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Chat Evidence

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WhatsApp & Telegram Chat to PDF for Court, Hash-Verified

Turn a WhatsApp or Telegram chat export into a court-ready evidence record: a paginated PDF with every message, sender and time, a SHA-256 fingerprint of the export and of every photo, voice note and document, Bates numbers, a case caption, a chain-of-custody log and a declaration template for the US, UK, Canada or Australia. The chat is read in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, not even to us.

How it works

  1. Export the chat from the app. WhatsApp: open the chat, then More, Export chat, Attach media (a ZIP). Telegram Desktop: Settings, Advanced, Export Telegram data (JSON or HTML).
  2. Drop it here. It is read message by message from the file the app wrote: iOS and Android date formats, multi-line messages, deleted and edited markers, every attachment.
  3. Say where the phone was. WhatsApp writes the phone's local time without a zone; you declare it and every time is also given in UTC.
  4. Review the findings. Deleted and edited messages, gaps, files that are missing, the export limit, disappearing messages and security-code changes are listed before you rely on the chat.
  5. Build the record free, then download it as PDF (English or Arabic), CSV, XLSX and a JSON manifest.

What makes it checkable

Each message is fingerprinted exactly as the export wrote it, and every file by its bytes. The fingerprints are joined into one Merkle tree per chat and one case root over every chat, printed on the cover and attached inside the PDF as a manifest. An excerpt carries a Merkle proof for each message it shows, so a court can confirm those messages came from the full export without seeing the rest. With a trusted timestamp, an RFC 3161 authority signs the case root (only that hash leaves your device) and proves the record existed at that moment.

Anyone can check a record with the free Verify tab: it recomputes every proof from the PDF itself and, given the original export, confirms it rebuilds the same root.

Excerpts and card disputes

Pick the messages that matter (up to 25 with their context). Messages left out between them are marked as gaps, so an excerpt never reads as the whole conversation. The compact layout aims for the upload limits payment processors set for dispute evidence (4.5 MB and 19 pages) and says whether the record fits.

What it does not do

It proves what the export contains and that the record has not changed since it was made. It cannot prove that the phone's chat was never edited before the export, or who held the phone. The declaration templates are a starting point, not legal advice: check the rules of the court or tribunal you file with.

Related tools

How to turn a WhatsApp or Telegram chat into court evidence

  1. Step 1: Drop the export

    Drop the WhatsApp ZIP or the Telegram export, say which time zone the phone was in, and read the findings before you rely on the chat.

  2. Step 2: Keep the whole chat or pick an excerpt

    Choose all messages, or only the ones that matter with their context. Stretches you leave out are marked as gaps.

  3. Step 3: Add the case details

    Enter the case caption, the exhibit label and the Bates prefix, and pick the declaration template for your court.

  4. Step 4: Build the record, then download it

    Build record is free to preview. Download the PDF with its CSV, XLSX and manifest, and point the other side to the free Verify tab.

When to use the Chat Evidence Archiver

Harassment or threats received in a chat
Preserve the messages with their times and fingerprints before the sender deletes them or they disappear.
A landlord, tenant or employment dispute
Show the agreement or the warning as it was sent, with its date, in a form a tribunal can read.
Family proceedings
File only the messages about the children as an excerpt, without handing over the whole conversation.
Handing a chat to your lawyer
Give your lawyer a paginated record with every attachment fingerprinted instead of a folder of screenshots.

Common mistakes

  • Relying on screenshots

    Screenshots can be cropped or made up, show nothing of what came before or after, and leave the attachments out. An export keeps every message and file.

  • Exporting without media

    Without media, photos, voice notes and documents appear only as placeholders and cannot be fingerprinted. Include media when you export.

  • Editing or re-zipping the export

    Any change to the export changes its fingerprint. Drop the file exactly as the app produced it.

  • Hoping nobody notices the findings

    Deleted messages, gaps and the export limit are listed because the other side can find them too. Deal with them in your statement.

Chat Evidence Archiver compared with other ways to present a chat

Chat Evidence Archiver compared with screenshots, printing the export, forensic examiners.
Chat Evidence ArchiverScreenshotsPrinting the exportForensic examiners
Where the chat goesStays in your browserStays on your phoneStays with youHanded to the examiner
Every message and attachmentYes, each file fingerprintedOnly what you captureText only, files separateYes
Proof it was not changed laterFingerprints and a Merkle root anyone can checkNoneNoneA signed report
Showing only part of the chatExcerpts with a proof per message and marked gapsEasy to cut, hard to trustBy handVaries
Court layoutBates numbers, caption, exhibit label and declarationNoNoYes
CostPay per chat with tokens, preview freeFreeFreeA professional fee

Frequently asked questions

Can I use WhatsApp messages as evidence in court?
WhatsApp messages are routinely accepted as evidence in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, but courts expect a complete, chronological record whose source can be shown, and screenshots are easy to challenge. The Chat Evidence Archiver turns the original export into a timestamped, Bates-numbered PDF with SHA-256 fingerprints, built in your browser so the chat never leaves your device.
How do I print a WhatsApp chat for court?
Export the chat in WhatsApp (open the chat, tap More, then Export chat, and choose Attach media), then drop the ZIP into the Chat Evidence Archiver. The record it builds is a paginated PDF with the sender, date and time of every message, a cover page, a fingerprint for every file and optional Bates numbers, made on your device with no upload.
Is it safe to put private chats into an online converter?
Nothing is uploaded here: reading the export, hashing, redaction and building the PDF all run in your browser. Messages, photos and voice notes stay on your device, which keeps the chat out of third-party processing under GDPR, UK GDPR and PIPEDA when it holds other people's data. The one optional exception is the trusted timestamp, which sends a single SHA-256 hash.
What does the SHA-256 hash prove?
A SHA-256 hash proves that a file or message has not changed since it was fingerprinted: alter one character and the hash no longer matches. A hash cannot prove that nothing was deleted on the phone before the export, so the record also prints the export's details, the declared time zone and every deleted-message marker and gap it finds.
Does a hash help authenticate evidence under the US federal rules?
Federal Rule of Evidence 902(14) lets data copied from a device or file be self-authenticating when a qualified person certifies that it was identified by a process of digital identification such as a hash value. The record prints the hash of the export and of every attachment and includes a declaration template under 28 U.S.C. §1746 for you or your expert to complete; the template is not legal advice.
Can I submit only part of a chat without revealing the rest?
An excerpt does exactly that: pick the messages you need (up to 25 with their context) and each one carries a Merkle proof linking it to the root fingerprint of the whole chat. Anyone can check that the excerpt came from the complete export without seeing the rest, and the messages left out between the picked ones are marked as gaps.
More questions about Orilami

Chat Evidence Archiver at a glance

Key facts about Chat Evidence Archiver: where it runs, what it costs, what it accepts and produces, and its limits.
Where it runsEntirely in your browser. Files are never uploaded.
Cost999 tokens per chat (about $9.99 at the base rate); 3,999 tokens for up to 5 chats
AcceptsA WhatsApp "Export chat" ZIP or _chat.txt, or a Telegram Desktop export (result.json or the folder with messages.html); up to 5 chats per record
ProducesA paginated evidence PDF (English or Arabic) with a cover, per-chat fingerprints, findings, the transcript, a file index, a chain-of-custody log and a declaration template, with its JSON manifest attached inside; plus CSV, XLSX and the manifest on its own.
BatchUp to 5 chats per record, or an excerpt of up to 25 messages with their context
Account neededOnly to spend tokens. Browsing and previewing are free.
What it does not doIt proves what the export contains and that the record has not changed since it was made. It cannot show that the chat on the phone was never edited before the export, or who used the phone. WhatsApp writes local times without a zone, so the zone you declare is what the UTC times rest on. The declaration templates are not legal advice.

Preserve the chat before it changes

999 tokens per chat · 3,999 tokens for up to 5 chats · Preview free, nothing uploaded

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