Why my export is cut off at 10,000 or 40,000 messages
WhatsApp truncates exports. Here is what the limit is and how to get the full chat.
1 min read
WhatsApp's "Export chat" only includes the most recent messages:
- 10,000 messages when you include media
- 40,000 messages without media
Everything older is simply missing from the file. A five-year group chat can lose most of its history — and the export contains only the media from those last 10,000 messages.
WaChat detects this and shows a "WhatsApp truncated this export" banner with the count it found.
How to get the whole chat
Use the encrypted backup instead of the export. It contains every message of every chat, with no limit, and works with your media folder for attachments:
- Get your 64-digit key.
- Run a backup in WhatsApp.
- Find the crypt15 file and open it in WaChat Web, or let the Android app do it for you.
If you already imported the truncated export, importing the backup afterwards merges into the same chat — nothing is duplicated.
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