How to import your WhatsApp chat history into Telegram

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Import WhatsApp chats into Telegram
Switch to Telegram the easy way.
Image: Telegram/Cult of Mac

Are you one of the many who have decided to ditch WhatsApp in favor of Telegram? If so, you’ll be pleased to know Telegram’s latest update makes it possible to import all your WhatsApp chat data so that you don’t lose it when you switch. We’ll show you how.

WhatsApp users have been leaving the platform in droves in recent weeks. That’s thanks to the introduction of a new privacy policy on January 12 that left many concerned about how their data would be handled by the world’s most popular chat service, owned by Facebook.

WhatsApp has since delayed the rollout of that policy and insists the changes won’t affect user security. That hasn’t been enough to stop a large number of users from jumping ship, much to the delight of Telegram, which has reported a significant boost in activity worldwide.

If you’re thinking about taking the same leap, hold onto all your existing chat data and continue right from where you left off by importing your conversations into Telegram first. You can also import chats from some other services, including KaKaoTalk and Line.

Import your WhatsApp chats into Telegram

One thing you should be aware of before you start moving your chat data is that there’s currently no way to import every conversation into Telegram at once. You need to do each one individually, so it might take you a bit of time if you have a lot to transfer.

It’s a small price to pay to hold onto what might be months or even years of chat data, however. When you’re ready to get started, first ensure you have Telegram installed and set up, then follow these steps:

  1. Open WhatsApp and open a chat you want to transfer.
  2. Tap the contact or group name at the top, then tap Export Chat.
  3. Choose to export the conversation with or without media attachments.
  4. Tap the Telegram icon.
  5. Select the chat you want to import your data to.
Import WhatsApp chats into Telegram
Include media if you want to keep it.
Screenshots: Cult of Mac

Your chat data will now be exported from WhatsApp and imported directly into Telegram. It’s as easy as that. You can now repeat the steps above for all the other conversations you want to carry over.

Of course, you could just keep WhatsApp installed on your phone to access chat history later. But if for any reason you really want to delete it, this is the simplest way to ensure you don’t lose your chat data.

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