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Export guides & troubleshooting

40,000 messages without media and 10,000 with media are widely repeated limits, not reliable caps.

Exports we receive regularly carry more than the widely repeated caps. What matters is what your file actually covers, and that takes ten seconds to check.

Analyze your chat
  • Photos stay on your device; from a video, only the audio track your browser extracts is sent.
  • Analysis from $5

How to check what your export covers

1

Export the chat

Export the chat, choosing media only if the voice messages matter to you.

2

Check the preview

See the exact price on the upload screen. Unlock the full conversation only when it is worth it.

3

Confirm the coverage

If that date goes back far enough for what you need, the export is complete enough.

Now that you have the export

Upload the .zip and get a summary, a timeline you can follow, and every voice message in writing. The preview and the price are free to look at, so nothing is spent before you decide.

Upload the export

What the numbers really mean

The caps you have read about are a rough guide at best, and often wrong.

Why the quoted numbers do not hold

Nearly every guide repeats the same two figures. Real exports do not respect them.

  • What we see — single exports arriving here have carried well past 40,000 messages without media, and, with media attached, far past 10,000. Not merged files: one export, one upload.
  • Why the numbers spread anyway — they are plausible, they are repeated by every article on the subject, and almost nobody has a chat long enough to test them.
  • What actually varies is your device, your app version, and how much space it has. That is why a figure copied from an article cannot tell you whether your own export is complete.

What to do instead of trusting a number

WhatsApp's standard export does not let you choose a date range, so you cannot request a specific slice.

  • Export without media when you only need the text. The file is smaller and usually reaches further back, but it carries no voice-message files.
  • Check coverage, not a cap. Upload the intact ZIP and use preview to see the message count and available date range before you rely on it for a decision, a record, or a summary.
  • Keep the original .zip as WhatsApp produced it. Do not assemble a replacement by pasting copied messages: the format and the surrounding context come out incomplete.

Once you have the export

Upload to ThreadRecap — summaries, action items, meeting minutes

No fixed message count per chat on our side

Voice messages transcribed when you include media in the export

Parsing happens in your browser. Chat stored on our servers, delete anytime from your dashboard

Works for 1:1 and groups (focus on 2–5 participants)

Re-export later to update the same conversation

What you can do after export

Summarize the chat

Decisions, action items, open questions.

Get meeting-style minutes

Agenda, decisions, actions.

Transcribe voice messages

Include media in the export and the voice messages are transcribed.

Keep it current

Update an existing analysis when the conversation continues.

Questions? Answered.

Those are the figures almost every guide repeats, including ours until we checked. They do not hold: exports reaching us have carried well beyond both, from a single export with no merging. Treat them as folklore and use preview to check your own ZIP's date range instead.

No. WhatsApp's export has no date selector: it takes the most recent messages that fit and stops. Exporting without media usually reaches further back, because the file stays smaller.

Choose “Include media”. That export is heavier, so it may not reach as far back, but there is no fixed message count at which it stops. Open the file afterwards and confirm the voice messages you need are in it.

ThreadRecap does not set a fixed message count for a chat. You can upload a ZIP up to 5 GB; the preview shows the available date range before you analyze it.

We parse the .zip in your browser. The text is used for analysis, and so is the audio of every voice message the export contains. Your chat is stored on our servers so your analysis stays accessible, and you can delete anytime from your dashboard. See our Privacy Policy.

Almost never a message limit. Low device storage and Advanced Chat Privacy are the usual causes. Try “Export without media”, free up space, and see our “WhatsApp export chat not working” and “WhatsApp advanced chat privacy export blocked” pages.

Privacy and security

Parsing happens in your browser; only necessary data is sent.

Stored on our servers. Delete anytime from your dashboard.

Photos, video files, and their visual content never leave your device. For transcription, we send chat text and the audio of every voice message, including the audio track your browser extracts from each video.

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