Choosing which chats to export, and the free trial limits
In Chats, export one chat with its folder button, tick several chats and click Export selected, or click Export all. The free trial exports one chat per run and three exports in total, with a watermark. A licence removes every limit. Everything stays on your Mac.
Picking chats
Section titled "Picking chats"Open the Chats section after Chatcove has read your WhatsApp history. Browsing, reading and searching are free and unlimited, with or without a licence.
Find the chat
- The tabs All, Chats and Groups filter the list, each with a count.
- Search name or number filters the list by chat name or phone number.
- Search messages searches the text of messages in every chat. Use it to find the conversation, then export it.
- Recent and Messages sort the list by last activity or by number of messages.
One chat
- Click the folder button on the chat's row (its tooltip is "Export this chat"), or right-click the row, or use the export button in the conversation header.
- Or tick that one chat and click Export selected (1).
Several chats
- Tick the checkbox on each row you want.
- Shift-click a second checkbox to tick everything in between.
- The selection bar shows how many you ticked ("3 selected"). Select all N shown ticks every chat the current tab and search show. Clear removes the ticks.
- Click Export selected (N).
Your ticks stay while you open a chat and come back.
Everything
- Click Export all in the toolbar, or in the Exports section.
All of these open the same Export dialog, where you pick the format, options, date range and folder. See What gets exported for formats and the folder layout. One chat is saved in a folder named after the chat. Two or more chats, or Export all, get a dated folder with one subfolder per chat.
Chats are exported one at a time. The dialog shows progress such as "Exporting 3 of 7: Name". If one chat fails, the rest are still written and the failure is listed at the end.
Free trial limits
Section titled "Free trial limits"These limits are what the app enforces. They apply only until a licence is activated.
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Chats per export run | 1 |
| Exports in total, ever | 3 |
| Watermark | Yes, on every trial export |
| Browsing, reading, search, media viewing | Free and unlimited |
What that means in practice:
- If you select more than one chat, or Export all, a trial export writes only the first chat. The dialog shows a "Free trial" notice: "This exports only 1 of your N chats, and adds a small watermark." You must tick "I understand only 1 of my N chats will export, with a watermark" before the Export button works.
- The watermark is the line "Exported with Chatcove (trial). Buy once at chatcove.app to remove this notice and export everything." It is added to the top of text files and the spreadsheet, to the web page and PDF, and noted in the manifest.
- A completed trial export uses one of your three. A cancelled or failed export costs nothing.
- When the three are used, the dialog shows "Free trial used up": "You have used all 3 trial exports. Browsing your history stays free. Get a license to export." The Export button is disabled, and Get a license opens Settings.
With a licence
Section titled "With a licence"A licence removes the one-chat limit, the three-export limit and the watermark. Export as many chats and as many times as you like. See Pricing and Activate and move your licence.