How to back up WhatsApp documents, photos and media from your computer

Why saving files one by one falls short

• You lose the context. A PDF in your Downloads folder doesn't say who sent it, in which chat or why.
• It's manual. Nobody saves every file from every customer.
• WhatsApp's backup is for the phone. It restores media onto a phone. You can't browse it on a computer.

Media in a Kaption backup

Kaption Backups keeps one password-encrypted backup file of your WhatsApp chats in a folder you choose. It works in WhatsApp Web with the Kaption extension for Chrome and Edge, and in the Kaption desktop app for Mac and Windows.

On paid plans, the backup can include media:

• Photos and videos
• Voice notes and audio
• Documents: PDFs, spreadsheets, Word files and other attachments

Each file stays inside its chat, next to its message and caption. On Free, a backup holds messages and voice-note transcripts, and media shows as a placeholder. See pricing for what each plan includes.

How to turn it on

1. Open Backups in Kaption and pick a folder: one inside iCloud Drive, Google Drive or OneDrive, or on an external drive.
2. Set a password of at least 10 characters. Nobody, not even Kaption, can open the file without it. There is no recovery.
3. Turn on continuous backups (paid plans).
4. Keep Include photos, videos, voice notes and documents on. It is on unless you turn it off.

When you turn media on, Kaption adds the media already on that computer, then keeps adding new media every hour with the rest of what changed.

A note on file size

Media makes the backup much bigger than text. The switch shows the file's size, so you can see how it grows. If space is tight, turn media off: Kaption stops adding new media and keeps what the file already holds. The same photo is stored only once, even if it was sent in several chats.

Finding and opening a document later

Choose View backup, type the password, and the backup opens read-only in a new tab, laid out like WhatsApp:

• Use the With media filter to see chats that have files.
• Search every chat and transcript for the name of a customer or a document.
• A document shows its type, name and size, with Open and Save when the file is in the backup.
• Photos open larger on click. Videos play from the backup. Voice notes play, with their transcript under them.

The file is decrypted in memory on your computer. Nothing is uploaded.

What to expect

• Older media may be partial. Kaption fetches each file through WhatsApp. If a file is no longer available, the backup may hold only WhatsApp's small preview, marked "Full image not in this backup".
• It is view-only. You can open and save files from the backup, but it can't put them back into WhatsApp.
• It keeps what it saved. If a sender deletes a file after it was backed up, the backup still has it.

For examples from real work, see WhatsApp backup for import and export businesses and WhatsApp backup for real estate agents.

FAQ

Can I back up WhatsApp PDFs and documents to my computer?

Yes, on paid plans. Documents go into the encrypted backup file, and you can open or save them from the backup viewer.

Does the Free plan back up photos?

No. Free backups hold messages and voice-note transcripts. Photos, videos, voice notes and documents are part of paid plans.

Will the backup fill my drive?

Media makes it bigger. The backup window shows the file's size, and you can turn media off at any time.

Where are the files stored?

Inside the one encrypted backup file, in the folder you chose. Kaption's servers never receive it.

Can I save a single file from the backup?

Yes. When the document is in the backup, the viewer has a Save button.