Your first WhatsApp export, step by step

Open Chatcove, plug in and unlock your iPhone, and click Export WhatsApp. When your iPhone asks, tap Trust and enter its passcode on the phone. Chatcove does the rest and then opens the export dialog. Everything stays on your Mac.

Have your iPhone in your hand. The first moment is the one people get stuck on, so read the next section before you click.

Before you click: the Trust and passcode prompts

Chatcove tells you this on the main card: your iPhone will ask you to trust the Mac and to enter its passcode before the backup starts, even if you have trusted this Mac before. Nothing happens until you tap it.

Trust. If the iPhone has never seen this Mac, it asks whether to trust this computer. Tap Trust, then enter the passcode. If Chatcove shows a card called "Not trusted" with a Pair button, click Pair first, then tap Trust on the iPhone. Chatcove continues by itself a few seconds after you do.
Passcode. Backups are encrypted, so the iPhone asks for its passcode on the phone, not on the Mac. The pill on the Chatcove card reads On your iPhone while it is waiting. Enter the passcode and keep the iPhone unlocked.
After the passcode, nothing more to do. The first backup to a new Mac can take several minutes to get going while the iPhone prepares in silence. That is normal. Leave it plugged in and wait.

The steps

Open Chatcove. On first launch you see a short guided setup; click Get started, or Skip setup. Then open the Device section.
Connect your iPhone. Plug it in with the cable and unlock it. Chatcove shows your iPhone's name, model and iOS version with a Connected pill. If it says "No iPhone connected" or "Locked", see The iPhone is not detected.
Click Export WhatsApp. The card is titled "Export your WhatsApp history". If a backup of this iPhone already exists on the Mac, you see two buttons instead, Use existing backup and Back up again. See How the local backup works.
Trust and passcode. Do the Trust and passcode steps above, on the iPhone.

Wait while Chatcove works. One card shows the progress, with a pill that says what is going on and a line that says whether you need to do anything:

Card title	What is happening	Do you need to act?
Getting started	Checking your iPhone backup settings.	No. A few seconds.
Turning on secure backup	Only if backup encryption was off. Chatcove sets a strong backup password and asks the iPhone to turn encryption on.	Enter your passcode on the iPhone if asked. Usually under a minute.
Backing up your iPhone	Copying data from the iPhone. Pills: On your iPhone, Preparing, Copying, Finishing.	Only when the pill says On your iPhone or Unlock iPhone. A first backup usually takes 10 to 60 minutes, depending on how much is on the iPhone. Later backups usually transfer only what changed and are much faster.
Reading your WhatsApp history	Chatcove reads your chats from the backup on the Mac.	No. Your iPhone is not needed for this step. Usually under a minute.
Opening your export	Your history is ready.	No.

Keep the iPhone unlocked and plugged in during the backup. You can use other apps on the Mac meanwhile. The Cancel button stops the work. Nothing on the iPhone is changed, and you can start again when you are ready.

Choose what to export. Chatcove moves to Chats and opens the Export dialog with all chats selected. Pick a format, options, a date range and a folder, then click Export. See What gets exported and Choosing chats.
Open the result. When the dialog says "Export complete", click Reveal in Finder to see the folder, then Done. See Opening the export.

If something stops the flow

The card turns into a message with a button. The common ones:

You see	What it means	Go to
"The saved password does not match" with Fix password (Chatcove 0.1.7 or later)	The iPhone's backup password was changed after Chatcove saved it.	Saved password does not match
"Enter your existing backup password" with Enter backup password	Backup encryption was already on, set up outside Chatcove (for example in Finder or iTunes). Chatcove needs that password once.	If you already set a password in Finder
A red card with Stopped, Try again, Send report	The backup or the reading step failed. The card explains why and what to do.	Troubleshooting
"Your iPhone was disconnected, so the backup paused"	The cable came loose or the connection dropped. Plug it back in, unlock it and click Try again.	Backup stuck or slow
"No WhatsApp data was found in the backup"	WhatsApp is not installed or has no chats on the iPhone.	WhatsApp not found

The Step-by-step button on the main card lets you run encryption, backup and reading as separate steps. See One-click or step-by-step.