Exporting WhatsApp messages from Android

With WhatsApp changing its privacy policy in early 2021, accessing previous messages won't be possible without accepting it first. This post covers how to export WhatsApp messages from an Android device on a GNU/Linux system.

WhatsApp 2.11.431 was the last version with adb backup activated^[How to manually transfer entire Whatsapp installation to another device (the hard way). (2018, January 9). Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. Retrieved January 12, 2021, from https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/150071/how-to-manually-transfer-entire-whatsapp-installation-to-another-device-the-har/189298#189298]. A downgrade to that version is necessary to export WhatsApp data.

https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/150071/how-to-manually-transfer-entire-whatsapp-installation-to-another-device-the-har/189298#189298

Prerequisites:

• Android Debug Bridge (adb)
• Python

1. Install WhatsApp 2.11.431

# download WhatsApp.apk
wget -O ./WhatsApp-2.11.431.apk https://web.archive.org/web/20191020195549id_/https://www.cdn.whatsapp.net/android/2.11.431/WhatsApp.apk

# verify checksum
sha256sum ./WhatsApp-2.11.431.apk
# expect: 51a387f08debd7e53bcaf9f3174760930787bc5c1dcefb3c8d7ee52b524cd27d

# now connect Android device over USB

# uninstall old version
adb shell pm uninstall -k com.whatsapp

# install new version
adb install ./WhatsApp-2.11.431.apk

1. Backup and convert data

# create and copy backup
adb backup -f ./wa-backup.ab -noapk com.whatsapp

# uncompress backup
mkdir ./wa-backup/
( printf "\x1f\x8b\x08\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00" ; tail -c +25 ~/Downloads/backup.ab ) |  tar xfvz - -C ./wa-backup/

# download converter
git clone https://github.com/fingersonfire/Whatsapp-Xtract

# copy images from phone
adb pull /sdcard/WhatsApp/Media ./Whatsapp-Xtract

# convert
python ./Whatsapp-Xtract/whatsapp_xtract.py ./wa-backup/apps/com.whatsapp/db/msgstore.db -w ./wa-backup/apps/com.whatsapp/db/wa.db
cp ./wa-backup/apps/com.whatsapp/db/msgstore.db.html ./Whatsapp-Xtract/

The uncompress command is from user Kari on android.stackexchange.com^[How do you extract an App’s data from a full backup made through “adb backup”? (2014, July 27). Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. Retrieved January 13, 2021, from https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/28481/how-do-you-extract-an-apps-data-from-a-full-backup-made-through-adb-backup/78183#78183].

https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/28481/how-do-you-extract-an-apps-data-from-a-full-backup-made-through-adb-backup/78183#78183

Additional resources:

• WhatsApp Key/DB Extractor
• WhatsApp Crypt12 Database Decrypter
• WhatsApp Key DB Extractor

License

CC BY-SA 4.0 (or later)

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