WhatsApp Backup Reader

Browse your WhatsApp exports offline. Your data stays on your device.

English • Português • Español • Français • Deutsch • Italiano • Nederlands • 日本語 • 中文 • Русский

Features • Quick Start • Export Guide • Privacy • Contributing

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What it does

Drop a WhatsApp .zip export and browse your messages, photos, and voice notes. Works with big chats (tested with 10k+ messages).

The Media Gallery gives you a visual overview of all photos, videos, and audio files organized by date. Select multiple items and download them as a ZIP file, or click any media to view it full-screen and jump to the original message.

Voice messages can be transcribed using Whisper, which runs in your browser via WebGPU. No server, no API key needed.

Screenshots

Start Screen	Chat View

Chat Options	Perspective Mode

Bookmarks	Statistics

Voice Transcription	Media Gallery

Download Selected	Go to date

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Download

Get the desktop app for your platform:

Windows

• Download WhatsApp-Backup-Reader-Setup-{version}.exe from latest release
• Run the installer and follow the setup wizard
• The app will auto-update when new versions are available

macOS

• Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3): Download WhatsApp-Backup-Reader-{version}-arm64.dmg
• Intel: Download WhatsApp-Backup-Reader-{version}.dmg
• Open the DMG file and drag the app to Applications
• On first launch, right-click the app and select "Open" to bypass Gatekeeper

Linux

• Debian/Ubuntu: Download whats-reader_{version}_amd64.deb or whats-reader_{version}_arm64.deb

  sudo dpkg -i whats-reader_{version}_amd64.deb

• Fedora/RHEL: Download whats-reader-{version}.x86_64.rpm or whats-reader-{version}.aarch64.rpm

  sudo rpm -i whats-reader-{version}.x86_64.rpm

• Other distros (Arch, etc.): Download WhatsApp-Backup-Reader-{version}.AppImage

  chmod +x WhatsApp-Backup-Reader-{version}.AppImage
  ./WhatsApp-Backup-Reader-{version}.AppImage

Or use the web version: Visit rodrigogs.github.io/whats-reader - no installation needed!

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Features

• Media Gallery: Browse all photos, videos, and audio in a thumbnail grid view
  • Date-based organization with calendar navigation
  • Bulk select and download as ZIP
  • Lightbox preview with navigation back to original message
• Auto-update: Desktop app automatically checks and installs updates (Electron only)
• Voice transcription: Transcribe audio with Whisper (runs locally, 12+ languages)
• Search: Full-text search across messages and transcriptions
• Bookmarks: Save messages with notes, export/import as JSON
• Perspective mode: View the chat as any participant
• Statistics: Message counts, activity charts, timeline
• Dark mode: Follows system or toggle manually (preference saved)
• Multi-language UI: English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, Russian
• Desktop app: macOS, Windows, Linux via Electron

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Quick Start

Prerequisites

You need Node.js installed (version 18 or later). Download it from nodejs.org and run the installer.

To check if you have it:

node --version

Running the app

1. Clone or download this project
2. Open a terminal in the project folder
3. Run these commands:

npm install
npm run dev

4. Open localhost:5173 in your browser
5. Drag and drop your WhatsApp .zip file into the page

Desktop app (optional)

If you prefer a standalone app instead of using your browser:

npm run electron:dev    # run in dev mode
npm run electron:build  # create an installer for your OS

Platform-specific builds:

npm run electron:build:mac    # macOS (dmg, zip)
npm run electron:build:win    # Windows (nsis, portable)
npm run electron:build:linux  # Linux (deb, rpm, AppImage)

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How to Export from WhatsApp

First, you need to export a chat from WhatsApp on your phone. This creates a .zip file containing your messages and media.

iPhone

1. Open WhatsApp and go to any chat
2. Tap the contact or group name at the top of the screen
3. Scroll down and tap Export Chat
4. Choose Attach Media to include photos, videos, and voice messages
5. Save the file (you can AirDrop it to your Mac, save to Files, or email it to yourself)

Android

1. Open WhatsApp and go to any chat
2. Tap the three dots ⋮ in the top right corner
3. Tap More → Export chat
4. Choose Include media
5. Save or share the .zip file to your computer

Tips

• Large chats may take a few minutes to export
• The file will be named something like WhatsApp Chat with John.zip
• Both individual and group chats work

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Privacy & Security

This app is designed with privacy as the top priority. Your WhatsApp data never leaves your device.

Why it's secure

• 100% Offline: The app works entirely without internet. No servers, no cloud, no data transmission.
• Local processing: All parsing, search, and analysis happens in your browser or Electron app.
• Local AI: Voice transcription uses Whisper running locally via WebGPU. No audio is sent to any server or API.
• No tracking: Zero analytics, telemetry, or third-party scripts. No Google Analytics, no cookies.
• No account required: No registration, no login, no personal data collected.
• Open source: The entire codebase is public under AGPL-3.0. Anyone can audit it.

How to verify

Don't just trust us. Verify it yourself:

1. Read the source code
   Browse the GitHub repository. The main logic is in src/lib/ and src/routes/.

2. Check network requests
   Open the browser's DevTools (F12) → Network tab → Use the app. You'll see zero external requests (except initial page load if using web version).

3. Test offline
   Disconnect from the internet, then use the app. Everything works because nothing requires a connection.

4. Build from source
   Clone the repo and build it yourself:

   git clone https://github.com/rodrigogs/whats-reader.git
   cd whats-reader
   npm install
   npm run build

5. Audit the Electron app
   The desktop app uses the same web code. Check electron/main.cjs and electron/preload.cjs. They only handle window management and file dialogs.

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Development

Scripts

Command	Description
npm run dev	Start dev server at localhost:5173
npm run build	Build for production
npm run preview	Preview production build
npm run check	Type check with svelte-check
npm run check:watch	Type check in watch mode
npm run lint	Lint with Biome
npm run lint:fix	Auto-fix lint issues
npm run format	Format code with Biome
npm run electron	Build and run Electron app
npm run electron:dev	Run Electron in dev mode
npm run electron:build	Build Electron installer
npm run electron:build:mac	Build for macOS
npm run electron:build:win	Build for Windows
npm run electron:build:linux	Build for Linux
npm run machine-translate	Auto-translate with inlang

Adding translations

Translation files are in messages/. To add a new language:

1. Copy messages/en.json to messages/{locale}.json
2. Translate the strings
3. Add the locale to project.inlang/settings.json

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Built with

• SvelteKit + Svelte 5 - Framework
• Tailwind CSS 4 - Styling
• Electron - Desktop app
• Transformers.js - Whisper AI for transcription
• JSZip - ZIP file handling
• Paraglide JS - Internationalization

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Contributing

Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue on GitHub.

Want to contribute code? Fork the repo, make your changes, and open a pull request.

There are example chat files in examples/chats/ you can use for testing.

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Star History

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License

AGPL-3.0. You can use, modify, and distribute this software freely. If you modify it and run it as a service or distribute it, you must share your source code under the same license.