whatsapp-chat-to-pdf

Convert an exported WhatsApp chat (_chat.txt or .zip) into a clean, styled PDF — from the command line.

A small, dependency-light tool for turning a WhatsApp chat export into a readable PDF document. Available as a Python package (pip install whatsapp-chat-to-pdf) and a Node / npm package (npx whatsapp-chat-to-pdf). Works offline, on your own machine — your conversations never leave your computer.

💡 Don't want to install anything? If you'd rather drop in a chat export and get a media-rich PDF in your browser — with images, voice notes, emoji and pixel-perfect WhatsApp formatting — use the hosted converter at chattopdf.app. This CLI covers the text/offline case; the web app covers everything else.

Why this exists

Most open-source WhatsApp exporters output raw HTML or JSON. This one is built for the most common real-world need: a tidy PDF you can read, print, archive or email — a chat log, a keepsake, or a record for your files.

The hard part of parsing WhatsApp exports is that the _chat.txt timestamp format changes by device, locale and language. This parser handles 14 timestamp formats out of the box, including:

• iOS bracketed — [2024/07/09, 08:01:49] Name: … and [2026-03-02, 6:39:22 AM] …
• Android dashed — 3/15/24, 2:30 PM - Name: …
• European dotted — 15.03.2024, 14:30 - Name: …
• Dutch / Brazilian / Spanish iOS / ISO variants
• Non-Western numerals (Arabic, Persian, Devanagari/Hindi, Thai)
• CJK / Arabic / Persian AM-PM markers (上午/下午, 午前/午後, 오전/오후, ص/م, ق.ظ/ب.ظ)

It also correctly classifies media, calls, deleted and system messages, stitches multi-line messages back together, and skips the macOS ._chat.txt resource-fork that silently corrupts many other parsers.

Install & use

Python

pip install whatsapp-chat-to-pdf
whatsapp-chat-to-pdf _chat.txt -o my-chat.pdf

Or use it as a library:

from whatsapp_chat_to_pdf import parse_file, render

chat = parse_file("WhatsApp Chat with Alice.zip")
print(chat.message_count, "messages from", chat.participants)
render(chat, "alice.pdf", title="Chat with Alice")

Node / npm

npx whatsapp-chat-to-pdf _chat.txt -o my-chat.pdf
# or: npm i -g whatsapp-chat-to-pdf

import { parseText, render } from "whatsapp-chat-to-pdf";
const chat = parseText(fs.readFileSync("_chat.txt", "utf8"));
await render(chat, "out.pdf", { title: "Chat with Alice" });

How to get the _chat.txt export from WhatsApp

1. Open the chat → tap the contact/group name.
2. Scroll down → Export Chat → Without Media (or With Media for the .zip).
3. Save the .txt/.zip to your computer.
4. Run the command above.

(Full step-by-step with screenshots for iPhone & Android: chattopdf.app guide.)

Scope

| | This CLI | chattopdf.app (hosted) | |---|:---:|:---:| | Text → styled PDF, offline | ✅ | ✅ | | 14 locale/date formats | ✅ | ✅ | | Inline images & media | — | ✅ | | Voice-note transcription | — | ✅ | | Full emoji & CJK glyphs | — | ✅ | | No install, runs in browser | — | ✅ |

Emoji and CJK render as the bundled DejaVu font allows; for full fidelity use the hosted version.

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome — especially new timestamp formats from locales not yet covered. Drop a sample of the offending _chat.txt header line in an issue.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.