TextTrace field guides
Make the conversation useful.
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WhatsApp exports
WhatsApp exports
12 guides
Turn a WhatsApp chat into a searchable PDF on iPhone.
Use WhatsApp’s own Export Chat file as the source. TextTrace reads the transcript directly, keeps included media connected, and creates a PDF after you review the record.
5 min · Updated 2026-09-05→
Open the WhatsApp TXT you already have.
WhatsApp’s Export Chat command creates a transcript. TextTrace parses supported TXT or ZIP files directly, then gives you search, attachment context, and practical export formats.
4 min · Updated 2026-09-05→
How to print WhatsApp messages from your iPhone
Export the conversation from WhatsApp, import its TXT or ZIP into TextTrace, then make a searchable PDF or print it with AirPrint. The chat text is read directly from the export; screenshots and OCR are not needed.
6 min · Updated 2026-09-23→Keep WhatsApp messages and media in the same review path.
A with-media export is more than a transcript. It is a ZIP containing the TXT plus the attachments WhatsApp included, ready to be matched and checked in context.
6 min · Updated 2026-09-05→Make a busy WhatsApp group readable again.
Group chats add participants, system events, repeated names, and more media. Import the supported export, narrow the scope, and check the record before creating a PDF.
6 min · Updated 2026-09-05→
Keep the voice note next to the messages around it.
A transcript is useful for search, not a replacement for the audio. Import the available attachment, transcribe supported audio when needed, and check important wording by listening.
6 min · Updated 2026-09-05→Do not call a WhatsApp export complete until you check it.
A transcript can look polished and still begin late, end early, omit media, or carry gaps from the source. Use a repeatable boundary check before relying on the record.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-05→If WhatsApp’s Export Chat option is missing, check privacy first.
Open the individual or group conversation, tap its name, and look for Export Chat in Chat Info. If it is absent, Advanced Chat Privacy may be blocking exports; WhatsApp documents that behavior. Do not change a sensitive chat’s privacy setting without the participants’ agreement.
6 min · Updated 2026-09-07→When a WhatsApp export is too large, separate the transcript from the media problem.
Start with a Without Media export. It gives you the transcript path with far less transfer overhead. Then preserve important attachments separately or retry Include Media with enough local storage and a destination that accepts the package.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-07→A WhatsApp ZIP cannot contain media that WhatsApp did not package.
First decide whether the transcript references the missing item. Then check whether a matching file exists in the original ZIP. That distinction tells you whether the gap began at export, during file handling, or during import.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-07→If a WhatsApp TXT will not import, check the source before editing it.
Keep the original export untouched. Verify that you selected WhatsApp’s transcript TXT or its complete ZIP—not a shortcut, cloud placeholder, renamed document, or an extracted media file—and retry from a local copy in Files.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-07→Treat a WhatsApp timestamp as displayed source data, not universal time.
WhatsApp exports can use locale-dependent date formats and may not state a time-zone offset on every message line. Preserve the original TXT, record the phone’s locale and time-zone context, and verify important dates against the conversation.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-07→iPhone, iMessage and visual capture
iPhone, iMessage and visual capture
13 guidesTurn chat screenshots into text you can search.
Choose up to 40 clear screenshots in reading order. TextTrace sends necessary unique visual frames through its backend to Google Vision, builds a conversation record, and keeps your selected source for review.
5 min · Updated 2026-09-05→How to save iMessage as a PDF on iPhone without a computer
Capture the messages you need, import the screenshots or recording into TextTrace, review the recognized text and save a searchable PDF. You can do this on your iPhone; TextTrace does not connect directly to your Messages history.
6 min · Updated 2026-09-23→How to print iPhone text messages with dates and times
Make the dates and times visible in Messages before capturing the conversation. Import the captures into TextTrace, compare the recognized details with the originals, then print a PDF with TextTrace Pro.
6 min · Updated 2026-09-23→
Save the part of a long conversation you can actually verify.
“Entire conversation” is a completeness claim. Define the boundaries, capture visible segments with overlap, and record what the selected source does—and does not—cover.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-05→Scroll once. Search the visible conversation afterward.
A careful screen recording can capture a longer visible thread than individual screenshots. TextTrace selects useful unique frames, recognizes visible text, and builds a record for review.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-05→Review WhatsApp chats from an accessible iPhone backup on Mac.
When direct WhatsApp Export Chat is not the right scope, TextTrace for Mac can inspect a user-selected, accessible unencrypted Finder or iTunes backup for supported WhatsApp data.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-05→An iMessage screenshot can only preserve the timestamps you make visible.
Before capturing, reveal the conversation header and time markers needed to understand the exchange. Use overlap between screenshots, avoid cropping, and keep the original images; OCR cannot reconstruct a timestamp that was never visible.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-07→Use screenshots for a short, exact scope; use screen recording for a longer visible run.
If the chat app offers a supported direct TXT or ZIP export, start there. Otherwise choose screenshots when you need a small number of precise moments, and screen recording when manual images would be slow or easy to misorder.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-07→A useful chat screen recording is slow, scoped, and easy to verify.
Record a short test first. Make names and date anchors visible, scroll at a steady reading pace with pauses, prevent notifications from appearing, and inspect the recording before processing the full conversation.
8 min · Updated 2026-09-07→Fix the source image before trusting the extracted chat text.
When OCR looks wrong, compare the message with its screenshot first. Sharp uncropped images, correct reading order, visible headers and dates, and deliberate overlap solve more problems than editing the final PDF.
8 min · Updated 2026-09-07→A group chat needs a participant map before it needs a polished PDF.
List the relevant people, name or number changes, date range, and system events before sharing a group conversation. Display names help navigation, but they are not independent proof of identity.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-07→TextTrace does not bypass encrypted iPhone backups.
The Mac importer reads only a user-selected, unencrypted Finder or iTunes backup. If your backup is encrypted, use the password and Apple’s supported controls to create an appropriate new backup, or choose a direct export, screenshots, or screen recording.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-07→A readable iPhone backup is not automatically a complete message history.
Verify when and how the backup was created, whether it is encrypted, what the device and iCloud currently hold, and which exact messages or attachments are missing. Preserve the backup before creating or replacing anything.
8 min · Updated 2026-09-07→Other chat apps
Other chat apps
4 guidesTurn the Instagram DMs you can see into a record you can search.
TextTrace does not connect to your Instagram account. You choose the visible screenshots or screen recording, review the extracted conversation, and decide what to export.
6 min · Updated 2026-09-05→Make a visible Messenger conversation easier to review.
Use selected screenshots for a short exchange or a careful screen recording for a longer one. TextTrace builds a searchable record from visible content—not from a Facebook login.
6 min · Updated 2026-09-05→Create a searchable record from the Telegram chat on screen.
For the iPhone workflow, TextTrace uses the visual source you select. It does not sign in to Telegram or promise access to cloud, secret, deleted, or off-screen content.
6 min · Updated 2026-09-05→Organize the Signal messages that are still visible.
TextTrace works from screenshots or a screen recording you explicitly select. It does not bypass Signal protections, access hidden data, or recover messages that have disappeared.
6 min · Updated 2026-09-05→Attorney, HR and dispute workflows
Attorney, HR and dispute workflows
9 guidesPrepare messages for your attorney to review.
Start with the scope the reviewer needs. Keep the source, preserve surrounding context, check extracted wording, and hand over a readable file through an approved channel.
6 min · Updated 2026-09-05→Find the pattern, approval, delivery date, or payment message.
Use a scoped conversation record to review what happened over time—without turning TextTrace into employee monitoring or promising an outcome in a dispute.
6 min · Updated 2026-09-05→Give a small-claims reviewer a timeline, not a screenshot pile.
Start with the disputed agreement, delivery, payment, or follow-up dates. Keep the original source, include surrounding context, and separate what the messages show from what you infer.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-05→Turn co-parenting messages into a neutral review timeline.
Focus on verifiable exchanges about schedules, handoffs, school, health, expenses, and follow-up. Keep context and let your attorney decide what is relevant.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-05→Prepare workplace messages for a focused HR review.
Preserve what was said, when it appeared, who was visibly involved, and what followed. Keep your notes separate and use the reporting channel your organization provides.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-05→Connect the promise, delivery, invoice, and follow-up.
Payment disputes are easier to review when messages are tied to concrete events. Search the conversation, verify dates and amounts, and keep contracts and invoices as separate supporting sources.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-05→Give your attorney a map to the messages—not just a folder of screenshots.
Ask what the reviewer needs, preserve the originals, create a readable working copy, and include a short scope note. TextTrace helps organize selected material; it does not certify authenticity or guarantee admissibility.
8 min · Updated 2026-09-07→Do not read a 50,000-message chat from the beginning.
Define the question, then narrow the record by person, visible date, phrase, attachment type, source, direction, or available transcript. Open each result in surrounding context before deciding what belongs in the handoff.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-07→Keep every quoted chat passage connected to the source you reviewed.
Preserve the original export, build a searchable working record, log consent and scope separately, and check every quote against the source. Use CSV for analysis and PDF for human reading, but de-identify only on a working copy.
8 min · Updated 2026-09-07→Formats, integrity and specialist review
Formats, integrity and specialist review
5 guidesPut each message into a row you can filter.
Import the conversation, review the reconstructed record, then export CSV for sorting by people, visible dates, text, and other available fields.
4 min · Updated 2026-09-05→Choose PDF for reading. Choose CSV for working.
The same reviewed conversation can serve different jobs. A PDF preserves a readable sequence; a CSV turns message fields into rows you can filter and analyze.
6 min · Updated 2026-09-05→A checksum can reveal a changed file—not prove the whole story.
The current TextTrace export UI does not promise a checksum sidecar. If your workflow requires SHA-256, calculate it independently for the exact exported file and record the method; byte equality is a much narrower claim than authenticity.
7 min · Updated 2026-09-05→Understand RSMF before choosing a specialist export tool.
RSMF packages short-message data for compatible review systems, but it is not selectable in the current TextTrace export menu. Use this guide to understand the request, then confirm a supported tool with the receiving team.
8 min · Updated 2026-09-05→“Private” should describe a data path, not a slogan.
TextTrace uses different processing routes for different sources. Supported transcript files can be parsed directly, while visual extraction uses Google Cloud Vision through the TextTrace service. Review the in-app disclosure and current privacy policy before importing sensitive material.
8 min · Updated 2026-09-07→Choose the source you actually have
Use a WhatsApp TXT or ZIP when the app can export the conversation directly. Use selected screenshots or a scrolling screen recording when the conversation is only visible on screen.
Every visual extraction needs review. TextTrace keeps the source available so important wording can be checked before the next handoff.
TextTrace
Turn the conversation into something you can use.
Import it. Check it. Search it. Export the format your next step needs.