/ How to

How to Backup and Export Signal Messenger Chat History

Signal is a popular encrypted messaging app that emphasizes privacy and security. Unlike other messaging apps, Signal does not store messages on remote servers and relies on device-specific encryption for all communications.

While this provides robust privacy protections, it also means Signal messages cannot be easily accessed across multiple devices or recovered if your phone is lost or damaged. To safeguard important conversations, it is essential to understand Signal’s backup and export options.

Backing Up Signal Messages

Signal allows users to create local, encrypted backups of their message history. Here’s how to enable Signal backups on Android and iOS devices:

Android Devices

  1. Open the Signal app and go to Settings > Chats > Backups > Chat Backups
  2. Tap Turn On, select a folder to store the backup, and write down the 30-digit passphrase
  3. Tap Create Backup to generate an encrypted backup containing your message history

iOS Devices

  1. Open the Signal app and go to your profile > Chats and Media > Chat Backups > Backup Folder
  2. Tap Turn On, review the backup location, write down the 30-digit passphrase, and tap Enable Backups
  3. Tap Create Backup to generate an encrypted backup with your chat history

Be sure to store the 30-digit passphrase in a safe place, as it will be required to restore your backup.

Restoring Signal Backups

To restore a Signal backup on Android or iOS:

  1. Install Signal on your new device
  2. Launch Signal and select Transfer or Restore Account
  3. Select Restore from Backup and enter your 30-digit passphrase
  4. Select the backup file to restore your message history

The same passphrase used to create the backup must be entered on the device restoring the backup.

Exporting Signal Messages

Since Signal backups are encrypted and device-specific, the backup files themselves cannot be easily accessed or transferred for archival purposes. However, there are some unofficial methods to export plain text transcripts of your conversations.

Using Signal Backup Tools

Signal Backup Tools is an open-source utility that can read Signal’s encrypted Android backups and export message data in various formats. To use it:

  1. Create a Signal backup on your Android device
  2. Copy the backup file to the computer running Signal Backup Tools
  3. Use the export-messages command to export your chat history in HTML, CSV, XML, etc.

On Desktop

Some tools like Sigtop can be used with the Signal Desktop app to export chat messages and attachments into markdown or HTML files. However, chat history must first be loaded manually within the Signal Desktop app before it can be exported using these tools.

In summary, while Signal does not officially support exporting chat history across platforms, some unofficial tools do exist to export and back up portions of your conversations for separate archival. Handle these plain text transcripts securely just as you would the encrypted Signal backups themselves.

Key Takeaways

  • Enable Signal backups locally on your Android or iOS device
  • Store the backup passphrase securely to restore message history
  • Use unofficial tools like Signal Backup Tools to export parts of your chat history off-device
  • Plain text transcripts exported from Signal should also be properly secured

Prioritizing privacy and security means Signal works differently than other messaging apps. But by properly managing backups and understanding export options, you can still preserve important Signal conversations even when switching devices.

Related Posts