How to back up WhatsApp Web chats on your computer

Why WhatsApp Web has no backup

WhatsApp Web is a window onto your account. When you log out, or the phone is gone, the chats in that window go too. WhatsApp's own backup is made by the phone, to iCloud on an iPhone or Google Drive on Android. Its job is to restore your chats onto a phone. You can't open it on a computer and read it.

That leaves a gap for anyone who works from a computer: there is no file of your chats on the machine where you actually read them.

What Kaption Backups makes

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

The file holds every chat of the account:

• Messages, contacts, groups and labels
• Voice-note transcripts, so what was said out loud can be searched too
• Small profile pictures
• Messages deleted later, marked "Deleted in WhatsApp"
• On paid plans, photos, videos, voice notes and documents

Step by step

1. Install Kaption

Add the Kaption extension to Chrome or Edge and open WhatsApp Web, or install the Kaption desktop app and link WhatsApp with the QR code. Use a recent version: continuous backups in the extension need version 0.94.7 or later.

2. Open Backups and pick a folder

Choose any folder once. It can be a plain folder on your computer, a folder inside iCloud Drive, Google Drive or OneDrive, or an external drive. If you pick a synced folder, that service syncs the file like any other file. Kaption does not sign in to it or upload to it.

3. Set a password

The backup is encrypted with a password of at least 10 characters. Nobody, not even Kaption, can open the file without it. There is no recovery: if you forget it, the backup stays locked. Keep it in a password manager.

4. Back up

You have two ways to make the file:

• Export now writes a one-off backup file. It works on every plan, including Free. On Free it holds messages and transcripts, not media.
• Continuous backups keep the same file current every hour, adding only what changed. They are part of paid plans.

5. Keep folder access on

After a browser restart, Chrome or Edge may ask once more before Kaption can write to the folder. Choose Allow access so backups keep running.

Reading your backup

Choose View backup and it opens in a new tab, read-only, laid out like WhatsApp. You can search every chat and every voice-note transcript at once, and filter by groups, chats with media or chats with transcripts. The file is decrypted in memory on your computer. Nothing is uploaded, and nothing is sent back to WhatsApp.

What it does not do

• It does not restore chats into WhatsApp or move them to a new phone. Keep WhatsApp's own backup on for that.
• It only has what was backed up. Start it before you need it.
• It needs Kaption running. Hourly runs happen while WhatsApp Web is open with the extension, or while the desktop app is running.

If you want the copy in your cloud specifically, see how to back up WhatsApp chats to Google Drive or iCloud from your computer.

FAQ

Can I back up WhatsApp Web without my phone?

You need WhatsApp Web linked and working to make the backup. Once the file exists, you can open and search it on a computer without the phone.

Is the backup free?

Export now and the viewer work on every plan, with messages and voice-note transcripts. Hourly backups and media are part of paid plans. See pricing.

Where is the file saved?

In the folder you picked. Kaption's servers never receive the file or the password.

Does it work in Safari?

No. There is no Kaption extension for Safari. On a Mac, use the Kaption desktop app, or Chrome or Edge.

Can I restore the backup to my phone?

No. The backup is view-only. It is for reading and searching your history on a computer.