files, Drive or a suitable device-to-device route.

Check the export before converting it

1. Save the export somewhere you can find again. On iPhone, use the share sheet's Files option when available. On Android, use your file manager or a storage destination offered by the share sheet.
2. If you received a ZIP, inspect a copy and find the chat's TXT file. Preserve the original ZIP.
3. Open the text and compare the first and last messages with the period you intended to save.
4. Check a multiline message and several sender/date changes. Do not interpret media placeholders as attachment contents.
5. Choose the output you need. Reading the TXT may already solve the task. For a free text-only PDF, open or paste it into a document app and export as PDF. For structured rows, use a WhatsApp-aware parser and check the result before analysis.

ChatToPDF's viewer offers a formatted sample of an exported chat. Its upload is server-processed; it is not a local-only viewer. For a paid artifact, the PDF guide, Excel converter and CSV converter explain the different outputs.

Pricing for text-only and media outputs

ChatToPDF charges once for the chat being converted. The $7 Basic package covers up to 5,000 messages and includes text-only PDF, XLSX and CSV. Standard is $14 for up to 25,000 messages with supported images; Premium is $29 with no message-count cap. The upload size limit still applies.

Voice transcription and the playable-audio bundle require the actual audio files. The $49 Premium + Voice package covers up to eight audio hours in one chat; Power User is $99 for a chat above that duration. Uploads are limited to 150 MB, including the higher tiers. Check current package details and the preview's price before paying.

Buying a higher tier cannot recover attachments or messages absent from the uploaded export. Re-export with media when audio or images are essential.

Frequently asked questions