Kayabyte

How to print WhatsApp messages on a Mac

By Kayabyte · Last updated 31 October 2026

Short answer: WhatsApp on a Mac cannot print a chat as a document. Export the chat from your phone (iPhone: tap the contact name, then Export Chat; Android: three dots, More, Export chat), send the file to your Mac, open the text file in TextEdit and choose File, Print, then PDF, Save as PDF. That is free and works for a short chat. For a long chat with photos, page numbers and an Excel file, a Mac app such as Exhibitly does it in a few clicks.

Method 1: export the chat, then print the text file (free)

  1. Export on the phone. iPhone: open the chat, tap the name at the top, scroll down, tap Export Chat, choose Attach Media or Without Media. Android: open the chat, tap the three dots, More, Export chat, choose Include media or Without media.
  2. Send it to the Mac. AirDrop from an iPhone, or email, Google Drive or a cable from Android.
  3. Unpack it. Double-click the .zip. The chat is the .txt file inside, with photos and videos next to it.
  4. Print. Open the .txt in TextEdit, choose File, Print. To print on paper pick your printer. For a PDF click the PDF menu at the bottom left and choose Save as PDF.

What you get: plain text, one line per message with date, time and sender. What you do not get: page numbers, photos beside their messages, a cover page, or anything showing the file was not changed. Check that the date order is what you expect, because the file does not say whether 03/04 is the 3rd of April or the 4th of March.

You can open WhatsApp Web in a browser, scroll up through the chat and print the page, but the browser only prints what is loaded and the layout breaks across pages. Screenshots crop times and context. Neither is a good record.

Method 3: Exhibitly

Exhibitly is a Mac app we make. Version 1.1.0 reads the WhatsApp export file from step 2 of method 1:

  1. Choose File, Import WhatsApp Chat… or drop the .zip or .txt on the window.
  2. If dates could be read two ways, Exhibitly asks. You can say which person is you and which time zone the times are in.
  3. Choose the messages (Messages, Pick Messages), hide what should not be printed, and Export.
  4. You get a PDF with page numbers, dates, times and senders and photos inline, an Excel file, the original attachments, and a verification page. Print the PDF from Preview.

If you also have a Finder backup of the iPhone, Exhibitly can read WhatsApp from it directly, with exact times and all media, no export needed. It does not read WhatsApp for Mac’s own database. Nothing is uploaded. Free preview: 50 messages per export with a watermark. Personal USD 39, Evidence Bundle USD 69, one time.

Download Exhibitly (free preview). macOS 14 or later.

Printing for court?

See How to export a WhatsApp chat to PDF for court (iPhone) or (Android). Courts decide what they accept; ask a lawyer. For iMessage and text messages instead, see How to print iMessages from a Mac.