6 Simple Ways to Transfer WhatsApp Messages from iPhone to Computer

If you chat a lot on WhatsApp with friends or family members, you might have many important texts, photos, videos, or other attachments that you can't afford to lose. In fact, you may come across a number of situations where you need to transfer WhatsApp messages from iPhone to computer:

• Back up WhatsApp chat history on your computer so you can recover it when you accidentally delete the data on your iPhone.
• Sometimes, you need to export the WhatsApp chat history or attachments to a computer in a readable format for printing.
• Or if you have just switched your iPhone, you need to transfer WhatsApp messages from your computer to other devices.

So, how to transfer WhatsApp messages from iPhone to PC? You've come to the right place. In this article, you will learn 6 different ways to export WhatsApp chats to computer, including texts, photos, videos and other attachments.

Download WhatsApp Media Files via WhatsApp Web

We can download WhatsApp photos and videos via WhatsApp Web. After logging into the web version, the WhatsApp texts will be displayed on the web so that we can copy them and download the media files.

• Open the site of web.whatsapp.com on computer.
• Open WhatsApp and click on WhatsApp Web. For iPhone users, go to WhatsApp Settings and tap on WhatsApp Web, then scan the QR code on web.whatsapp.com.
• After successful login, select one contact and the chat history with the contact will be displayed. When you tap the download icon in the bottom right corner, the WhatsApp media files will be exported to your PC.

Transfer WhatsApp Messages from iPhone to PC via Email

A useful but not straightforward workaround to export WhatsApp messages and attachments on your iPhone to PC is via email. However, there is a drawback of using this method - you can export one conversation at a time and attach limited media files. So, if you have a large amount of WhatsApp data, this method is not that convenient.

To export WhatsApp conversations from iPhone to PC, these are the steps to follow;

• Open WhatsApp and tap on Chats, then find the conversation you want to export.
• On the navigation bar, tap on the contact name and choose "Export Chat".
• Select "Attach Media" or "Without Media", then choose Mail from the share sheet.
• Enter your email address and click on "Send" to send your WhatsApp chat as an attachment to the email.

Now you can log into your email account on your computer and view your WhatsApp chat history.

Backup WhatsApp Chat History to PC with iTunes

Another option to transfer WhatsApp messages to a PC or Mac is to back up your iPhone with iTunes. However, this method is less convenient than the above two methods. Instead of backing up only your WhatsApp messages, iTunes will back up everything on your iPhone. However, you're not allowed to view the WhatsApp messages in the backup files directly, and there is no way to restore only WhatsApp data.

To backup WhatsApp chat history on your iPhone with iTunes, follow these steps;

• Connect your iPhone to computer with a USB lightning cable and then open iTunes.
• Click on the device icon and the Summary tab, click on "Back Up Now".
• iTunes will create a full backup of your iPhone on the computer, including WhatsApp chats.

Transfer WhatsApp Messages to Computer wtih Professional Software

WhatsApp allows you to keep a backup copy of chat history via iCloud. However, these messages cannot be accessed or viewed from iPhone or PC. If you want to view your WhatsApp chats later, consider using FoneGeek iOS Backup & Restore.

It is by far the best solution for backing up and restoring iPhone data, including WhatsApp messages. This tool allows you to transfer and backup all WhatsApp data, such as messages, pictures, videos, audio, and attachments, from iPhone to computer with one click. It supports all iOS devices, including the latest iPhone 15/14/13 running on iOS 17/16.

Download this iOS WhatsApp Backup tool from FoneGeek official site and install it on your computer, then follow the steps to transfer WhatsApp messages to PC;

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to computer using USB cable. Once the device is detected, tap "Backup & Restore" on the top menu.

Step 2: Choose "WhatsApp & Attachments" and any other file types that you want to transfer and backup, then click on "Backup".

Step 3: Click "View Backup Data" when the backup is completed, the WhatsApp chats in the backup file will be extracted and displayed.

Step 4: Preview the WhatsApp messages and choose the conversations you need, then click "Export to Computer" to transfer WhatsApp chats to PC.

Transfer WhatsApp Messages to PC with FoneGeek iPhone Data Recovery

If you want to transfer WhatsApp messages from your iPhone to computer for backup, a third-party iOS data recovery tool also does the trick. FoneGeek iPhone Data Recovery allows you to recover and export deleted and existing WhatsApp messages and other data to your computer in readable formats.

If you've backed up your iPhone with iCloud or iTunes, you can easily extract WhatsApp messages or other data from the backup files and selectively export them to your computer without restoring the iPhone. You can also preview WhatsApp chat history before recovery.

FoneGeek iPhone WhatsApp Recovery is very easy to use. Download and install it on your computer, and then follow the steps below to recover/backup iPhone WhatsApp messages to PC;

Step 1. Launch the iPhone WhatsApp Recovery and choose "Recover Data from iOS Devices" from the main interface.

Step 2. Conect your iPhone to the computer and wait for the program to detect it. Then you need to mark the "WhatsApp & Attachments" and click on "Scan".

Step 3. After the scanning, the program will show all the WhatsApp chat history that can be transferred. You can transfer all of them or only the selected messages and export them to your computer by hitting "Recover to PC".

Transfer WhatsApp Chat in PC via iCloud

For iPhone users, there is a unique advantage to export WhatsApp conversations: iCloud. You can sync WhatsApp chats to iCloud and then access iCloud.com to download the WhatsApp data to your computer. Before that, confirm that there is enough storage to store WhatsApp messages.

• Launch WhatsApp on iPhone and log into WhatsApp.
• Go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup and click on ‘Back Up Now’ to back up the chat history to iCloud.
• Then open icloud.com on your computer and log in with your WhatsApp account.
• When WhatsApp backup content is loaded, select the backup and download it to your computer.

Conclusion

It's always a good idea to backup important iPhone WhatsApp messages to avoid unexpected data loss. Here we've introduced 6 different ways to transfer WhatsApp messages from iPhone to computer. Below is a comparison table to give you a clear understanding of them.