How to Export Telegram Chat History
Telegram Desktop can export a single chat or your entire account as structured JSON or readable HTML, with no message cap. This guide covers both methods, the mobile workaround, and what the export does and does not contain.
- Telegram Desktop
- Mobile workaround
- JSON & HTML
- Ready for analysis
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How to export a Telegram chat
- Install Telegram Desktop on a Windows, Mac, or Linux computer and sign in with your phone number.
- Open the chat, click the three-dot menu, and choose Export chat history.
- Untick photos, videos, and files, and set the format to Machine-readable JSON (or HTML to read it in a browser).
- Click Export. Telegram saves result.json in a ChatExport folder.
The Android and iPhone apps have no export option, but your cloud chats sync to Desktop automatically. On a newly signed-in computer, Telegram makes you wait 24 hours before exporting.
Telegram is unusually generous with your own data: the desktop app can export any chat, or everything at once, in a few clicks with no message limit. The catch is that the tool only exists on desktop. Once you have the file, it is ready for AI chat analysis.
Key takeaways
- The fastest route is per chat: three-dot menu, then Export chat history, in Telegram Desktop.
- Choose Machine-readable JSON and untick media for a small file you can upload directly.
- There is no message cap and no cost, but Secret Chats are excluded and a fresh login triggers a 24-hour wait.
- Phones cannot export. Install Telegram Desktop, sign in, and the history is already there.
Before you start
- You need Telegram Desktop, the app from desktop.telegram.org. On a Mac, the App Store app simply called "Telegram" is a different client and has no export tool.
- No limits. Unlike WhatsApp's 40,000-message cap, Telegram exports the full cloud history of a chat.
- Secret Chats stay on the device. They are end-to-end encrypted and never appear in an export.
- New login, 24-hour wait. Telegram blocks exports for a day after you sign in on a new computer, to stop a hijacked account being drained.
How do you export one Telegram chat?
This is the method to use when you want a single conversation. It produces one folder with one file, and it takes seconds for a text-only chat.
Open the chat in Telegram Desktop
Launch Telegram Desktop and click the conversation you want to save. Groups and channels work the same way.
Open the chat menu and choose Export chat history
Click the three-dot icon in the top-right corner of the chat window and choose Export chat history.
Untick media and choose JSON
Untick photos, videos, voice messages, stickers, and files. Under Format, choose Machine-readable JSON. HTML is nicer to read, but JSON is what analysis tools parse.
Set a date range if you want, then click Export
Leave the range open for the whole history, or narrow it to a period you care about. Pick a destination folder and click Export.
Find result.json in the export folder
Telegram Desktop writes a folder named ChatExport_<date> containing result.json. That single file is what you upload.
Now that you have your export file, upload result.json to the Telegram chat analyzer to see who sends more, when each of you is most active, and how the tone has shifted over time.
How do you export your whole Telegram account?
If you want every chat at once, or your account data as well, use the full export in settings. The dialog is the same, with a few more checkboxes.
- Click the menu icon (three lines) in the top-left, then Settings, then Advanced.
- Scroll to the bottom and click Export Telegram data.
- Tick the chat types to include (personal chats, private groups, and so on) and untick every media type.
- Choose Machine-readable JSON, set a date range if you want one, and click Export.
Telegram Desktop/
ChatExport_2026-09-02/ (one chat)
result.json
DataExport_2026-09-02/ (whole account)
result.json (all chats in one file)
Either way, upload the top-level result.json. A whole-account file contains every selected chat; MosaicChats lets you pick the conversation to analyze after it is read.
What if you only have Telegram on your phone?
Install Telegram Desktop on any computer
Regular Telegram chats live in the cloud, so signing in on a computer brings the full history with it, including chats you only ever used on mobile. Install Telegram Desktop, sign in with your phone number, wait out the 24-hour safeguard if it appears, and follow the steps above.
Forwarding messages to Saved Messages on your phone keeps individual messages, but it does not produce a file you can export.
JSON or HTML: which format should you choose?
JSON (for analysis)
- Exact timestamps, sender IDs, reply and forward metadata
- Read directly by MosaicChats and other tools
- Small file when media is excluded
Choose this to upload
HTML (for reading)
- Opens in any browser and looks like the chat
- Easy to search and archive
Choose this to keep a readable copy
What does a Telegram export contain?
Included (text-only export)
- - Full text of every message
- - Exact date and time
- - Sender name and user ID
- - Message type (text, sticker, poll, service message)
- - Reply-to and forwarded-from context
- - Reactions
- - File names of media, even when the files are excluded
Not included
- - Secret Chats
- - Messages either side deleted
- - Self-destructing messages that already expired
- - Media and voice audio, if you unticked them
What can you learn from the file?
A Telegram JSON export is one of the richest inputs MosaicChats accepts, because every message carries a precise timestamp and a stable sender ID.
Sentiment over time
A week-by-week emotional timeline that surfaces warm stretches, tense patches, and slow drifts. See how chat analysis can improve a relationship.
Compatibility score
A single score built from communication balance, emotional reciprocity, and engagement, with the reasoning shown.
Message balance and activity
Each person's share of the messages, the hours and days you talk, and whether that has shifted. For reading reply speed yourself, see what reply speed says about a relationship.
Personality insights
MBTI-style traits inferred from how each person writes. Read more on personality analysis from text.
Is exporting private?
Privacy notes
Nobody is notified. The export is your own copy of the chat, which Telegram's privacy policy gives you the right to access.
Treat the file as sensitive. It holds the whole conversation in plain text. Keep it somewhere private and delete it when you are done.
MosaicChats never exposes raw messages. Uploads are processed privately and are not shared with third parties. Read more on privacy in digital relationships.
Frequently asked questions
Can I export a Telegram chat on Android or iPhone?
No. The iOS and Android apps have no export tool. Because Telegram stores regular chats in the cloud, you can install Telegram Desktop on any computer, sign in with your phone number, and export from there. Everything you started on mobile is already there.
What format does Telegram export in?
Two options: machine-readable JSON, which is best for analysis tools such as MosaicChats, and human-readable HTML, which opens in a browser and looks like the chat. Pick JSON when you plan to upload the file.
Will the other person know I exported the chat?
No. Telegram sends no notification to other participants. The export happens entirely on your computer.
Does the export include Secret Chats?
No. Secret Chats are end-to-end encrypted and stored only on the devices involved, so no cloud copy exists to export. Only regular cloud chats, groups, and channels can be exported.
How far back does the export go?
All the way. Telegram has no message limit or time restriction on exports, so years of history come out in a single file as long as neither side deleted the messages.
Why does Telegram say I have to wait 24 hours?
As a safeguard against account takeovers, Telegram blocks data export for 24 hours after you sign in on a new device. If you just installed Telegram Desktop, come back tomorrow and the option will work.