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Mastros WhatsApp extension iconWhatsApp · Chrome extension

WhatsApp Chat Backup

WhatsApp chat backup means two different things. WhatsApp's own backup copies chats to Google Drive or iCloud and restores them onto a phone — it is not a file anyone can read. The Mastros WhatsApp extension does the other job: it exports a conversation from WhatsApp Web to CSV, JSON or JSONL.

Get it on the Chrome Web StoreSee pricing

WhatsApp Web only · No API · Nothing automated · No sign-up

Which kind of WhatsApp backup you need

Losing the phone is the worry

Use WhatsApp's own backup. Google Drive on Android and iCloud on iPhone restore a chat history onto a device after a reset, a loss or an upgrade. Nothing on this page replaces that, and it should stay switched on.

Reading the history is the worry

Use an export. A record for a client, an accountant, a lawyer or a spreadsheet has to be readable without WhatsApp — which is what the Mastros WhatsApp extension produces from WhatsApp Web, as CSV, JSON or JSONL.

Honest comparison

Official WhatsApp backup compared with an export you can read

The official backup and an export answer different questions, and the table below scores each one on both. Google Drive and iCloud win the row that matters most to most people — restoring a chat history onto a new phone — and no export on this page competes there. That row is the reason to leave the official backup switched on regardless of anything else here.

Every other row is about reading. A restore image only WhatsApp can open cannot be searched by an accountant, filed with a claim, or sorted by sender in a spreadsheet. WhatsApp's own Export Chat closes part of that gap with a .txt transcript, and a parsing step turns the transcript into columns. The Mastros WhatsApp extension skips the transcript: it reads the conversation loaded in WhatsApp Web and writes the columns directly.

Restoring onto a new phone is what the official backup is for, and no export replaces it. The rest of the rows are about reading the history.
What mattersMastros exportGoogle Drive / iCloud backupWhatsApp Export Chat (.txt)Online .txt convertersPython parser (whatstk)
Restores your chats onto a new phoneNot its job — this is an export, not a restoreYes. This is exactly what it is forNo — a transcript, not a restore pointNoNo
Readable without WhatsAppA spreadsheet you ownA restore image only WhatsApp can openPlain textA spreadsheetA spreadsheet
Opens in Excel or Google SheetsCSV, directlyNoPlain .txt — needs a parsing stepAfter the upload and conversionAfter writing or running the script
Searchable and sortable by sender or dateSender, text and time are columnsOnly inside WhatsApp, after restoringManual scrollingOnce converted to columnsOnce parsed into columns
Runs on a computer, not the phoneWhatsApp Web, in the browserSet up in the phone appThe export lives in the phone appYes, but the .txt comes from the phoneYes, but the .txt comes from the phone
Includes the group's member listAs its own export, in the same panelNot as anything readableNoNoNo
Where the data goesStraight to a file on your computerGoogle or Apple serversWherever you share the fileUploaded to the converter's serverStays on your computer
PriceFree tier; Pro $9/mo, Scale $18/moFreeFreeFree tiers, often paid above a sizeFree, open source

What WhatsApp's Google Drive and iCloud backup does

It copies a chat history so WhatsApp can put it back later. The stored file is a restore image, not a document: it opens in nothing but WhatsApp during setup, and it is bound to the same phone number. Right for recovering a lost handset, useless for reading what was agreed in March.

What a readable WhatsApp export gives you instead

The extension reads the messages loaded in a chat on web.whatsapp.com and writes one row per message — sender, text and time in their own columns, as CSV, JSON or JSONL. A row per message sorts, filters and searches; a restore image does none of that.

The full walkthrough, and the native .txt route

Backing up a WhatsApp group conversation

A group backs up like any chat: scroll back, run Chat Messages, and every loaded message becomes a row carrying the sender who wrote it — the structure WhatsApp's own .txt export loses once a dozen people are talking. Group Members saves the people as their own file.

What the contact list contains

What your backup holds

Structured, searchable, and made entirely on your computer.

A backup you can open

One row per message with sender, text and time. Sort it, filter it, search it — it is a spreadsheet, not a wall of text.

Searchable forever

Find that address, price or promise from months ago in seconds, without scrolling a chat.

Groups and members too

Back up a group's messages, and save its member list — names, roles and numbers where WhatsApp shows them — as its own file.

Every run is kept

Each backup run is saved on its own, so you can come back later and download the file again.

It stays on your computer

The backup is written in your browser and saved straight to disk. Your messages never touch Mastros servers.

Three formats

CSV for Excel and Google Sheets, JSON for one tidy list, JSONL for one message per line.

Pricing

Same paid plans. Different free limits.

Pro and Scale are the same for WhatsApp and Telegram. Only the free plan is different. Pick a tool to see its free limits.

Free

$0/ month

Start with every tool

100 profiles / month
100 messages / month
  • Every scraper unlocked
  • No account needed

Pro

Most popular
$9/ month

Best if you export a lot

5,000 profiles / month
10,000 messages / month
  • Same tools as Free, bigger limits
  • Every tool unlocked

Scale

$18/ month

For very big jobs

100,000 profiles / month
500,000 messages / month
  • Same tools as Free, the biggest limits
  • Made for big, repeated exports

Telegram Free: 250 profiles + 300 messages a month · WhatsApp Free: 100 + 100. Pro is $9 for 5,000 profiles + 10,000 messages. Scale is $18 for 100,000 + 500,000. Scale has limits too — it is not unlimited.

Reviews

What people say

4.9 out of 5 from 152 reviews on the Chrome Web Store.

This tool is super easy to use and exports LinkedIn profiles to Excel in just a few clicks, with clean, organised data.
Ondiek VictorMastros for LinkedIn
Works really well and saves me a lot of time when downloading Telegram videos and media. Simple, useful, and easy to use.
g ethanMastros for Telegram
Super handy extension for pulling contact lists and chat logs straight into an excel sheet without doing annoying manual copy pasting all day...
Asifur RahmanMastros for WhatsApp

Frequently asked questions

A backup restores; an export reads. WhatsApp's Google Drive and iCloud backup exists to put a chat history back onto a phone after a reset or a new device, and the file it stores is a restore image no other app opens. An export produces a document you own and can read anywhere — a .txt transcript from WhatsApp's own Export Chat, or a CSV, JSON or JSONL file from the Mastros WhatsApp extension. Most people need both, for different days.

No. A Google Drive or iCloud WhatsApp backup is not a readable document. It restores into WhatsApp on a phone and cannot be opened in a text editor, a spreadsheet or any other app, and with end-to-end encrypted backups turned on it opens only with the password, the 64-digit key, or a passkey — biometrics or your device screen lock, an option WhatsApp added in October 2025. Lose all of those and WhatsApp offers no recovery. To read chat history outside WhatsApp, export it: WhatsApp's Export Chat gives a .txt file, and the Mastros extension gives CSV, JSON or JSONL from WhatsApp Web.

Open the conversation in WhatsApp Web, scroll up until the history you want has loaded, pick Chat Messages in the Mastros panel, and save the result as CSV. The file opens straight in Excel or Google Sheets with one row per message — sender, text and time in their own columns. JSON and JSONL work the same way for tools and scripts.

No, and it is not meant to. A Mastros export is a readable copy of a conversation, not a restore point: it cannot put chats back onto a new phone, and it does not cover chats left unopened in WhatsApp Web. Keep the official backup switched on for device loss, and use an export when the history needs to be searched, shared, kept as a record or read by someone without the phone.

WhatsApp's built-in export lives in the phone app and produces a plain .txt transcript, one chat at a time. The Mastros extension runs on WhatsApp Web and produces a structured file: every message is a row with its own sender, text and time columns, so the result is searchable and sortable without a parsing step. It can also save the group's member list, which WhatsApp's export never includes.

It backs up every message that is loaded in the open chat. WhatsApp Web loads older messages as you scroll, so scroll up until the history you want is on screen, then run the backup. It cannot bring back deleted messages.

Yes. Open the group and back up its loaded messages the same way. You can also save the member list — names, roles and phone numbers where WhatsApp Web shows them — as a separate file with the Group Members tool.

No. The backup only reads what your own WhatsApp Web already shows, and the file is made on your computer. WhatsApp tells no one, and the extension sends nothing.

No. Everything happens in your browser and the file saves straight to your computer. Your messages, contacts and numbers never go to Mastros servers. Online .txt-to-CSV converters are the ones to watch here: they work by uploading a private conversation to somebody else's server.

No. It works on WhatsApp Web (web.whatsapp.com) in Chrome or a Chrome-like browser. It does not work in the phone app or the desktop app.

Free covers 100 messages and 100 profiles a month with every tool unlocked and no account. Pro is $9 a month for 10,000 messages, and Scale is $18 for 500,000 — enough for very long chats and regular backups.

CSV if you want to open it in Excel or Google Sheets — that is the usual choice. JSON keeps everything as one tidy list for other tools. JSONL gives one message per line, which is handy for scripts and archives.

Please use it fairly

Back up only conversations you are allowed to see, and treat the people in them with care. Follow WhatsApp's Terms of Service and your privacy laws. Questions? admin@mastros.online

Guide

How to export WhatsApp messages to CSV

The native .txt export, the parsing step it needs, and every route to a spreadsheet.

Guide

How to export contacts from WhatsApp

What a contact export contains, and what WhatsApp keeps hidden whatever the tool.

Need contacts and group members too? See the WhatsApp chat exporter. For a chat's photos and videos, see the WhatsApp media downloader.