Unlike WhatsApp, Telegram does not allow users to back up chats to a cloud service. This is because Telegram is a cloud platform in itself that stores all your data (chats, photos, videos, etc.) on its cloud servers automatically. Therefore, your chats will not be deleted if you replace a phone without backing up. But, if you still want to keep your backup offline or send your chat history to someone, you can export Telegram chats. Let’s examine both methods of doing this quickly and efficiently.
Note: You can export Telegram’s chat history only from the Telegram desktop app and not from its mobile apps.
1. Export individual chat telegrams
You can use this method to export chat history from individual telegram chats, groups or channels, as shown below:
- Install the Telegram app for the desktop On your computer. If you are having any issues installing Telegram on Linux, see our Telegram Installation Guide.
- Open the Telegram app after installation and log in to your Telegram account using the one-time code sent to the Telegram mobile app.
- In the Telegram desktop app, open the chat you want to export.
- Click the three-dot icon at the top and select “Export Chat History” from the menu.
![Telegram personal chat export](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-Export-Individual-Chat.jpg)
- The chat export settings pop-up window will appear. Select the items to export in addition to text messages. You can choose from photos, videos, voicemails, video messages, stickers, GIFs and files.
![Telegram personal chat settings](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-Export-Individual-Chat-Settings.jpg)
- From the same screen you can customize various other settings related to the chat history. By default, files up to 8MB will only be saved. Use the size limit slider to expand the file size limit to save larger files.
- Click the address label next to “Path” to change the location of the exported files on your computer. By default, it will be saved in the recently created “Desktop Telegram” folder in the “Downloads” folder of your PC.
![Telegram personal chat export from](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-Export-Individual-Chat-From.jpg)
- The app will export all existing messages in the chat history from the oldest date to the current date by default. However, you can customize the time period and select different start and end dates by tapping the “From” and “To” labels.
![Telegram exports a single chat path](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-Export-Individual-Chat-Path.jpg)
- Once all this is done, click the “Export” button to start exporting the chat history.
![Telegram Export personal chat settings Select](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-Export-Individual-Chat-Settings-Select.jpg)
- The export process may take some time depending on the size of the chat. When done, you will get the completed status window.
View your data
- Click “View my data” to view the chat history on your computer.
![Telegram exporting individual instance data](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-Export-Individual-Show-Data.jpg)
- Open the “ChatExport” folder by going to “This Computer-> Downloads-> Telegram Desktop” to view the items that are taken out of the chat, such as voicemails, video files, pictures, messages, etc.
![Telegram exports a single chat computer](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-Export-Individual-Chat-Computer.jpg)
- You may find multiple “messages.html” files depending on the size of the chat. These are your human-readable text messages.
![Telegram exports individual chat messages on the computer](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-Export-Individual-Chat-Computer-Messages.jpg)
- Double-click these HTML files to open them in your default browser, where you can easily read them. Alternatively, attach the file to an email to send it to someone else.
![Chat is exported by telegram](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-Exported-Chat.jpg)
Similarly, you can export group chat or channel history.
advice: Also learn how to create or manage telegram channels.
2. Export all chats by telegram
Telegram allows you to export all your telegram data. This includes message history from all chat threads (personal chats, groups, channels), photos, videos, account information, stickers, animated files, activity sessions and more. You can use this method to create an offline backup of your telegram account data.
- Open the Telegram desktop app on your computer.
- Click the three-bar icon at the top.
![Telegram Pc Three Bar](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-PC-Three-Bar.jpg)
- Select “Settings” from the menu.
![Telegram computer settings](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-PC-Settings.jpg)
- Go to “Advanced”.
![Advanced Telegram Computer Settings](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-PC-Settings-Advanced.jpg)
- Swipe all the way down and click “Export Telegram Data”.
![Telegram computer chat export](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-PC-Export-Chat.jpg)
- Now select the items you want to export, such as account information, personal chats, channels, video messages, pictures, files, activity sessions, etc. Just click the checkboxes before the desired items to select them and deselect the rest.
![Telegram computer chat data export](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-PC-Export-Chat-Data.jpg)
Note: You can export all chats or a single chat (using the first method). You can not select certain chats.
- Scroll down to set the maximum size limit for individual files to be exported using the “Size limit” slider.
![Telegram computer export file size](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-PC-Export-File-Size.jpg)
- Scroll down to change the download path and format of the exported files. Finally, click “Export”.
![Telegram Computer Export Everything](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-PC-Export-All.jpg)
The exported files will be saved in the “Downloads” folder of your PC.
Bonus: How to export Telegram chat to PDF
Telegram does not offer an original way to export chats to PDF. However, you can use two workarounds to convert Telegram chats to PDF.
Using the printing tools
- First, export the Telegram chat history as shown above. Then open the “Telegram Desktop” folder on your computer to see the exported files. Double-click the “message.html” file to open it in the default browser.
- to use Ctrl + פ Command to open the Print function.
- Click the drop-down box next to “Destination” and select “Save as PDF.”
- Click the “Save” button to download the Telegram Chat PDF file.
![Telegram Export Chat PDF](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/06/Telegram-Export-Chat-PDF.jpg)
- Similarly, convert other HTML files to PDF.
2. Using online tools
You can also use online tools to convert HTML files to PDF. Some of the tools you can try are:
Simply upload the “message.html” file to one of these sites and they will automatically do the rest of the conversion work to PDF.
Common questions
Can you merge or import exported chats back to Telegram?
Can you export secret chats?
Unfortunately, the answer to this question is no. Secret chats cannot be exported because they are only available on mobile devices.
How to back up Telegram chats to Google Drive?
This is not done automatically as in the case of WhatsApp. You must first export Telegram chats to your computer and then manually upload the files to Google Drive.
All screenshots by Mehvish Mushtaq
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