Signal chat export viewer
Open the folder Signal made when you exported your chat history. Read each chat with names, photos and replies, search it, and print Signal messages or save them as a PDF.
Open your Signal export
The folder starts with signal-export. You can also drop it here.On a phone, zip the signal-export folder first, then choose the zip.
Your chats stay on this device. Nothing is uploaded.
No export yet? How to make one or open a made-up example
What’s in this export
How to export your Signal chats
- In Signal Desktop, open Settings, then Chats, then Export chat history. On Android it is in the same place: Settings, Chats, Export chat history.
- Choose whether to include media. Photos and voice messages make the export bigger but let you see them here.
- Signal asks you to confirm it’s you, then to pick a folder. It writes a folder named signal-export with the date.
- Choose that folder above. On a phone, zip the folder first and choose the zip.
Signal on iPhone doesn’t offer Export chat history yet. If the chats are on an iPhone, install Signal Desktop on a computer, link it to the iPhone and choose Transfer Message History: Signal copies your chats and the last 45 days of media (Signal’s help on linking). Then export from Signal Desktop. A Desktop linked without the transfer only has messages from after it was linked.
What the printout shows
Every page carries the chat name and “page 3 of 12”. The first page lists the people in the chat, the dates covered, the time zone, and what isn’t shown: photos that weren’t in the export, view-once media, and disappearing messages, which Signal never exports. Each message prints with its sender and time, replies print with the message they answer, and edited messages keep their earlier versions.
Questions people ask
How do I export my Signal chat history?
In Signal Desktop: Settings, Chats, Export chat history. On Android: Settings, Chats, Export chat history. Choose whether to include media, then pick a folder. Signal makes a folder starting with signal-export. Signal on iPhone doesn't have this option yet: link Signal Desktop to the iPhone, choose Transfer Message History, then export from Desktop.
Is it safe to open my chats here?
Your export is read by your own browser and never leaves your device. Nothing is uploaded or stored. Close the tab and it's gone. The page only remembers which chat you had open, so it can take you back there next time.
Why are some photos missing?
Each missing item says why. The export may have been made without media, or the photo was never downloaded to the device that exported. If you picked only the main.jsonl file, pick the whole folder instead.
Can I open it on my phone?
Yes. Most phones can't pick a whole folder, so zip the export folder first, with your phone’s file manager or on a computer, then choose the zip here. The zip is read where it is; nothing is unpacked or uploaded.
How do I save a Signal chat as a PDF?
Open the chat, set From and To if you only want some dates, and press Print or save as PDF. In the print window, choose Save as PDF. Every page has the chat name and a page number.
Are disappearing messages included?
No. Signal leaves disappearing messages out of the export, and view-once photos too. The printout says so on its first page, so nobody reading it assumes the chat is complete.
Can I use the printout as evidence?
Courts and lawyers set their own rules, so ask what they accept. The printout shows who was in the chat, the dates, the time zone, every edit and deletion, and what is missing. Keep the original export folder unchanged as well.
This viewer is not made by or connected with Signal.