Trying to export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

Twice it worked, then immediateadly stopped.

17 more tries, one worked!

Phone is only 2 feet from laptop, but once I held it 6 inches away, no
change.

Sometimes it says "whatsapp share file file not sent" and once in a
while there's a different error message.

Yesterday it wouldn't work at all.

Also can't export to Google drive, yesterday not at all, today once, but
not the second time!

what's up

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:49:27 -0500, micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

Trying to export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

Twice it worked, then immediateadly stopped.

17 more tries, one worked!

Phone is only 2 feet from laptop, but once I held it 6 inches away, no >change.

Sometimes it says "whatsapp share file file not sent" and once in a
while there's a different error message.

Yesterday it wouldn't work at all.

Also can't export to Google drive, yesterday not at all, today once, but
not the second time!

And the one I just exported to Drive, I can't find in Drive?

what's up

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:49:27 -0500, micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

Trying to export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

Twice it worked, then immediateadly stopped.

17 more tries, one worked!

Phone is only 2 feet from laptop, but once I held it 6 inches away, no >change.

Sometimes it says "whatsapp share file file not sent" and once in a
while there's a different error message.

Yesterday it wouldn't work at all.

Also can't export to Google drive, yesterday not at all, today once, but >not the second time!

And the one I just exported to Drive, I can't find in Drive?

what's up

Please describe *exactly* what you're doing on which device (phone or laptop). Our crystal balls are in the shop this week.

*And* explain *what* you try to accomplish.

AFAIK, there's no 'export' of chatS (plural) in WhatsApp. Only of *a*
chat (singular), i.e. the communication with *one* person (or group).

An export of a chat *can* be shared to Google Drive, but can be shared
to any Share-able destination, for example e-mail.

Other than the above export of a single chat. there are:

- You can *backup* chats (Settings -> Chats -> Chat backup), which is
backed up to Google Drive, but is 'invisible' in Google Drive and only
visible to a virgin WhatApp app on a new phone, i.e. this is a way to
get chats from an old phone to a new one.

- There is also a way to *transfer* chats from an old phone to a new one
*without* going through Google Drive (Settings -> Chats -> Tranfer
chats).

- And there is *archive* chats (Settings -> Chats -> Chat history ->
Archive all chats).

In all of this, the computer does not really get into the picture,
unless you do a Share-type operation where the destination 'happens' to
be the computer.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 2026-01-26 20:38, Frank Slootweg wrote:

micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:49:27 -0500, micky
<NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

Trying to export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

Twice it worked, then immediateadly stopped.

17 more tries, one worked!

Phone is only 2 feet from laptop, but once I held it 6 inches away, no
change.

Sometimes it says "whatsapp share file file not sent" and once in a
while there's a different error message.

Yesterday it wouldn't work at all.

Also can't export to Google drive, yesterday not at all, today once, but >>> not the second time!

And the one I just exported to Drive, I can't find in Drive?

what's up

Please describe *exactly* what you're doing on which device (phone or laptop). Our crystal balls are in the shop this week.

*And* explain *what* you try to accomplish.

AFAIK, there's no 'export' of chatS (plural) in WhatsApp. Only of *a*
chat (singular), i.e. the communication with *one* person (or group).

An export of a chat *can* be shared to Google Drive, but can be shared
to any Share-able destination, for example e-mail.

If you do with files, it crashes if there are many files or too big. And
the resulting email does not have the files in context, like a properly formatted html text.

Print to PDF possible?

Other than the above export of a single chat. there are:

- You can *backup* chats (Settings -> Chats -> Chat backup), which is
backed up to Google Drive, but is 'invisible' in Google Drive and only
visible to a virgin WhatApp app on a new phone, i.e. this is a way to
get chats from an old phone to a new one.

- There is also a way to *transfer* chats from an old phone to a new one
*without* going through Google Drive (Settings -> Chats -> Tranfer
chats).

- And there is *archive* chats (Settings -> Chats -> Chat history ->
Archive all chats).

In all of this, the computer does not really get into the picture,
unless you do a Share-type operation where the destination 'happens' to
be the computer.

I just looked in the web app, nothing.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES??, EU??;

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/26/2026 9:44 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 20:38, Frank Slootweg wrote:

to any Share-able destination, for example e-mail.

If you do with files, it crashes if there are many files or too big. And
the resulting email does not have the files in context, like a properly formatted html text.

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the
phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I
think this is the fasted method because the transfer is only within
the local WLAN.

There is also software to convert the exported data to html, but
I didn't try it:

https://github.com/mtln/chat-export




--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 2026-01-26 22:07, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/26/2026 9:44 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 20:38, Frank Slootweg wrote:

to any Share-able destination, for example e-mail.

If you do with files, it crashes if there are many files or too big. And
the resulting email does not have the files in context, like a properly
formatted html text.

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the
phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I
think this is the fasted method because the transfer is only within
the local WLAN.

What format has the chat?

There is also software to convert the exported data to html, but
I didn't try it:

https://github.com/mtln/chat-export

--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES??, EU??;

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/26/2026 10:27 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:07, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the
phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.




--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

It's an Adroid phone. I didn't know the apps were as different as they
are. I did include the Android ng, but nothing in my text. Sorry.

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 22:07:31 +0100, Herbert
Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

On 1/26/2026 9:44 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 20:38, Frank Slootweg wrote:

to any Share-able destination, for example e-mail.

If you do with files, it crashes if there are many files or too big. And
the resulting email does not have the files in context, like a properly
formatted html text.

It hasn't crashed Android. I didin'gt know Android could crash!

But since I first posted, I tried emailing it and the email programs
said the attachment was something like unreadable. That would account
for why it doesn't work when sending to Drive or Bluetooth. But I've
tried to send very small chats and they don't do any better. One of the
three that did work was quite big.

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the
phone

I don't even see a way to save it locally?

and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I
think this is the fasted method because the transfer is only within
the local WLAN.

I'd have to know where in the phone the zip file is stored. It doesn't
give FTP as one of the destinations, and I wonder if the zip file is
even saved if I don't complete the Exporting the way they expect me to.

There is also software to convert the exported data to html, but
I didn't try it:

https://github.com/mtln/chat-export

This would be useful later, but there is only text in these chats and I
don't especially want html. A pdf file would be nice, and the Times of
India says that's an option coming from Android, but it's not on this
phone. I updated the app and that didn't change, and nothing worked
better.

A very intersting thing that would apply to any bluetooth file transfer
to win11 is that originally the first two files went to
users\mee\appdata\local\temp but 2 or 3 hours later, they were gone
and using Everything, I found them in
users\mee\Documents !!!!!

In the first location, I even unipped each of the two files and and read
the .txt file with Notepad++. Here's a; couple lines:
11/20/25, 4:41?AM - YSS: It's ridiculous.
11/20/25, 4:41?AM - +254 788 nnnnnn: Wow that's nice bro

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 21:44:59 +0100, "Carlos
E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

On 2026-01-26 20:38, Frank Slootweg wrote:

micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:49:27 -0500, micky
<NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

Trying to export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

Twice it worked, then immediateadly stopped.

17 more tries, one worked!

Phone is only 2 feet from laptop, but once I held it 6 inches away, no >>>> change.

Sometimes it says "whatsapp share file file not sent" and once in a
while there's a different error message.

Yesterday it wouldn't work at all.

Also can't export to Google drive, yesterday not at all, today once, but >>>> not the second time!

And the one I just exported to Drive, I can't find in Drive?

what's up

Please describe *exactly* what you're doing on which device (phone or
laptop). Our crystal balls are in the shop this week.

*And* explain *what* you try to accomplish.

AFAIK, there's no 'export' of chatS (plural) in WhatsApp. Only of *a*
chat (singular), i.e. the communication with *one* person (or group).

An export of a chat *can* be shared to Google Drive, but can be shared
to any Share-able destination, for example e-mail.

If you do with files, it crashes if there are many files or too big. And
the resulting email does not have the files in context, like a properly >formatted html text.

Print to PDF possible?

From Android Whatsapp.. Not listed as option.

Please everyone, bear in mind that Bluetooth worked, 2 times and then
one more time. But 20 other times I get either
[File name ] Connection unsuccessful
Unknown file Request can't be handled correctly


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/26/2026 11:17 PM, micky wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the >>phone

I don't even see a way to save it locally?

Beside Bluetooth, Google Drive, Gmail there is also an entry
"Save As" which is provided by the app "primitive ftpd" which
I then also use to transfer the file to the pc.

https://f-droid.org/packages/org.primftpd/
https://github.com/wolpi/prim-ftpd




--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In comp.mobile.android, on Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:06:15 +0100, Herbert
Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

On 1/26/2026 11:17 PM, micky wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the >>>phone

I don't even see a way to save it locally?

Beside Bluetooth, Google Drive, Gmail there is also an entry
"Save As" which is provided by the app "primitive ftpd" which

I don't have that entry.

But if I install F-droid, that line will appear?

I then also use to transfer the file to the pc.

https://f-droid.org/packages/org.primftpd/
https://github.com/wolpi/prim-ftpd

Either of these will work? F-droid isn't in the Play Store. Do I
have to side-install it? I've never done that.


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 18:11:17 -0500, Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> wrote:

Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the >>>> phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

To add value to what Herbert kindly offered, I ran research for the team.

While I shun highly marketed Android apps such as WhatsApp is, I use it for >my grandkids as it helps to get videos of the grandkids and to talk to >relatives in Germany so even I use this highly marketing VOIP tool.

I don't back up anything but the media, and since Android is just a drive >letter on Windows, it's trivial to easily backup Android files to the PC.'

My earlier phone shows up in the File Manager. Even when not connected
there is an ini file for it in a high level directory.

But this phone never does. It's a Moto G.

But the messages inside of WhatsApp are apparently different from the media >in terms of how they're stored (encrypted, apparently). So you need a key.

So, to help the team, as always, I looked up just now how to back up the
text messages from unrooted Android WhatsApp to the Windows PC filesystem.

In my humble opinion, WhatsApp tries too hard to get us to use Google
Drive, when something like our personal chats belong on our network.

I agree.

But I found these two Windows programs which purport to decrypt
and save the Android WhatsApp messages to your Windows PC.

This is, what I think Herbert was suggesting worked for a single chat:
1. Open the WhatsApp chat you want to save.
2. Tap the three dots -> More -> Export chat.
3. Choose "Include media".
4. WhatsApp will generate a ZIP file.

Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. 3 chats worked about 8
chats did not, over about 16 attempts. When I look at them inside, they
don't look any different from the ones that worked. One of the 3 that
worked is very long. Noneof them have any media.

ChatName.txt
Media/
IMG-20240101-WA0001.jpg
IMG-20240101-WA0002.jpg
...
5. Choose
a. "Save to Files",
b. "Share via Bluetooth",
c. "Send to your PC via LAN app", or
d. "Send via USB MTP".

I ddon't get these choices. This is Android 11. Could that be the difference, or are these choices within Whatsapp?.

If a later version than 11 would run on this phone, wouldn't it have
updated automatically?

Always eschewing cloud-services marketing gimmicks, we can
A. Save to device storage

That doesn't seem to be an option.

Then copy via USB or by mounting the phone as a drive letter on Windows
B. Share to a LAN file-sharing app
(e.g., KDE Connect or LocalSend, both of which are FOSS)
C. Send via Bluetooth
(slow but works)

3 times, but not the other times.

Apparently there are FOSS whatsapp viewers/backups for Windows
which will decrypt and save every chat, two of which I installed.

Windows WhatsApp Viewer
<https://xdaforums.com/t/tool-whatsapp-key-db-extractor-crypt6-12-non-root-updated-october-2016.2770982/>
<https://github.com/andreas-mausch/whatsapp-viewer> <https://andreas-mausch.de/whatsapp-viewer/> <https://github.com/andreas-mausch/whatsapp-viewer/releases/tag/v1.15> <https://github.com/andreas-mausch/whatsapp-viewer/releases/download/v1.15/WhatsApp.Viewer.zip>
D:\software\telecom\whatsapp\whatsappviewer\WhatsApp.Viewer.zip
Name: WhatsApp.Viewer.zip
Size: 1425323 bytes (1391 KiB)
SHA256: DC83B74719C82AB9AB2FEC9E62768ABB530791EB49BF69F444DFFB8BDD543D07
Unzip to a single file:
C:\app\telecom\whatsapp\WhatsApp.Viewer\WhatsApp Viewer.exe
Name: WhatsApp Viewer.exe
Size: 2445312 bytes (2388 KiB)
SHA256: 31E6C5CDA73CA16439E12F5A8AD642796DCA00DCEF4871EB74DB5C6171C4408F
Create a shortcut in your taskbar pullout cascade menu folder: >C:\menu\telecom\whatsapp\WhatsApp.Viewer\WhatsAppViewer.lnk
Target: C:\app\telecom\whatsapp\WhatsApp.Viewer\WhatsApp Viewer.exe
How to use
a. Get your key and database file from the phone (see XDA thread above).
b. Open WhatsApp Viewer
c. File -> Open -> Select file
d. Select msgstore.db in the folder "extracted"
e. Leave account name empty
f. Optional: Import contact names from the wa.db file
g. Click on a chat to show the messages.

WhatsApp Key/DB Extractor
Allows WhatsApp users to extract their cipher key and databases on
non-rooted Android devices. Requires Java on Windows. And adb. ><https://github.com/EliteAndroidApps/WhatsApp-Key-DB-Extractor> ><https://github.com/EliteAndroidApps/WhatsApp-Key-DB-Extractor/archive/refs/heads/master.zip>
Name: WhatsApp-Key-DB-Extractor-master.zip
Size: 7462622 bytes (7287 KiB)
SHA256: BEB32B7494D9BE95AF90219E1CA73209808C55AD4FA6AAEFF539B8FB1C4F4FE2 >Extract to:
a. Batch script: WhatsAppKeyDBExtract.bat
b. PowerShell script: WhatsAppKeyDBExtract.ps1
c. Shell script: WhatsAppKeyDBExtract.sh

Interestingly, a "grep.exe" came with this package, which, in and of
itself, is a useful tool to put in the path for us old Unix folks.
C:\app\telecom\whatsapp\dbextract\
AdbWinApi.dll
AdbWinUsbApi.dll
abe.jar
adb.exe
curl.exe
grep.exe
libiconv2.dll
libintl3.dll
pcre3.dll
regex2.dll
tar.exe

Unfortunately, I'm still trying to get the file to Windows

I haven't tested it, but if anyone tests these out, it will be useful to
all for you to write it up so that we can all benefit from your effort.

Thanks for all this work.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In comp.mobile.android, on 26 Jan 2026 19:38:11 GMT, Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:

micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:49:27 -0500, micky
<NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

Trying to export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

Twice it worked, then immediateadly stopped.

17 more tries, one worked!

Phone is only 2 feet from laptop, but once I held it 6 inches away, no
change.

Sometimes it says "whatsapp share file file not sent" and once in a
while there's a different error message.

Yesterday it wouldn't work at all.

Also can't export to Google drive, yesterday not at all, today once, but
not the second time!

And the one I just exported to Drive, I can't find in Drive?

what's up

Please describe *exactly* what you're doing on which device (phone or
laptop). Our crystal balls are in the shop this week.

I'm trying to download whatsapp chats from an Android phone (should have
said Android) Motorola Moto G to windows 11.

*And* explain *what* you try to accomplish.

AFAIK, there's no 'export' of chatS (plural) in WhatsApp. Only of *a*
chat (singular), i.e. the communication with *one* person (or group).

Yes, but i'm still tring to export chats, even though I do it one at a
time.

An export of a chat *can* be shared to Google Drive, but can be shared

I tried gooogle drive and one time it said it worked, and the other time
it failed. Then I went to the laptop programm G. Drive, and coudln't
find the file it said it uploaded.

to any Share-able destination, for example e-mail.

I tried yahoo mail, that is on the phone, and it said "Unable to read
the attachemnet you chose to share. This is most likely an issue with
hte app you want to share from." So I updated whatsapp, but its
appearance didn't seem to change and this message didn't change.

Other than the above export of a single chat. there are:

- You can *backup* chats (Settings -> Chats -> Chat backup), which is
backed up to Google Drive, but is 'invisible' in Google Drive and only
visible to a virgin WhatApp app on a new phone, i.e. this is a way to
get chats from an old phone to a new one.

That's no good in this case.

- There is also a way to *transfer* chats from an old phone to a new one
*without* going through Google Drive (Settings -> Chats -> Tranfer
chats).

- And there is *archive* chats (Settings -> Chats -> Chat history ->
Archive all chats).

In all of this, the computer does not really get into the picture,
unless you do a Share-type operation where the destination 'happens' to
be the computer.

That's what Bluetooth was paired with, and it worked 3 times, but not
for 8 other chats, including important ones.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: MOSTLY SOLVED !!! Re: Erracitic results, export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

mOSTLY SOLVED:

It turns out, for all but one chat so far, the problem was in Windows.
For each transfer, I have to click on the arrow in the systray to open
up all the miscellaneous overflow icons, click on the Bluetooth icon,
then chnose Receive a file. Each time. I didn't expect that.

One important one continues to balk. There is a strange blue large
capital T in the name of the other party to the chat. Could that be the problem? That's the only anomaly I see.

Anyhow, thanks for all the help. Nothing on the web mentioned this
either. It's a Dell Latitude 5510 but it's hard to believe the make or
model makes a difference. Windows 11 Pro fully updated.


In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:53:57 -0500, micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:49:27 -0500, micky ><NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

Trying to export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

Twice it worked, then immediateadly stopped.

17 more tries, one worked!

Phone is only 2 feet from laptop, but once I held it 6 inches away, no >>change.

Sometimes it says "whatsapp share file file not sent" and once in a
while there's a different error message.

Yesterday it wouldn't work at all.

Also can't export to Google drive, yesterday not at all, today once, but >>not the second time!

And the one I just exported to Drive, I can't find in Drive?

what's up

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: MOSTLY SOLVED !!! Re: Erracitic results, export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 21:26:46 -0500, micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

mOSTLY SOLVED:

It turns out, for all but one chat so far, the problem was in Windows.
For each transfer, I have to click on the arrow in the systray to open
up all the miscellaneous overflow icons, click on the Bluetooth icon,
then chnose Receive a file. Each time. I didn't expect that.

I guess since it said "Receive *A* file" I should have thought of this.
LOL

One important one continues to balk. There is a strange blue large
capital T in the name of the other party to the chat. Could that be the >problem? That's the only anomaly I see.

Anyhow, thanks for all the help. Nothing on the web mentioned this
either. It's a Dell Latitude 5510 but it's hard to believe the make or >model makes a difference. Windows 11 Pro fully updated.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: MOSTLY SOLVED !!! Re: Erracitic results, export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

On Mon, 1/26/2026 9:52 PM, micky wrote:

In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 21:26:46 -0500, micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

mOSTLY SOLVED:

It turns out, for all but one chat so far, the problem was in Windows.
For each transfer, I have to click on the arrow in the systray to open
up all the miscellaneous overflow icons, click on the Bluetooth icon,
then chnose Receive a file. Each time. I didn't expect that.

I guess since it said "Receive *A* file" I should have thought of this.
LOL

One important one continues to balk. There is a strange blue large
capital T in the name of the other party to the chat. Could that be the
problem? That's the only anomaly I see.

Anyhow, thanks for all the help. Nothing on the web mentioned this
either. It's a Dell Latitude 5510 but it's hard to believe the make or
model makes a difference. Windows 11 Pro fully updated.

The Bluetooth Fsquirt (which is apparently FTP based?), does
things one at a time. And it disconnects things after the transfer
is done. Presumably this is a "security feature". FSquirt is available
on Linux, Windows, and on phones. A transfer does not get more crude
than this. It's one step short of two tomato tins and a piece of string.

In Windows, they finally have a TCP/IP stack for Bluetooth, such
that one machine (with Internet) can be a Bluetooth hotspot, and
the other machine can get a connection to the Internet over Bluetooth.
This could also allow things like file sharing... as long as you
have an App loaded on the end that does not normally have File Sharing.
That's not important for your current situation, but is just for future reference. I was surprised, that the latest version
could achieve a transfer rate higher than 75KB/sec, by a little bit.
This means they might be using compression on the link (like in some
old modem days). For movies, don't expect those to transfer
faster than 75KB/sec (as they are not compressible).

When I first started trying to get the TCP/IP stack running over
Bluetooth, I got a grand total of two packets across before it
seized up. And they've finally got it to the point, you might
consider the feature to be "finished". Now, it's not a total waste
of time (if you can stomach 75KB/sec as a baseline).

Paul

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/27/2026 1:28 AM, micky wrote:

Beside Bluetooth, Google Drive, Gmail there is also an entry
"Save As" which is provided by the app "primitive ftpd" which

I don't have that entry.

But if I install F-droid, that line will appear?

F-Droid is an alternative app store for Google Playstore.
You don't have to install F-Droid to be able to install
apps hosted on F-Droid, but then there are no automatic
updates for the installed apps (but for me it is an advantage
when working apps are not automatically replaced by newer ones).

https://f-droid.org/packages/org.primftpd/ >>https://github.com/wolpi/prim-ftpd

The direct link to Primitive ftpd is:

https://f-droid.org/repo/org.primftpd_67.apk

Just download and install it on the phone.

Primitive ftpd is very easy to use because the
Windows explorer has a built-in ftp client and
therefore no extra software is needed on the PC.
Just start Primitive ftpd on the phone and enter
the displayed ftp address in the address bar of
the Windows explorer (or if you have a QR-code scanner
attached to your PC, just scan the displayed QR-code).
Then the file system on your phone is displayed in
explorer like a local folder and you can use drag&drop
to copy files from or to your phone. Copying files
by WLAN is much faster than using bluetooth.


And Primitive ftpd also provides the "Save As" button
when exporting chats from Whatsapp.








--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 2026-01-26 22:50, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/26/2026 10:27 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:07, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the
phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

That is useless crap. Now I remember, I tried that one years ago.

The message part are the plain text messages, without the emoticons, and without the files inserted in the text in their context. Like a PDF file
would be.

--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES??, EU??;

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 2026-01-27 09:43, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:50, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/26/2026 10:27 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:07, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the >>>> phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

That is useless crap. Now I remember, I tried that one years ago.

The message part are the plain text messages, without the emoticons, and without the files inserted in the text in their context. Like a PDF file would be.

The format of the text part is like this:


15/9/25, 12:59 - User name 1: De acuerdo Carlos, pues ma¤ana a las cinco nos vemos en mi oficina
15/9/25, 12:59 - User name 1: Gracias
19/9/25, 12:25 - User name 1: ?PTT-20250919-WA0000.opus (archivo adjunto) 19/9/25, 12:29 - User name 2: Bueno, un momento
19/9/25, 12:32 - User name 2: ?filename.pdf (archivo adjunto)
?filename.pdf


?PTT-20250919-WA0000.opus is an audio file. That person recorded a voice message in whatsapp. I have to search for that file in the zip file and listen to it. I can not click in the wasap text file and listen to it, the same as I would do inside the wasap application. Same for the attached PDF file.

Smileys there are some, in UTF. The reactions are missing.

This is crap.




--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES??, EU??;

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 2026-01-27 09:39, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/27/2026 1:28 AM, micky wrote:

Beside Bluetooth, Google Drive, Gmail there is also an entry
"Save As" which is provided by the app "primitive ftpd" which

I don't have that entry.

But if I install F-droid, that line will appear?

F-Droid is an alternative app store for Google Playstore.
You don't have to install F-Droid to be able to install
apps hosted on F-Droid, but then there are no automatic
updates for the installed apps (but for me it is an advantage
when working apps are not automatically replaced by newer ones).

https://f-droid.org/packages/org.primftpd/
https://github.com/wolpi/prim-ftpd

The direct link to Primitive ftpd is:

https://f-droid.org/repo/org.primftpd_67.apk

Just download and install it on the phone.

Primitive ftpd is very easy to use because the
Windows explorer has a built-in ftp client and
therefore no extra software is needed on the PC.
Just start Primitive ftpd on the phone and enter
the displayed ftp address in the address bar of
the Windows explorer (or if you have a QR-code scanner
attached to your PC, just scan the displayed QR-code).
Then the file system on your phone is displayed in
explorer like a local folder and you can use drag&drop
to copy files from or to your phone. Copying files
by WLAN is much faster than using bluetooth.

And Primitive ftpd also provides the "Save As" button
when exporting chats from Whatsapp.

That's a curious one. I get that one.

I also get Cx File explorer and can then save as a local file.

--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES??, EU??;

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Tue, 1/27/2026 3:39 AM, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/27/2026 1:28 AM, micky wrote:

Beside Bluetooth, Google Drive, Gmail there is also an entry
"Save As" which is provided by the app "primitive ftpd" which

I don't have that entry.

But if I install F-droid, that line will appear?

F-Droid is an alternative app store for Google Playstore.
You don't have to install F-Droid to be able to install
apps hosted on F-Droid, but then there are no automatic
updates for the installed apps (but for me it is an advantage
when working apps are not automatically replaced by newer ones).

https://f-droid.org/packages/org.primftpd/
https://github.com/wolpi/prim-ftpd

The direct link to Primitive ftpd is:

https://f-droid.org/repo/org.primftpd_67.apk

Just download and install it on the phone.

Primitive ftpd is very easy to use because the
Windows explorer has a built-in ftp client and
therefore no extra software is needed on the PC.
Just start Primitive ftpd on the phone and enter
the displayed ftp address in the address bar of
the Windows explorer (or if you have a QR-code scanner
attached to your PC, just scan the displayed QR-code).
Then the file system on your phone is displayed in
explorer like a local folder and you can use drag&drop
to copy files from or to your phone. Copying files
by WLAN is much faster than using bluetooth.

And Primitive ftpd also provides the "Save As" button
when exporting chats from Whatsapp.

But the advantage of FSquirt, is it works over Bluetooth,
when a number of other things are "busted" on your computer.
That's the only real feature it has. It's reasonably
robust (assuming Pairing still works on your beast).

Even when Windows didn't have a working TCP/IP stack
across Bluetooth, the FSquirt file transfer, still worked.
Don't ask me what the stack used to do that was. I was
just impressed that it worked.

C:\Windows\System32\fsquirt.exe

Paul



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/27/2026 9:43 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:50, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

That is useless crap. Now I remember, I tried that one years ago.

The message part are the plain text messages, without the emoticons, and without the files inserted in the text in their context. Like a PDF file would be.

It is for backup purpose. You most likely will never look at it. But
if, a few year later, you really need it, it all is there: the text
chat and all the pictures, videos and other files.

And as I already said:

|| There is also software to convert the exported data to html, but
|| I didn't try it:
||
|| https://github.com/mtln/chat-export






--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/27/2026 10:03 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

And Primitive ftpd also provides the "Save As" button
when exporting chats from Whatsapp.

That's a curious one. I get that one.

I also get Cx File explorer and can then save as a local file.

Android by default doesn't offer the "Save As" so you will need an
additional app which provides this service. Doesn't matter whether
this is "Primitive FTPD" or "Cx File explorer" or any other app.

But I was glad that Primitive FTPD provided that feature because
it was installed already for file transfer and I didn't need a
further app.

But I don't understand why Whatsapp itself doesn't offer a "Save As".

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/27/2026 11:03 AM, Paul wrote:

But the advantage of FSquirt, is it works over Bluetooth,

I don't think this is an advantage. Try to transfer a 500 MByte
file by bluetooth.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 2026-01-27 12:20, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/27/2026 9:43 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:50, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

That is useless crap. Now I remember, I tried that one years ago.

The message part are the plain text messages, without the emoticons, and
without the files inserted in the text in their context. Like a PDF file
would be.

It is for backup purpose. You most likely will never look at it. But
if, a few year later, you really need it, it all is there: the text
chat and all the pictures, videos and other files.

And as I already said:

|| There is also software to convert the exported data to html, but
|| I didn't try it:
||
|| https://github.com/mtln/chat-export

Ah, I see. I imagined it would be a tool to run in Android and would
extract the chat somehow. No, it works using the already exported zip
archive in a computer. I have to try this. Looks promising.

--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES??, EU??;

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 2026-01-27 12:20, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/27/2026 10:03 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

And Primitive ftpd also provides the "Save As" button
when exporting chats from Whatsapp.

That's a curious one. I get that one.

I also get Cx File explorer and can then save as a local file.

Android by default doesn't offer the "Save As" so you will need an
additional app which provides this service. Doesn't matter whether
this is "Primitive FTPD" or "Cx File explorer" or any other app.

But I was glad that Primitive FTPD provided that feature because
it was installed already for file transfer and I didn't need a
further app.

But I don't understand why Whatsapp itself doesn't offer a "Save As".

Specially for a long chat, export as email crashes because it is a huge
email.

--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES??, EU??;

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Tue, 1/27/2026 6:22 AM, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/27/2026 11:03 AM, Paul wrote:

But the advantage of FSquirt, is it works over Bluetooth,

I don't think this is an advantage. Try to transfer a 500 MByte
file by bluetooth.

I use it for 1KB config files.

Like, when a PC is air-gapped. And that's the only protocol it has.

It just avoids getting out of my chair. I would have to find a
USB stick to carry a large file like that, to an air-gapped machine.

Paul

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/27/2026 3:28 PM, Maria Sophia wrote:

Primitive ftpd is very easy to use because the
Windows explorer has a built-in ftp client and
therefore no extra software is needed on the PC.

I used to use FTP to mount Android onto Windows, so Herbert is correct:
<https://www.ferrobackup.com/map-ftp-as-disk.html>

But I prefer WebDav over FTP because it's just like sliced bread is.
<https://i.postimg.cc/4yKdxWS4/chart-ftpshare-vs-webdavdrive.jpg>

You don't need an external program (ftpuse) to access the
Android file system. It's all built into Windows explorer.

As with FTP, nothing needs to be installed on Windows for WebDav to mount your entire Android file system (yes, root too!) as a Windows drive letter.
<https://i.postimg.cc/1zrmSmQc/davroot.jpg> Windows can see Android root!

Already the first line is a lie.

|| Native Windows Integration
|| FTP Server on Android/iOS: Requires a separate FTP client application
|| Windows Drive over WebDAV on Android/iOS: Integrated for drive mapping via Explorer

No separate FTP client is necessary!

All you need on Windows is to use the "net use" command to mount Android:
C:\> net use Z: \\102.168.1.2@8000\DavWWWRoot /USER:jim * /PERSISTENT:YES

The simpler solution is always the better solution. I start
Primitive ftpd on the phone (just a finger tip) and open
an explorer window on the pc. I put the cursor into the
address bar of explorer and use the QR-code scanner to
scan the QR-code on the phone. That's all. Now in the
explorer window I can access the Android file system (including
SD card) and use drag&drop like in a local explorer window.

After the file transfer I stop Primitive ftpd and then nothing
is running on the phone which could be used as entry point
for illegal accessing the phone from outside.









--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In alt.comp.os.windows-11 micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

In comp.mobile.android, on Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:06:15 +0100, Herbert
Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

On 1/26/2026 11:17 PM, micky wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the >>>phone

I don't even see a way to save it locally?

Beside Bluetooth, Google Drive, Gmail there is also an entry
"Save As" which is provided by the app "primitive ftpd" which

I don't have that entry.

[I read your problem is mostly solved, but anyway:]

Don't just say what you *don't* have, but say which share options you
*do* have, so we can advise which one(s) of those are best for your
purpose.

As mentioned, the 'Share' destinations which are offered depend on
which software is installed on *your* phone. So telling us what isn't
there doesn't help anybody. You/we need to know which 'Share'
destinations *do* exist on *your* phone.

So if you still need/want help, do

(In WhatsApp) <three_vertical_dots> in upper right -> Settings ->
Chats -> Chat history -> Export chat -> select the chat you want to
export -> choose 'Without media' to keep it simple ->

You now get a list of 'Share' destinations for the chat. Give us the
list of *all* these destinations/apps, *including* the list of destinations/apps you get when you tap on the '...'/More icon.

[...]

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/27/2026 5:34 PM, Maria Sophia wrote:

But you haven't seemed to discuss shares and mounts when we discuss them. There are fundamental differences when it comes to Windows mounts & shares!

One is mere mapping; the other is mounting as a drive letter.
They're not the same thing.

Who cares. The only thing I want do do is, to copy pictures taken
with the phone (or in this case a zip file generated by exporting a
chat from Whatsapp) to the pc and sometimes copy videos or apk files
to the phone. And that happens only every few month.

I don't do anything and my entire Android phone is permanently mounted on Windows the moment I boot up my Android phone and I boot up Windows.

That makes your solution unusable for me. If you have a pc which
downloads every few month some files from the internet, do you then
want that this pc is connected to the internet all the time?
The communication software on pc and phone must be active only
if I transfer data. I don't want an open port to the phone all
the time.


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Herbert Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

On 1/26/2026 10:27 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:07, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the
phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

I did a test for one Chat/person. I got the .txt file with the text of
the messages (with the smileys, etc.), pictures (.jpg), audio (.opus),
videos (.mp4), but did *not* get PDFs (there should be two).

For a PDF, the ,txt file says

8/27/25, 20:30 - Frank Slootweg: DOC-20250827-WA0004. (file attached)

but the file is not included in the .zip file. N.B. in the above line it
looks like the file does not have an extension (which would be a
problem), but the file in the original chat *is* a PDF and is opened by
for example the (Google) 'Drive PDF Viewer. But also in that viewer, the
name is shown without an extension: "DOC-20250827-WA0004." (note the dot
at the end). So something is fishy.

Also that PDF was attached to a small message and that message
("Huisregels Dutch GP") is not in the .txt file. Very strange!

Other than these two missing PDFs, the .zip file seems to contain
everything.

BUT, as I think Carlos hinted at, if a message contains a quote of an
earlier message (as we do on Usenet), the quote is not in the .txt file,
only the response is. So something like

"Yes"

and then you have to guess to what the "Yes" applies. This particular
chat had two of these missing quotes.

Bottom line: Somewhat useful, but not very much.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:

Herbert Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

On 1/26/2026 10:27 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:07, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the >> phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

I did a test for one Chat/person. I got the .txt file with the text of
the messages (with the smileys, etc.), pictures (.jpg), audio (.opus),
videos (.mp4), but did *not* get PDFs (there should be two).

For a PDF, the ,txt file says

8/27/25, 20:30 - Frank Slootweg: DOC-20250827-WA0004. (file attached)

but the file is not included in the .zip file. N.B. in the above line it looks like the file does not have an extension (which would be a
problem), but the file in the original chat *is* a PDF and is opened by
for example the (Google) 'Drive PDF Viewer. But also in that viewer, the
name is shown without an extension: "DOC-20250827-WA0004." (note the dot
at the end). So something is fishy.

The missing PDF mystery is solved!

I was again thinking about the missing extension and especially about
the dot at the end of the filename.

It turns out that (Windows) File Explorer does not show such files. I
opened the .zip file with the 7-Zip program and lo and behold there
were the 'missing' files! I just clicked on them and (Google) Chrome was
quite happy to open them, never mind the missing extension.

Also that PDF was attached to a small message and that message
("Huisregels Dutch GP") is not in the .txt file. Very strange!

This *is* still a mystery, because that text should be in the .txt
file, but isn't (and it's also not in the PDF).

Other than these two missing PDFs, the .zip file seems to contain everything.

BUT, as I think Carlos hinted at, if a message contains a quote of an earlier message (as we do on Usenet), the quote is not in the .txt file,
only the response is. So something like

"Yes"

and then you have to guess to what the "Yes" applies. This particular
chat had two of these missing quotes.

Bottom line: Somewhat useful, but not very much.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/27/2026 9:22 PM, Maria Sophia wrote:

Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

Since your needs are so simple, almost any solution I've tested in the past works for you (& that's fine). Nobody said you had to use a better tool.

But I can't imagine a simpler way to do it: one finger tip on the
phone and one QR-code scan on the PC and all is up and running.
And you don't have to learn anything new because all you are using
is the Windows explorer (in the same way as you do it on the local disk).

It does all I want and in the simplest way possible. So I call
it the "better tool".

The communication software on pc and phone must be active only
if I transfer data. I don't want an open port to the phone all
the time.

Bbbbbuuuuttttt it's just this one command you run when you need it.
C:\> net use Z: \\102.168.1.2@8000\DavWWWRoot

The problem is not the client (pc) but the server (phone). If
the port is open all the time, there is a much higher risk to be
misused than when the server is only running while it is actually
used.




--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 2026-01-27 21:48, Frank Slootweg wrote:

Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:

Herbert Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

On 1/26/2026 10:27 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:07, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the >>>>> phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

I did a test for one Chat/person. I got the .txt file with the text of
the messages (with the smileys, etc.), pictures (.jpg), audio (.opus),
videos (.mp4), but did *not* get PDFs (there should be two).

For a PDF, the ,txt file says

8/27/25, 20:30 - Frank Slootweg: DOC-20250827-WA0004. (file attached)

but the file is not included in the .zip file. N.B. in the above line it
looks like the file does not have an extension (which would be a
problem), but the file in the original chat *is* a PDF and is opened by
for example the (Google) 'Drive PDF Viewer. But also in that viewer, the
name is shown without an extension: "DOC-20250827-WA0004." (note the dot
at the end). So something is fishy.

The missing PDF mystery is solved!

I was again thinking about the missing extension and especially about
the dot at the end of the filename.

It turns out that (Windows) File Explorer does not show such files. I opened the .zip file with the 7-Zip program and lo and behold there
were the 'missing' files! I just clicked on them and (Google) Chrome was quite happy to open them, never mind the missing extension.

Ah. Good.

Also that PDF was attached to a small message and that message
("Huisregels Dutch GP") is not in the .txt file. Very strange!

This *is* still a mystery, because that text should be in the .txt
file, but isn't (and it's also not in the PDF).

Other than these two missing PDFs, the .zip file seems to contain
everything.

BUT, as I think Carlos hinted at, if a message contains a quote of an
earlier message (as we do on Usenet), the quote is not in the .txt file,
only the response is. So something like

"Yes"

and then you have to guess to what the "Yes" applies. This particular
chat had two of these missing quotes.

That's bad.

Bottom line: Somewhat useful, but not very much.

Right.

Still, the tool from "https://github.com/mtln/chat-export" that Herbert Kleebauer mentioned, that runs on a computer, makes the zip export
readable. It is incomplete, though.


Arlen mentioned two other tools:

<https://github.com/andreas-mausch/whatsapp-viewer/releases/download/v1.15/WhatsApp.Viewer.zip>
<https://github.com/EliteAndroidApps/WhatsApp-Key-DB-Extractor/archive/refs/heads/master.zip>

which I understand run on the phone. One extracts the encoding key for
the chats files, the other reads a chat and produces a working html. Is
it a better quality file?

But Arlen mentions a Windows GUI, so I am confused.

<https://github.com/andreas-mausch/whatsapp-viewer/>

There is a readme there.

?? WhatsApp Viewer does not work with the latest WhatsApp database
format. ??

Well, that's bad.

®You need root access to your phone. If you don't know what it is:
Wikipedia¯

Well, I'm done, out.

And it is a Windows program; I use Linux.


What exactly it needs root access for, it doesn't say.



You need root access to your phone. If you don't know what it is: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooting_%28Android%29)
Download your WhatsApp database and key files:

/data/data/com.whatsapp/files/key
/data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/msgstore.db
/data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/wa.db

Open WhatsApp Viewer
File -> Open -> Select file
Select msgstore.db in the folder "extracted"
Leave account name empty, is was used for older versions of
WhatsApp (crypt5)
Optional: If you want, you can import contact names from the wa.db file


Maybe those 3 files are only accessible being root on the phone?



--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES??, EU??;

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Herbert Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> ha scritto:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the
phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I
think this is the fasted method because the transfer is only within
the local WLAN.

There is also software to convert the exported data to html, but
I didn't try it:

https://github.com/mtln/chat-export

Actually you can do everything without PC as well.
You can save your zip file in a location accessible to Termux and
install python and chat-export on the android smartphone ( Termux
is needed obviously):
$ pkg install python git

$ pip install chat-export

Then run:
$ chat-export -z "/right_path_of/your_file.zip" --embed-media

It will answer something like this:
Select the WhatsApp chat export ZIP file you want to convert to HTML.
Tkinter is not available on your system. Using prompt input
instead of file picker dialog.
Please enter the path to your WhatsApp chat export ZIP file: ...
Processing selected file: ...
[...]
Writing HTML files... Done!

:-)

--
Qihe

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In comp.mobile.android, on Tue, 27 Jan 2026 09:43:56 +0100, "Carlos
E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:50, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/26/2026 10:27 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:07, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the >>>> phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

That is useless crap. Now I remember, I tried that one years ago.

It certainly is disappointing. Whatsapp could have done a lot better.

I mentioned the one that would not export. Did i get around to telling
you all -- no I didn't; -- that I found you could forward the chat, but
you have to tap on each little piece individually. I stopped looking at
the top line, and didn't notice when the Forward option disappeared and
only the Delete option was left.

I was up to 600 items, and I taped 200 of them again trying to get the
Forward icon back

At that pointm it seemed just as efficient to stop and start over.

I eventually figured out that if you try to forward an item where
someone called but you didn't answer, it removes the Forward option and
leaves only delete. The same thing happens if you try to forward a line
which has a [deleted comment] or something like that. I was tapping as
fast as I could and I tapped some of those even after I knew they were
bad but I paid closer attention to the top line and went back and
untapped them.

All in all there were 1500 parts to the chat, plus the 6oo + 200 in the
first attempt, which makes 2300 taps. Took me well over an hour, I
think.

The result has even a worse format, in that the time for every comment
is the time I did the fowarding and there is no date at all. What's app
could have done better.

Thwn I deleted that I had forwarded anything, and I deleted that I had
exported everything, and I deleted the two files that I uploaded to
google Drive, which btw, appeared on his phone's google drive but not on
his laptop's google drive. I guess he has two but I don't know how that
can be. I know he uses the one in his laptop beccuase there 50 or so interesting files, unrelated to scams. But the one on the phone was
empty after I deleted the two I put there.

The message part are the plain text messages, without the emoticons, and >without the files inserted in the text in their context. Like a PDF file >would be.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.8
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/31/2026 4:10 AM, micky wrote:

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

That is useless crap. Now I remember, I tried that one years ago.

It certainly is disappointing. Whatsapp could have done a lot better.

I mentioned the one that would not export. Did i get around to telling
you all -- no I didn't; -- that I found you could forward the chat, but
you have to tap on each little piece individually.

The result has even a worse format, in that the time for every comment
is the time I did the fowarding and there is no date at all. What's app could have done better.

But what is the real problem with using "export chat" for archive
purpose? You get all attached pictures, videos and other files and
nearly all the text of the chat. If you also want to archive the
formatting done by Whatsapp, scroll to the beginning of the chat
(on the PC), press <Print> to start the snipping tool, select video
and start screen recording. Then in Whatsapp, press <Page down> every
second and when reaching the chat end, save the video. This video
is even more demonstrative than any other saved form because it is
much harder to fake than for example a simple text file.






--- PyGate Linux v1.5.8
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:20:32 +0100, Herbert Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

On 1/27/2026 10:03 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

And Primitive ftpd also provides the "Save As" button
when exporting chats from Whatsapp.

That's a curious one. I get that one.

I also get Cx File explorer and can then save as a local file.

Android by default doesn't offer the "Save As" so you will need an
additional app which provides this service. Doesn't matter whether
this is "Primitive FTPD" or "Cx File explorer" or any other app.

But I was glad that Primitive FTPD provided that feature because
it was installed already for file transfer and I didn't need a
further app.

But I don't understand why Whatsapp itself doesn't offer a "Save As".

Me neither.

I found out why the things I exported by bluetooth moved, on their own.
It wasn't on their own. I have to click bluetooth, Accept a file, for
each file expected. Then when it comes the window changes and lists the
file that just came. At that poin it's in the temp folder. I can
browse to any folder I want or just click Save and it puts it in Documents-something I had done that for some but not others. So they
were in two places.

Now I'm trying to take a picture of my passport with the phone and sent
that to the PC. That's even more confusing Tried Gmail first, and it
filled in the From. I filled in the To: and clicked Send but nothing
happened. Tried again and from then on the From wasn't filled in and I
coudl't go there to fill it in

Tried MyPhoneExplorer which usually works great. The previous day it
labeled 4 pictures of my passport as date TODAY, and I dragged them to
the PC file manager. None of the pictures were good enough for the
website so next day I did 4 more. But though they were in the android
phones Gallery, hey were not seen by Myphoneexploer!

Tried bluetooth and it didn't work either.

Never did figure it out and got tired and wquit.

Today I used blutooth and it was fine again, but again the website
didn't like my picture. I may need a bigger white border, or maybe my
picture is too dark. :-(

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.10
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Tue, 27 Jan 2026 05:03:54 -0500, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:

On Tue, 1/27/2026 3:39 AM, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/27/2026 1:28 AM, micky wrote:

Beside Bluetooth, Google Drive, Gmail there is also an entry
"Save As" which is provided by the app "primitive ftpd" which

I don't have that entry.

But if I install F-droid, that line will appear?

F-Droid is an alternative app store for Google Playstore.
You don't have to install F-Droid to be able to install
apps hosted on F-Droid, but then there are no automatic
updates for the installed apps (but for me it is an advantage
when working apps are not automatically replaced by newer ones).

https://f-droid.org/packages/org.primftpd/
https://github.com/wolpi/prim-ftpd

The direct link to Primitive ftpd is:

https://f-droid.org/repo/org.primftpd_67.apk

Just download and install it on the phone.

Primitive ftpd is very easy to use because the
Windows explorer has a built-in ftp client and
therefore no extra software is needed on the PC.
Just start Primitive ftpd on the phone and enter
the displayed ftp address in the address bar of
the Windows explorer (or if you have a QR-code scanner
attached to your PC, just scan the displayed QR-code).
Then the file system on your phone is displayed in
explorer like a local folder and you can use drag&drop
to copy files from or to your phone. Copying files
by WLAN is much faster than using bluetooth.


And Primitive ftpd also provides the "Save As" button
when exporting chats from Whatsapp.

But the advantage of FSquirt, is it works over Bluetooth,
when a number of other things are "busted" on your computer.
That's the only real feature it has. It's reasonably
robust (assuming Pairing still works on your beast).

Even when Windows didn't have a working TCP/IP stack
across Bluetooth, the FSquirt file transfer, still worked.
Don't ask me what the stack used to do that was. I was
just impressed that it worked.

C:\Windows\System32\fsquirt.exe

I think that's the same thing as clickign on the bluetooth icon in the
systray or overflow, and then clicking on send or receive a file. That's
worked for me 2 days ago and today (though not yesterdah for some
reason) and one has to remember that it has to be clicked on for each
file. For several filee, I can see that it's quicker to run fsqirt,
whose window would remain, than clicking on the systray each time.

Paul

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.10
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sun, 2/1/2026 4:39 PM, micky wrote:

Today I used blutooth and it was fine again, but again the website
didn't like my picture. I may need a bigger white border, or maybe my picture is too dark. :-(

"Whenever i go to change my whatsapp profile picture i cant and it shows me all my contacts" [3 yr ago]

https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsapp/comments/128vq0q/whenever_i_go_to_change_my_whatsapp_profile/

"I have the exact same thing.

Using Android, it tries to send the photo as a message instead of updating my profile photo.

I'm hoping they will fix this bug soon!

For now I'm using whatsapp web to update my profile pic "

Paul


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.10
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)