From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Trying to export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

Twice it worked, then immediateadly stopped.

17 more tries, one worked!

Phone is only 2 feet from laptop, but once I held it 6 inches away, no
change.

Sometimes it says "whatsapp share file file not sent" and once in a
while there's a different error message.

Yesterday it wouldn't work at all.

Also can't export to Google drive, yesterday not at all, today once, but
not the second time!

what's up
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:49:27 -0500, micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

Trying to export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

Twice it worked, then immediateadly stopped.

17 more tries, one worked!

Phone is only 2 feet from laptop, but once I held it 6 inches away, no >change.

Sometimes it says "whatsapp share file file not sent" and once in a
while there's a different error message.

Yesterday it wouldn't work at all.

Also can't export to Google drive, yesterday not at all, today once, but
not the second time!

And the one I just exported to Drive, I can't find in Drive?

what's up

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:49:27 -0500, micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

Trying to export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

Twice it worked, then immediateadly stopped.

17 more tries, one worked!

Phone is only 2 feet from laptop, but once I held it 6 inches away, no >change.

Sometimes it says "whatsapp share file file not sent" and once in a
while there's a different error message.

Yesterday it wouldn't work at all.

Also can't export to Google drive, yesterday not at all, today once, but >not the second time!

And the one I just exported to Drive, I can't find in Drive?

what's up

Please describe *exactly* what you're doing on which device (phone or laptop). Our crystal balls are in the shop this week.

*And* explain *what* you try to accomplish.

AFAIK, there's no 'export' of chatS (plural) in WhatsApp. Only of *a*
chat (singular), i.e. the communication with *one* person (or group).

An export of a chat *can* be shared to Google Drive, but can be shared
to any Share-able destination, for example e-mail.

Other than the above export of a single chat. there are:

- You can *backup* chats (Settings -> Chats -> Chat backup), which is
backed up to Google Drive, but is 'invisible' in Google Drive and only
visible to a virgin WhatApp app on a new phone, i.e. this is a way to
get chats from an old phone to a new one.

- There is also a way to *transfer* chats from an old phone to a new one
*without* going through Google Drive (Settings -> Chats -> Tranfer
chats).

- And there is *archive* chats (Settings -> Chats -> Chat history ->
Archive all chats).

In all of this, the computer does not really get into the picture,
unless you do a Share-type operation where the destination 'happens' to
be the computer.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2026-01-26 20:38, Frank Slootweg wrote:

micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:49:27 -0500, micky
<NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

Trying to export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

Twice it worked, then immediateadly stopped.

17 more tries, one worked!

Phone is only 2 feet from laptop, but once I held it 6 inches away, no
change.

Sometimes it says "whatsapp share file file not sent" and once in a
while there's a different error message.

Yesterday it wouldn't work at all.

Also can't export to Google drive, yesterday not at all, today once, but >>> not the second time!

And the one I just exported to Drive, I can't find in Drive?

what's up

Please describe *exactly* what you're doing on which device (phone or laptop). Our crystal balls are in the shop this week.

*And* explain *what* you try to accomplish.

AFAIK, there's no 'export' of chatS (plural) in WhatsApp. Only of *a*
chat (singular), i.e. the communication with *one* person (or group).

An export of a chat *can* be shared to Google Drive, but can be shared
to any Share-able destination, for example e-mail.

If you do with files, it crashes if there are many files or too big. And
the resulting email does not have the files in context, like a properly formatted html text.

Print to PDF possible?

Other than the above export of a single chat. there are:

- You can *backup* chats (Settings -> Chats -> Chat backup), which is
backed up to Google Drive, but is 'invisible' in Google Drive and only
visible to a virgin WhatApp app on a new phone, i.e. this is a way to
get chats from an old phone to a new one.

- There is also a way to *transfer* chats from an old phone to a new one
*without* going through Google Drive (Settings -> Chats -> Tranfer
chats).

- And there is *archive* chats (Settings -> Chats -> Chat history ->
Archive all chats).

In all of this, the computer does not really get into the picture,
unless you do a Share-type operation where the destination 'happens' to
be the computer.

I just looked in the web app, nothing.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 1/26/2026 9:44 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 20:38, Frank Slootweg wrote:

to any Share-able destination, for example e-mail.

If you do with files, it crashes if there are many files or too big. And
the resulting email does not have the files in context, like a properly formatted html text.

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the
phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I
think this is the fasted method because the transfer is only within
the local WLAN.

There is also software to convert the exported data to html, but
I didn't try it:

https://github.com/mtln/chat-export



--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2026-01-26 22:07, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/26/2026 9:44 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 20:38, Frank Slootweg wrote:

to any Share-able destination, for example e-mail.

If you do with files, it crashes if there are many files or too big. And
the resulting email does not have the files in context, like a properly
formatted html text.

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the
phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I
think this is the fasted method because the transfer is only within
the local WLAN.

What format has the chat?

There is also software to convert the exported data to html, but
I didn't try it:

https://github.com/mtln/chat-export

--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 1/26/2026 10:27 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:07, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the
phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.



--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

It's an Adroid phone. I didn't know the apps were as different as they
are. I did include the Android ng, but nothing in my text. Sorry.

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 22:07:31 +0100, Herbert
Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

On 1/26/2026 9:44 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 20:38, Frank Slootweg wrote:

to any Share-able destination, for example e-mail.

If you do with files, it crashes if there are many files or too big. And
the resulting email does not have the files in context, like a properly
formatted html text.

It hasn't crashed Android. I didin'gt know Android could crash!

But since I first posted, I tried emailing it and the email programs
said the attachment was something like unreadable. That would account
for why it doesn't work when sending to Drive or Bluetooth. But I've
tried to send very small chats and they don't do any better. One of the
three that did work was quite big.

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the
phone

I don't even see a way to save it locally?

and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I
think this is the fasted method because the transfer is only within
the local WLAN.

I'd have to know where in the phone the zip file is stored. It doesn't
give FTP as one of the destinations, and I wonder if the zip file is
even saved if I don't complete the Exporting the way they expect me to.

There is also software to convert the exported data to html, but
I didn't try it:

https://github.com/mtln/chat-export

This would be useful later, but there is only text in these chats and I
don't especially want html. A pdf file would be nice, and the Times of
India says that's an option coming from Android, but it's not on this
phone. I updated the app and that didn't change, and nothing worked
better.

A very intersting thing that would apply to any bluetooth file transfer
to win11 is that originally the first two files went to
users\mee\appdata\local\temp but 2 or 3 hours later, they were gone
and using Everything, I found them in
users\mee\Documents !!!!!

In the first location, I even unipped each of the two files and and read
the .txt file with Notepad++. Here's a; couple lines:
11/20/25, 4:41 AM - YSS: It's ridiculous.
11/20/25, 4:41 AM - +254 788 nnnnnn: Wow that's nice bro
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 21:44:59 +0100, "Carlos
E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

On 2026-01-26 20:38, Frank Slootweg wrote:

micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:49:27 -0500, micky
<NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

Trying to export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

Twice it worked, then immediateadly stopped.

17 more tries, one worked!

Phone is only 2 feet from laptop, but once I held it 6 inches away, no >>>> change.

Sometimes it says "whatsapp share file file not sent" and once in a
while there's a different error message.

Yesterday it wouldn't work at all.

Also can't export to Google drive, yesterday not at all, today once, but >>>> not the second time!

And the one I just exported to Drive, I can't find in Drive?

what's up

Please describe *exactly* what you're doing on which device (phone or
laptop). Our crystal balls are in the shop this week.

*And* explain *what* you try to accomplish.

AFAIK, there's no 'export' of chatS (plural) in WhatsApp. Only of *a*
chat (singular), i.e. the communication with *one* person (or group).

An export of a chat *can* be shared to Google Drive, but can be shared
to any Share-able destination, for example e-mail.

If you do with files, it crashes if there are many files or too big. And
the resulting email does not have the files in context, like a properly >formatted html text.

Print to PDF possible?

From Android Whatsapp.. Not listed as option.

Please everyone, bear in mind that Bluetooth worked, 2 times and then
one more time. But 20 other times I get either
[File name ] Connection unsuccessful
Unknown file Request can't be handled correctly

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 1/26/2026 11:17 PM, micky wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the >>phone

I don't even see a way to save it locally?

Beside Bluetooth, Google Drive, Gmail there is also an entry
"Save As" which is provided by the app "primitive ftpd" which
I then also use to transfer the file to the pc.

https://f-droid.org/packages/org.primftpd/
https://github.com/wolpi/prim-ftpd



--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the
phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

To add value to what Herbert kindly offered, I ran research for the team.

While I shun highly marketed Android apps such as WhatsApp is, I use it for
my grandkids as it helps to get videos of the grandkids and to talk to relatives in Germany so even I use this highly marketing VOIP tool.

I don't back up anything but the media, and since Android is just a drive letter on Windows, it's trivial to easily backup Android files to the PC.'

But the messages inside of WhatsApp are apparently different from the media
in terms of how they're stored (encrypted, apparently). So you need a key.

So, to help the team, as always, I looked up just now how to back up the
text messages from unrooted Android WhatsApp to the Windows PC filesystem.

In my humble opinion, WhatsApp tries too hard to get us to use Google
Drive, when something like our personal chats belong on our network.

But I found these two Windows programs which purport to decrypt
and save the Android WhatsApp messages to your Windows PC.

This is, what I think Herbert was suggesting worked for a single chat:
1. Open the WhatsApp chat you want to save.
2. Tap the three dots -> More -> Export chat.
3. Choose "Include media".
4. WhatsApp will generate a ZIP file.
ChatName.txt
Media/
IMG-20240101-WA0001.jpg
IMG-20240101-WA0002.jpg
...
5. Choose
a. "Save to Files",
b. "Share via Bluetooth",
c. "Send to your PC via LAN app", or
d. "Send via USB MTP".

Always eschewing cloud-services marketing gimmicks, we can
A. Save to device storage
Then copy via USB or by mounting the phone as a drive letter on Windows
B. Share to a LAN file-sharing app
(e.g., KDE Connect or LocalSend, both of which are FOSS)
C. Send via Bluetooth
(slow but works)

Apparently there are FOSS whatsapp viewers/backups for Windows
which will decrypt and save every chat, two of which I installed.

Windows WhatsApp Viewer
<https://xdaforums.com/t/tool-whatsapp-key-db-extractor-crypt6-12-non-root-updated-october-2016.2770982/>
<https://github.com/andreas-mausch/whatsapp-viewer>
<https://andreas-mausch.de/whatsapp-viewer/>
<https://github.com/andreas-mausch/whatsapp-viewer/releases/tag/v1.15>
<https://github.com/andreas-mausch/whatsapp-viewer/releases/download/v1.15/WhatsApp.Viewer.zip>
D:\software\telecom\whatsapp\whatsappviewer\WhatsApp.Viewer.zip
Name: WhatsApp.Viewer.zip
Size: 1425323 bytes (1391 KiB)
SHA256: DC83B74719C82AB9AB2FEC9E62768ABB530791EB49BF69F444DFFB8BDD543D07
Unzip to a single file:
C:\app\telecom\whatsapp\WhatsApp.Viewer\WhatsApp Viewer.exe
Name: WhatsApp Viewer.exe
Size: 2445312 bytes (2388 KiB)
SHA256: 31E6C5CDA73CA16439E12F5A8AD642796DCA00DCEF4871EB74DB5C6171C4408F Create a shortcut in your taskbar pullout cascade menu folder: C:\menu\telecom\whatsapp\WhatsApp.Viewer\WhatsAppViewer.lnk
Target: C:\app\telecom\whatsapp\WhatsApp.Viewer\WhatsApp Viewer.exe
How to use
a. Get your key and database file from the phone (see XDA thread above).
b. Open WhatsApp Viewer
c. File -> Open -> Select file
d. Select msgstore.db in the folder "extracted"
e. Leave account name empty
f. Optional: Import contact names from the wa.db file
g. Click on a chat to show the messages.

WhatsApp Key/DB Extractor
Allows WhatsApp users to extract their cipher key and databases on
non-rooted Android devices. Requires Java on Windows. And adb. <https://github.com/EliteAndroidApps/WhatsApp-Key-DB-Extractor> <https://github.com/EliteAndroidApps/WhatsApp-Key-DB-Extractor/archive/refs/heads/master.zip>
Name: WhatsApp-Key-DB-Extractor-master.zip
Size: 7462622 bytes (7287 KiB)
SHA256: BEB32B7494D9BE95AF90219E1CA73209808C55AD4FA6AAEFF539B8FB1C4F4FE2 Extract to:
a. Batch script: WhatsAppKeyDBExtract.bat
b. PowerShell script: WhatsAppKeyDBExtract.ps1
c. Shell script: WhatsAppKeyDBExtract.sh

Interestingly, a "grep.exe" came with this package, which, in and of
itself, is a useful tool to put in the path for us old Unix folks.
C:\app\telecom\whatsapp\dbextract\
AdbWinApi.dll
AdbWinUsbApi.dll
abe.jar
adb.exe
curl.exe
grep.exe
libiconv2.dll
libintl3.dll
pcre3.dll
regex2.dll
tar.exe

I haven't tested it, but if anyone tests these out, it will be useful to
all for you to write it up so that we can all benefit from your effort.
--
Every person on this newsgroup adds their own flavor of value to the team.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

In comp.mobile.android, on Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:06:15 +0100, Herbert
Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

On 1/26/2026 11:17 PM, micky wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the >>>phone

I don't even see a way to save it locally?

Beside Bluetooth, Google Drive, Gmail there is also an entry
"Save As" which is provided by the app "primitive ftpd" which

I don't have that entry.

But if I install F-droid, that line will appear?

I then also use to transfer the file to the pc.

https://f-droid.org/packages/org.primftpd/
https://github.com/wolpi/prim-ftpd

Either of these will work? F-droid isn't in the Play Store. Do I
have to side-install it? I've never done that.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 18:11:17 -0500, Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> wrote:

Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the >>>> phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

To add value to what Herbert kindly offered, I ran research for the team.

While I shun highly marketed Android apps such as WhatsApp is, I use it for >my grandkids as it helps to get videos of the grandkids and to talk to >relatives in Germany so even I use this highly marketing VOIP tool.

I don't back up anything but the media, and since Android is just a drive >letter on Windows, it's trivial to easily backup Android files to the PC.'

My earlier phone shows up in the File Manager. Even when not connected
there is an ini file for it in a high level directory.

But this phone never does. It's a Moto G.

But the messages inside of WhatsApp are apparently different from the media >in terms of how they're stored (encrypted, apparently). So you need a key.

So, to help the team, as always, I looked up just now how to back up the
text messages from unrooted Android WhatsApp to the Windows PC filesystem.

In my humble opinion, WhatsApp tries too hard to get us to use Google
Drive, when something like our personal chats belong on our network.

I agree.

But I found these two Windows programs which purport to decrypt
and save the Android WhatsApp messages to your Windows PC.

This is, what I think Herbert was suggesting worked for a single chat:
1. Open the WhatsApp chat you want to save.
2. Tap the three dots -> More -> Export chat.
3. Choose "Include media".
4. WhatsApp will generate a ZIP file.

Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. 3 chats worked about 8
chats did not, over about 16 attempts. When I look at them inside, they
don't look any different from the ones that worked. One of the 3 that
worked is very long. Noneof them have any media.

ChatName.txt
Media/
IMG-20240101-WA0001.jpg
IMG-20240101-WA0002.jpg
...
5. Choose
a. "Save to Files",
b. "Share via Bluetooth",
c. "Send to your PC via LAN app", or
d. "Send via USB MTP".

I ddon't get these choices. This is Android 11. Could that be the difference, or are these choices within Whatsapp?.

If a later version than 11 would run on this phone, wouldn't it have
updated automatically?

Always eschewing cloud-services marketing gimmicks, we can
A. Save to device storage

That doesn't seem to be an option.

Then copy via USB or by mounting the phone as a drive letter on Windows
B. Share to a LAN file-sharing app
(e.g., KDE Connect or LocalSend, both of which are FOSS)
C. Send via Bluetooth
(slow but works)

3 times, but not the other times.

Apparently there are FOSS whatsapp viewers/backups for Windows
which will decrypt and save every chat, two of which I installed.

Windows WhatsApp Viewer
<https://xdaforums.com/t/tool-whatsapp-key-db-extractor-crypt6-12-non-root-updated-october-2016.2770982/>
<https://github.com/andreas-mausch/whatsapp-viewer> <https://andreas-mausch.de/whatsapp-viewer/> <https://github.com/andreas-mausch/whatsapp-viewer/releases/tag/v1.15> <https://github.com/andreas-mausch/whatsapp-viewer/releases/download/v1.15/WhatsApp.Viewer.zip>
D:\software\telecom\whatsapp\whatsappviewer\WhatsApp.Viewer.zip
Name: WhatsApp.Viewer.zip
Size: 1425323 bytes (1391 KiB)
SHA256: DC83B74719C82AB9AB2FEC9E62768ABB530791EB49BF69F444DFFB8BDD543D07
Unzip to a single file:
C:\app\telecom\whatsapp\WhatsApp.Viewer\WhatsApp Viewer.exe
Name: WhatsApp Viewer.exe
Size: 2445312 bytes (2388 KiB)
SHA256: 31E6C5CDA73CA16439E12F5A8AD642796DCA00DCEF4871EB74DB5C6171C4408F
Create a shortcut in your taskbar pullout cascade menu folder: >C:\menu\telecom\whatsapp\WhatsApp.Viewer\WhatsAppViewer.lnk
Target: C:\app\telecom\whatsapp\WhatsApp.Viewer\WhatsApp Viewer.exe
How to use
a. Get your key and database file from the phone (see XDA thread above).
b. Open WhatsApp Viewer
c. File -> Open -> Select file
d. Select msgstore.db in the folder "extracted"
e. Leave account name empty
f. Optional: Import contact names from the wa.db file
g. Click on a chat to show the messages.

WhatsApp Key/DB Extractor
Allows WhatsApp users to extract their cipher key and databases on
non-rooted Android devices. Requires Java on Windows. And adb. ><https://github.com/EliteAndroidApps/WhatsApp-Key-DB-Extractor> ><https://github.com/EliteAndroidApps/WhatsApp-Key-DB-Extractor/archive/refs/heads/master.zip>
Name: WhatsApp-Key-DB-Extractor-master.zip
Size: 7462622 bytes (7287 KiB)
SHA256: BEB32B7494D9BE95AF90219E1CA73209808C55AD4FA6AAEFF539B8FB1C4F4FE2 >Extract to:
a. Batch script: WhatsAppKeyDBExtract.bat
b. PowerShell script: WhatsAppKeyDBExtract.ps1
c. Shell script: WhatsAppKeyDBExtract.sh

Interestingly, a "grep.exe" came with this package, which, in and of
itself, is a useful tool to put in the path for us old Unix folks.
C:\app\telecom\whatsapp\dbextract\
AdbWinApi.dll
AdbWinUsbApi.dll
abe.jar
adb.exe
curl.exe
grep.exe
libiconv2.dll
libintl3.dll
pcre3.dll
regex2.dll
tar.exe

Unfortunately, I'm still trying to get the file to Windows

I haven't tested it, but if anyone tests these out, it will be useful to
all for you to write it up so that we can all benefit from your effort.

Thanks for all this work.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

In comp.mobile.android, on 26 Jan 2026 19:38:11 GMT, Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:

micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:49:27 -0500, micky
<NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

Trying to export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

Twice it worked, then immediateadly stopped.

17 more tries, one worked!

Phone is only 2 feet from laptop, but once I held it 6 inches away, no
change.

Sometimes it says "whatsapp share file file not sent" and once in a
while there's a different error message.

Yesterday it wouldn't work at all.

Also can't export to Google drive, yesterday not at all, today once, but
not the second time!

And the one I just exported to Drive, I can't find in Drive?

what's up

Please describe *exactly* what you're doing on which device (phone or
laptop). Our crystal balls are in the shop this week.

I'm trying to download whatsapp chats from an Android phone (should have
said Android) Motorola Moto G to windows 11.

*And* explain *what* you try to accomplish.

AFAIK, there's no 'export' of chatS (plural) in WhatsApp. Only of *a*
chat (singular), i.e. the communication with *one* person (or group).

Yes, but i'm still tring to export chats, even though I do it one at a
time.

An export of a chat *can* be shared to Google Drive, but can be shared

I tried gooogle drive and one time it said it worked, and the other time
it failed. Then I went to the laptop programm G. Drive, and coudln't
find the file it said it uploaded.

to any Share-able destination, for example e-mail.

I tried yahoo mail, that is on the phone, and it said "Unable to read
the attachemnet you chose to share. This is most likely an issue with
hte app you want to share from." So I updated whatsapp, but its
appearance didn't seem to change and this message didn't change.

Other than the above export of a single chat. there are:

- You can *backup* chats (Settings -> Chats -> Chat backup), which is
backed up to Google Drive, but is 'invisible' in Google Drive and only
visible to a virgin WhatApp app on a new phone, i.e. this is a way to
get chats from an old phone to a new one.

That's no good in this case.

- There is also a way to *transfer* chats from an old phone to a new one
*without* going through Google Drive (Settings -> Chats -> Tranfer
chats).

- And there is *archive* chats (Settings -> Chats -> Chat history ->
Archive all chats).

In all of this, the computer does not really get into the picture,
unless you do a Share-type operation where the destination 'happens' to
be the computer.

That's what Bluetooth was paired with, and it worked 3 times, but not
for 8 other chats, including important ones.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

mOSTLY SOLVED:

It turns out, for all but one chat so far, the problem was in Windows.
For each transfer, I have to click on the arrow in the systray to open
up all the miscellaneous overflow icons, click on the Bluetooth icon,
then chnose Receive a file. Each time. I didn't expect that.

One important one continues to balk. There is a strange blue large
capital T in the name of the other party to the chat. Could that be the problem? That's the only anomaly I see.

Anyhow, thanks for all the help. Nothing on the web mentioned this
either. It's a Dell Latitude 5510 but it's hard to believe the make or
model makes a difference. Windows 11 Pro fully updated.


In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:53:57 -0500, micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:49:27 -0500, micky ><NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

Trying to export chats from Whatsapp to windows 11.

Twice it worked, then immediateadly stopped.

17 more tries, one worked!

Phone is only 2 feet from laptop, but once I held it 6 inches away, no >>change.

Sometimes it says "whatsapp share file file not sent" and once in a
while there's a different error message.

Yesterday it wouldn't work at all.

Also can't export to Google drive, yesterday not at all, today once, but >>not the second time!

And the one I just exported to Drive, I can't find in Drive?

what's up

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 21:26:46 -0500, micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

mOSTLY SOLVED:

It turns out, for all but one chat so far, the problem was in Windows.
For each transfer, I have to click on the arrow in the systray to open
up all the miscellaneous overflow icons, click on the Bluetooth icon,
then chnose Receive a file. Each time. I didn't expect that.

I guess since it said "Receive *A* file" I should have thought of this.
LOL

One important one continues to balk. There is a strange blue large
capital T in the name of the other party to the chat. Could that be the >problem? That's the only anomaly I see.

Anyhow, thanks for all the help. Nothing on the web mentioned this
either. It's a Dell Latitude 5510 but it's hard to believe the make or >model makes a difference. Windows 11 Pro fully updated.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Mon, 1/26/2026 9:52 PM, micky wrote:

In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Mon, 26 Jan 2026 21:26:46 -0500, micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

mOSTLY SOLVED:

It turns out, for all but one chat so far, the problem was in Windows.
For each transfer, I have to click on the arrow in the systray to open
up all the miscellaneous overflow icons, click on the Bluetooth icon,
then chnose Receive a file. Each time. I didn't expect that.

I guess since it said "Receive *A* file" I should have thought of this.
LOL

One important one continues to balk. There is a strange blue large
capital T in the name of the other party to the chat. Could that be the
problem? That's the only anomaly I see.

Anyhow, thanks for all the help. Nothing on the web mentioned this
either. It's a Dell Latitude 5510 but it's hard to believe the make or
model makes a difference. Windows 11 Pro fully updated.

The Bluetooth Fsquirt (which is apparently FTP based?), does
things one at a time. And it disconnects things after the transfer
is done. Presumably this is a "security feature". FSquirt is available
on Linux, Windows, and on phones. A transfer does not get more crude
than this. It's one step short of two tomato tins and a piece of string.

In Windows, they finally have a TCP/IP stack for Bluetooth, such
that one machine (with Internet) can be a Bluetooth hotspot, and
the other machine can get a connection to the Internet over Bluetooth.
This could also allow things like file sharing... as long as you
have an App loaded on the end that does not normally have File Sharing.
That's not important for your current situation, but is just for future reference. I was surprised, that the latest version
could achieve a transfer rate higher than 75KB/sec, by a little bit.
This means they might be using compression on the link (like in some
old modem days). For movies, don't expect those to transfer
faster than 75KB/sec (as they are not compressible).

When I first started trying to get the TCP/IP stack running over
Bluetooth, I got a grand total of two packets across before it
seized up. And they've finally got it to the point, you might
consider the feature to be "finished". Now, it's not a total waste
of time (if you can stomach 75KB/sec as a baseline).

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 1/27/2026 1:28 AM, micky wrote:

Beside Bluetooth, Google Drive, Gmail there is also an entry
"Save As" which is provided by the app "primitive ftpd" which

I don't have that entry.

But if I install F-droid, that line will appear?

F-Droid is an alternative app store for Google Playstore.
You don't have to install F-Droid to be able to install
apps hosted on F-Droid, but then there are no automatic
updates for the installed apps (but for me it is an advantage
when working apps are not automatically replaced by newer ones).

https://f-droid.org/packages/org.primftpd/ >>https://github.com/wolpi/prim-ftpd

The direct link to Primitive ftpd is:

https://f-droid.org/repo/org.primftpd_67.apk

Just download and install it on the phone.

Primitive ftpd is very easy to use because the
Windows explorer has a built-in ftp client and
therefore no extra software is needed on the PC.
Just start Primitive ftpd on the phone and enter
the displayed ftp address in the address bar of
the Windows explorer (or if you have a QR-code scanner
attached to your PC, just scan the displayed QR-code).
Then the file system on your phone is displayed in
explorer like a local folder and you can use drag&drop
to copy files from or to your phone. Copying files
by WLAN is much faster than using bluetooth.


And Primitive ftpd also provides the "Save As" button
when exporting chats from Whatsapp.







--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2026-01-26 22:50, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/26/2026 10:27 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:07, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the
phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

That is useless crap. Now I remember, I tried that one years ago.

The message part are the plain text messages, without the emoticons, and without the files inserted in the text in their context. Like a PDF file
would be.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2026-01-27 09:43, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:50, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/26/2026 10:27 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:07, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the >>>> phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

That is useless crap. Now I remember, I tried that one years ago.

The message part are the plain text messages, without the emoticons, and without the files inserted in the text in their context. Like a PDF file would be.

The format of the text part is like this:


15/9/25, 12:59 - User name 1: De acuerdo Carlos, pues mañana a las cinco nos vemos en mi oficina
15/9/25, 12:59 - User name 1: Gracias
19/9/25, 12:25 - User name 1: ‎PTT-20250919-WA0000.opus (archivo adjunto) 19/9/25, 12:29 - User name 2: Bueno, un momento
19/9/25, 12:32 - User name 2: ‎filename.pdf (archivo adjunto)
‎filename.pdf


‎PTT-20250919-WA0000.opus is an audio file. That person recorded a voice message in whatsapp. I have to search for that file in the zip file and listen to it. I can not click in the wasap text file and listen to it, the same as I would do inside the wasap application. Same for the attached PDF file.

Smileys there are some, in UTF. The reactions are missing.

This is crap.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2026-01-27 09:39, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/27/2026 1:28 AM, micky wrote:

Beside Bluetooth, Google Drive, Gmail there is also an entry
"Save As" which is provided by the app "primitive ftpd" which

I don't have that entry.

But if I install F-droid, that line will appear?

F-Droid is an alternative app store for Google Playstore.
You don't have to install F-Droid to be able to install
apps hosted on F-Droid, but then there are no automatic
updates for the installed apps (but for me it is an advantage
when working apps are not automatically replaced by newer ones).

https://f-droid.org/packages/org.primftpd/
https://github.com/wolpi/prim-ftpd

The direct link to Primitive ftpd is:

https://f-droid.org/repo/org.primftpd_67.apk

Just download and install it on the phone.

Primitive ftpd is very easy to use because the
Windows explorer has a built-in ftp client and
therefore no extra software is needed on the PC.
Just start Primitive ftpd on the phone and enter
the displayed ftp address in the address bar of
the Windows explorer (or if you have a QR-code scanner
attached to your PC, just scan the displayed QR-code).
Then the file system on your phone is displayed in
explorer like a local folder and you can use drag&drop
to copy files from or to your phone. Copying files
by WLAN is much faster than using bluetooth.

And Primitive ftpd also provides the "Save As" button
when exporting chats from Whatsapp.

That's a curious one. I get that one.

I also get Cx File explorer and can then save as a local file.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Tue, 1/27/2026 3:39 AM, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/27/2026 1:28 AM, micky wrote:

Beside Bluetooth, Google Drive, Gmail there is also an entry
"Save As" which is provided by the app "primitive ftpd" which

I don't have that entry.

But if I install F-droid, that line will appear?

F-Droid is an alternative app store for Google Playstore.
You don't have to install F-Droid to be able to install
apps hosted on F-Droid, but then there are no automatic
updates for the installed apps (but for me it is an advantage
when working apps are not automatically replaced by newer ones).

https://f-droid.org/packages/org.primftpd/
https://github.com/wolpi/prim-ftpd

The direct link to Primitive ftpd is:

https://f-droid.org/repo/org.primftpd_67.apk

Just download and install it on the phone.

Primitive ftpd is very easy to use because the
Windows explorer has a built-in ftp client and
therefore no extra software is needed on the PC.
Just start Primitive ftpd on the phone and enter
the displayed ftp address in the address bar of
the Windows explorer (or if you have a QR-code scanner
attached to your PC, just scan the displayed QR-code).
Then the file system on your phone is displayed in
explorer like a local folder and you can use drag&drop
to copy files from or to your phone. Copying files
by WLAN is much faster than using bluetooth.

And Primitive ftpd also provides the "Save As" button
when exporting chats from Whatsapp.

But the advantage of FSquirt, is it works over Bluetooth,
when a number of other things are "busted" on your computer.
That's the only real feature it has. It's reasonably
robust (assuming Pairing still works on your beast).

Even when Windows didn't have a working TCP/IP stack
across Bluetooth, the FSquirt file transfer, still worked.
Don't ask me what the stack used to do that was. I was
just impressed that it worked.

C:\Windows\System32\fsquirt.exe

Paul


--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 1/27/2026 9:43 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:50, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

That is useless crap. Now I remember, I tried that one years ago.

The message part are the plain text messages, without the emoticons, and without the files inserted in the text in their context. Like a PDF file would be.

It is for backup purpose. You most likely will never look at it. But
if, a few year later, you really need it, it all is there: the text
chat and all the pictures, videos and other files.

And as I already said:

|| There is also software to convert the exported data to html, but
|| I didn't try it:
||
|| https://github.com/mtln/chat-export





--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 1/27/2026 10:03 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

And Primitive ftpd also provides the "Save As" button
when exporting chats from Whatsapp.

That's a curious one. I get that one.

I also get Cx File explorer and can then save as a local file.

Android by default doesn't offer the "Save As" so you will need an
additional app which provides this service. Doesn't matter whether
this is "Primitive FTPD" or "Cx File explorer" or any other app.

But I was glad that Primitive FTPD provided that feature because
it was installed already for file transfer and I didn't need a
further app.

But I don't understand why Whatsapp itself doesn't offer a "Save As".
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 1/27/2026 11:03 AM, Paul wrote:

But the advantage of FSquirt, is it works over Bluetooth,

I don't think this is an advantage. Try to transfer a 500 MByte
file by bluetooth.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2026-01-27 12:20, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/27/2026 9:43 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:50, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

That is useless crap. Now I remember, I tried that one years ago.

The message part are the plain text messages, without the emoticons, and
without the files inserted in the text in their context. Like a PDF file
would be.

It is for backup purpose. You most likely will never look at it. But
if, a few year later, you really need it, it all is there: the text
chat and all the pictures, videos and other files.

And as I already said:

|| There is also software to convert the exported data to html, but
|| I didn't try it:
||
|| https://github.com/mtln/chat-export

Ah, I see. I imagined it would be a tool to run in Android and would
extract the chat somehow. No, it works using the already exported zip
archive in a computer. I have to try this. Looks promising.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2026-01-27 12:20, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/27/2026 10:03 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

And Primitive ftpd also provides the "Save As" button
when exporting chats from Whatsapp.

That's a curious one. I get that one.

I also get Cx File explorer and can then save as a local file.

Android by default doesn't offer the "Save As" so you will need an
additional app which provides this service. Doesn't matter whether
this is "Primitive FTPD" or "Cx File explorer" or any other app.

But I was glad that Primitive FTPD provided that feature because
it was installed already for file transfer and I didn't need a
further app.

But I don't understand why Whatsapp itself doesn't offer a "Save As".

Specially for a long chat, export as email crashes because it is a huge
email.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Tue, 1/27/2026 6:22 AM, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/27/2026 11:03 AM, Paul wrote:

But the advantage of FSquirt, is it works over Bluetooth,

I don't think this is an advantage. Try to transfer a 500 MByte
file by bluetooth.

I use it for 1KB config files.

Like, when a PC is air-gapped. And that's the only protocol it has.

It just avoids getting out of my chair. I would have to find a
USB stick to carry a large file like that, to an air-gapped machine.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Carlos E.R. wrote:

|| There is also software to convert the exported data to html, but
|| I didn't try it:
||
|| https://github.com/mtln/chat-export

Ah, I see. I imagined it would be a tool to run in Android and would
extract the chat somehow. No, it works using the already exported zip archive in a computer. I have to try this. Looks promising.

Hi Carlos & Herbert,

To strive to add value, I had already installed these two apps yesterday: <https://github.com/andreas-mausch/whatsapp-viewer/releases/download/v1.15/WhatsApp.Viewer.zip>
<https://github.com/EliteAndroidApps/WhatsApp-Key-DB-Extractor/archive/refs/heads/master.zip>

The WhatsApp.Viewer has a Windows GUI but I only tested it for the OP so
far as to click on the executable that was in the downloaded zip file.

In that Windows WhatsApp.Viewer GUI is File > Export > {txt, html, json}.
Note I didn't test further because I have no need for the tool.

I was just researching solutions for the OP based on Herbert's & Carlos' responses that there was a Windows-related GUI that enables Windows use.

Digging deeper specifically to address Carlos' concerns, it appears that Herbert's suggestion works directly on the zip export while my suggestion
does not. WhatsApp.Viewer requires extracting the key from the phone.

But when used properly, Windows WhatsApp.Viewer apparently gives:
a. A WhatsApp-like chat view
b. Inline images
c. Clickable attachments
d. Emojis rendered correctly
e. Export to HTML with attachments linked
f. Searchable interface
Given that, as far as I can tell, the WhatsApp.Viewer produces exactly the
kind of readable archive on Windows that Carlos wants a GUI tool to have.

On the other hand, Herbert's suggestion also produces what Carlos wants.
<https://github.com/mtln/chat-export>

It reconstructs:
a. HTML pages with messages
b. Inline images
c. Clickable audio/video/PDF links
d. Timestamps and names formatted nicely
e. Emojis preserved
f. Thread navigation

If those purely research results are correct, then Herbert's suggestion
also directly addresses Carlos' complaint that the export is "crap" because it's just a text file with filenames.

It appears that chat-export also turns that crude text file into a usable, readable, browsable chat.

I have no need for these tools myself, but they both appear to turn an
Android WhatsApp database into usable browsable GUI versions on Windows.

In summary, note that each tool uses a different database from Android.
A. Herbert's suggested chat-export uses the ZIP export.
B. In contrast, WhatsApp.Viewer uses the decrypted database.
--
I avoid complex solutions when a leaner one already solves known issues.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

Beside Bluetooth, Google Drive, Gmail there is also an entry
"Save As" which is provided by the app "primitive ftpd" which
I then also use to transfer the file to the pc.

https://f-droid.org/packages/org.primftpd/
https://github.com/wolpi/prim-ftpd

Hi Herbert,

On *just* the sub-topic tangent of transferring files between platforms...

You've helped me a lot so if you want, I can walk you through how to
transfer a file from Android to the PC using WebDav instead of FTP.
<https://i.postimg.cc/6371SxNd/mountandroidonwindows.jpg>

With WebDAV, (almost) the entire Android file system is a Windows drive.
<https://i.postimg.cc/1zrmSmQc/davroot.jpg>

It's not full & complete root access as it's read only, not writeable root:
<https://i.postimg.cc/2SxM8V16/rootfilesystem.jpg>

But you can use the full Windows file explorer GUI on Android like I do:
<https://i.postimg.cc/BvmRBrbt/webdav03.jpg> File Manager has permission
<https://i.postimg.cc/ncC4xdyF/webdav03.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/3xCsd4HX/webdav04.jpg> My Files has permission
<https://i.postimg.cc/Njm6ZXsc/webdav05.jpg> Permissions are the same
<https://i.postimg.cc/BvJdKWzt/webdav06.jpg> Both sdcards mounted
<https://i.postimg.cc/cJLK1wt0/webdav07.jpg> Mount the entire filesystem
<https://i.postimg.cc/qv6HJ7GN/webdav08.jpg> Each sdcard is a drive letter
<https://i.postimg.cc/D0qMxTMB/webdav09.jpg> FOSS general purpose solution
<https://i.postimg.cc/wM4Z45pN/webdav10.jpg> Free Android WebDAV servers
<https://i.postimg.cc/BQyRxCN9/webdav11.jpg> Mount sdcards read & write
<https://i.postimg.cc/yYWwgGmy/webdav12.jpg> As Windows drive letters
<https://i.postimg.cc/QtbR1GY0/webdav13.jpg> Over Wi-Fi on your home LAN

Since I have over a thousand apps installed on my 64GB Galaxy, most of my
user data is on the sd card so I have two free WebDav servers installed,
where one serves up the internal storage & the other serves teh sd card.

Here are some free WebDAV servers that I've tested for the Android team. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.theolivetree.webdavserver https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zq.webdav.app_free https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=slowscript.httpfileserver https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smestorage

Let me know if you need assistance. We can start a separate thread on how
to mount Android onto Windows for read/write access to the user partition.
--
If we look in the archivdes, we'll see I already wrote that tutorial.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

F-Droid is an alternative app store for Google Playstore.
You don't have to install F-Droid to be able to install
apps hosted on F-Droid, but then there are no automatic
updates for the installed apps (but for me it is an advantage
when working apps are not automatically replaced by newer ones).

To further add to Herbert's kind explanation for Carlos on F-Droid (which
ties in perfectly with Windows since Windows saves all my F-Droid apps)...

It has been my assessment that most people simply do not understand F-Droid
so allow me to make some statements of fact that many people do not know.

First off, as Herbert mentioned, it's an alternative repo for Android,
where since there are many alternatives, the point is that it's trusted and that it contains mainly FOSS tools with no ads and it has HTML access.

Notice that since it has HTML access (which is why Herbert provided the
link to Carlos), you never need the F-Droid app installed on Android.

In fact, only people who don't know anything about F-Droid actually install that app since the app we're supposed to use is 'F-Droid Basic' instead.
<org.fdroid.basic>

Primitive ftpd is very easy to use because the
Windows explorer has a built-in ftp client and
therefore no extra software is needed on the PC.

I used to use FTP to mount Android onto Windows, so Herbert is correct:
<https://www.ferrobackup.com/map-ftp-as-disk.html>

But I prefer WebDav over FTP because it's just like sliced bread is.
<https://i.postimg.cc/4yKdxWS4/chart-ftpshare-vs-webdavdrive.jpg>

As with FTP, nothing needs to be installed on Windows for WebDav to mount
your entire Android file system (yes, root too!) as a Windows drive letter.
<https://i.postimg.cc/1zrmSmQc/davroot.jpg> Windows can see Android root!

All you need on Windows is to use the "net use" command to mount Android:

net use Z: \\102.168.1.2@8000\DavWWWRoot /USER:jim * /PERSISTENT:YES

--
Every person on this newsgroup adds their own flavor of value to the team.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 1/27/2026 3:28 PM, Maria Sophia wrote:

Primitive ftpd is very easy to use because the
Windows explorer has a built-in ftp client and
therefore no extra software is needed on the PC.

I used to use FTP to mount Android onto Windows, so Herbert is correct:
<https://www.ferrobackup.com/map-ftp-as-disk.html>

But I prefer WebDav over FTP because it's just like sliced bread is.
<https://i.postimg.cc/4yKdxWS4/chart-ftpshare-vs-webdavdrive.jpg>

You don't need an external program (ftpuse) to access the
Android file system. It's all built into Windows explorer.

As with FTP, nothing needs to be installed on Windows for WebDav to mount your entire Android file system (yes, root too!) as a Windows drive letter.
<https://i.postimg.cc/1zrmSmQc/davroot.jpg> Windows can see Android root!

Already the first line is a lie.

|| Native Windows Integration
|| FTP Server on Android/iOS: Requires a separate FTP client application
|| Windows Drive over WebDAV on Android/iOS: Integrated for drive mapping via Explorer

No separate FTP client is necessary!

All you need on Windows is to use the "net use" command to mount Android:
C:\> net use Z: \\102.168.1.2@8000\DavWWWRoot /USER:jim * /PERSISTENT:YES

The simpler solution is always the better solution. I start
Primitive ftpd on the phone (just a finger tip) and open
an explorer window on the pc. I put the cursor into the
address bar of explorer and use the QR-code scanner to
scan the QR-code on the phone. That's all. Now in the
explorer window I can access the Android file system (including
SD card) and use drag&drop like in a local explorer window.

After the file transfer I stop Primitive ftpd and then nothing
is running on the phone which could be used as entry point
for illegal accessing the phone from outside.








--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

In alt.comp.os.windows-11 micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

In comp.mobile.android, on Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:06:15 +0100, Herbert
Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

On 1/26/2026 11:17 PM, micky wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the >>>phone

I don't even see a way to save it locally?

Beside Bluetooth, Google Drive, Gmail there is also an entry
"Save As" which is provided by the app "primitive ftpd" which

I don't have that entry.

[I read your problem is mostly solved, but anyway:]

Don't just say what you *don't* have, but say which share options you
*do* have, so we can advise which one(s) of those are best for your
purpose.

As mentioned, the 'Share' destinations which are offered depend on
which software is installed on *your* phone. So telling us what isn't
there doesn't help anybody. You/we need to know which 'Share'
destinations *do* exist on *your* phone.

So if you still need/want help, do

(In WhatsApp) <three_vertical_dots> in upper right -> Settings ->
Chats -> Chat history -> Export chat -> select the chat you want to
export -> choose 'Without media' to keep it simple ->

You now get a list of 'Share' destinations for the chat. Give us the
list of *all* these destinations/apps, *including* the list of destinations/apps you get when you tap on the '...'/More icon.

[...]
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

But I prefer WebDav over FTP because it's just like sliced bread is.
<https://i.postimg.cc/4yKdxWS4/chart-ftpshare-vs-webdavdrive.jpg>

You don't need an external program (ftpuse) to access the
Android file system. It's all built into Windows explorer.

Hi Herbert,

Windows can "map" an FTP server, but not as a drive letter.
It maps it as a Network Location, not as a Network Drive.

That's an important distinction that matters to the discussion below.

We're old friends. :)

We have this same discussion *every* time I bring up WebDav to your FTP.
For years (and years), you've said the same thing, as have I about them.

But you haven't seemed to discuss shares and mounts when we discuss them.
There are fundamental differences when it comes to Windows mounts & shares!

One is mere mapping; the other is mounting as a drive letter.
They're not the same thing.

Shares and Mounts are "roles" on Windows, not protocol features.
Windows has an FTP client (ftp.exe), but that client cannot mount.

Tools like ftpuse, netdrive, winfsp + curlftpfs, etc. add a mount layer.
That is, they can "map a network drive" as a drive letter on Windows.

1. FTPUse can mount ftp server filesystems on Android to Windows:
C:\> ftpuse Z: ftp://192.168.1.2 user password
Windows calls this a "mounted network drive via a redirector"
2. WebDav server filesystems on Android can be mounted on Windows
C:\> net use Z: http://android-device:port/dav
Windows calls this a "mapped network drive (native)".
3. But FTP servers on Android cannot mount in and of itself.
C:\> explorer.exe ftp://username:password@host/
Windows calls this a "mapped network location".

Notice a "mapped network location" is not a "mapped network drive".
That's a critically important distinction that I need you to understand.

You claim FTP is simpler. It's not but being simpler isn't important.
I claim WebDav is not only as simple, but vastly more powerful.

With WebDav, you can mount the entire Android filesys as a Windows drive.
It's just as simple as FTP but it's vastly more powerful in that respect.

I have used FTP for decades, just as you have used FTP for decades.
But have you ever tried to use WebDav? If not, then you need to try it. :)

With that in mind, I understand what you're trying to say, since you do
very much love FTP. I need to make it clear that I used to love FTP too, decades ago, since I grew up in a Unix world.

But are your FTP connections Windows network shares or not?
That's one key difference between FTPUse versus just plain old FTP.

Having pointed out the network share, we have to remember Occam's Razor.

It's not the simplest solution that is likely best, and even if it was, FTP
is no simpler than WebDav in terms of Android/iOS:Windows filesys interoperability in a home environment on a local LAN (like ours are).

Occam's Razor has TWO tenets:
a. Simple
b. Solves all needs

The simplest solution that solves all the needs is likely the better.
So what matters is what are our respective needs.

Mine are to seamlessly "mount" (or share) the mobile filesys with Windows. FTPUse claims to be able to do that; however, I do not myself use FTPUse,
so if you deprecate FTPUse, that changes nothing for me as it's just a way
to "mount" a file system as a Windows drive (since FTP already shares).

Note the Windows difference between a share & a mount, as it's critical.

Like you, I used to use FTP for decades (sftp, filezilla, winscp, tftp2, tftp64, netdrive, directnetdrive, ftpdrive, sftpnetdrive, webdrive, expanddrive, etc.) as my PC file system is littered with ftp variants.

Yet, I haven't used FTP in years because I found something (much) better.

Bear in mind I'm an interoperability hound where I expect an extremely high level for interoperability between Android & Windows, so "just" having the file explorer see all of Android (including root) isn't enough for me.

I've tested *every* solution (AFAIK) ever suggested on this newsgroup for filesystem access between the two (actually three including iOS) systems.
Offhand, some of the Android/Windows file-sharing solutions are
AirDroid <https://www.airdroid.com/personal/>
ADB <https://developer.android.com/tools/adb>
AFT MTP client <https://whoozle.github.io/android-file-transfer-linux/>
DirectNetDrive <http://www.directnet-drive.net/>
FTPUse <https://www.ferrobackup.com/download/FtpUseInst.exe>
Ftpuse <https://www.ferrobackup.com/map-ftp-as-disk.html>
Fb-adb Android Linux shell <https://github.com/facebook/fb-adb>
Go-mtpfs MTP FUSE filesystem <https://github.com/hanwen/go-mtpfs>
Gphotofs Camera Linux mount <http://www.gphoto.org/proj/gphotofs/>
JMTP FS <https://github.com/JasonFerrara/jmtpfs>
KDEconnect <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.kde.kdeconnect>
Kies Connect <https://www.samsung.com/africa_en/support/kies/>
LibIconv <http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/libiconv.htm>
LibMTP <https://github.com/hanwen/go-mtpfs>
LibMTP <https://sourceforge.net/projects/libmtp/>
LibMTP library MTP implementation <http://libmtp.sourceforge.net>
LibUSB Win32 <http://libusb-win32.sourceforge.net/>
LibUsbK <https://sourceforge.net/projects/libusb-win32/>
LibiConv <http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/libiconv.htm>
MTP support on KDE <https://cgit.kde.org/kio-mtp.git>
MTPDrive <http://mtpdrive.com/download.html>
MTPSync <https://www.adebenham.com/mtpsync/>
MTPdude <http://mtpdude.sourceforge.net>
MTPfs FUSE filesystem <https://www.adebenham.com/mtpfs/>
NetDrive 1.3.2.0 <https://filehippo.com/download_netdrive/12615/>
NetDrive 3.6.571 <http://netdrive.net/ (deprecated)
Nitroshare <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.nitroshare.android>
PhoneLink <https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00083910/>
SFTP Net Drive <https://www.nsoftware.com/sftp/netdrive/>
SideSync <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sidesync.freeapp>
SMB Cifs (client) X-Plore <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lonelycatgames.Xplore>
SMB Cifs (root) <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.imperioustech.www.sambaserver>
Scrcpy/sndcpy <https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy>
Termux copy <https://github.com/termux>
WebDav <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.theolivetree.webdavserver>
WebDrive <https://webdrive.com/download/>
XNJB Mac OS X GUI <http://www.wentnet.com/projects/xnjb/>
(this is mostly offhand so I likely missed as many as I listed)

There likely hasn't ever been an interoperability tool suggested on this newsgroup in the past decade (Windows 10 anyway) that I haven't tested.

Since I write scripts on Windows that access the Android file system, I
employ a permanent drive letter so that Android is seamless with Windows.

net use Z: \\102.168.1.2@8000\DavWWWRoot /USER:joe * /PERSISTENT:YES

Note that DavWWWRoot is a Windows keyword!
The Windows DavWWWRoot keyword has nothing (per se) to do with Android.

Windows natively knows all about DavWWWRoot, and it has been so since 2001.
For me, there is no distinction between Windows & Android file systems.

They're one and the same.
1. Windows is accessible to me from Android all the time (when at home)
2. Android is accessible to me from Windows all the time (when at home)

Everything I do on Windows I do on Android at the same time, in fact, so
it's not only that Android is a drive letter on Windows in my setup, but
the Windows clipboard is the Android clipboard, and the PC mouse is the Android tap and the PC keyboard is the Android keyboard and the PC audio is the Android audio, etc., such that I operate Android completely on the PC.

As with FTP, nothing needs to be installed on Windows for WebDav to mount
your entire Android file system (yes, root too!) as a Windows drive letter. >> <https://i.postimg.cc/1zrmSmQc/davroot.jpg> Windows can see Android root!

Already the first line is a lie.

Hmmm.... nothing needs to be installed on Windows for WebDav to mount the entire file system onto the PC. All you need to do is run this command:

net use Z: \\192.168.1.2@8000\DavWWWRoot /USER:jim * /PERSISTENT:YES

Note that DavWWWRoot has been a Windows keyword since, oh, around 2001.

|| Native Windows Integration
|| FTP Server on Android/iOS: Requires a separate FTP client application
|| Windows Drive over WebDAV on Android/iOS: Integrated for drive mapping via Explorer

No separate FTP client is necessary!

Again and again we have this discussion Herbert, so I get it that Windows
has FTP native, so you don't need to tell me that basic fact about FTP.

I used FTP longer than my own children have lived & they have children now.
But IMHO, FTP sucks when you compare it to WebDAV for iOS/Android interops.

You do know Windows long ago deprecated FTP as insecure, but that's not my beef with FTP as I used Unix FTP for decades long before the IBM PC.

All you need on Windows is to use the "net use" command to mount Android:
C:\> net use Z: \\102.168.1.2@8000\DavWWWRoot /USER:jim * /PERSISTENT:YES

The simpler solution is always the better solution.

Occam's Razor says it's not the simplest solution, but the simplest
solution that solves All the problems that is the better solution.

FTP is simple. I grant you that.
But so is WebDav.

What can FTP do that WebDav doesn't already do, for example?

Once you figure out that there's nothing (that I can think of),
then it's time to ask what WebDav does that FTP doesn't do.

For example, how do you permanently mount Android on Windows using FTP?

I start
Primitive ftpd on the phone (just a finger tip) and open
an explorer window on the pc. I put the cursor into the
address bar of explorer and use the QR-code scanner to
scan the QR-code on the phone. That's all. Now in the
explorer window I can access the Android file system (including
SD card) and use drag&drop like in a local explorer window.

After the file transfer I stop Primitive ftpd and then nothing
is running on the phone which could be used as entry point
for illegal accessing the phone from outside.

I don't do anything and my entire Android phone is permanently mounted on Windows the moment I boot up my Android phone and I boot up Windows.

Remember, even though WebDav is even simpler than FTP is, it's not the simplest solution is the better solution since FTP can't do what WebDav
does (AFAIK) without extra tools (which you and I both equally shun).

There's nothing wrong, per se, with you using the inferior FTP solution
since you're comfortable with it, just as there's nothing wrong with me
using the superior WebDAV solution since it's partly user preference.

But please don't get Occam's Razor wrong with respect to "simple solutions"
as it's not the simplest solution that's likely best, but the simplest solution that solves all the problems that is likely best.

WebDav is superior to FTP in all respects (as far as I can tell).

If you think that statement is incorrect, you're welcome to think so, but
you first would need to answer this obvious question for me to believe it:
Q: What does FTP do better than WebDav in terms of Android:Windows
filesystem interoperability (on a Local LAN, in a home environment)?
A: ?
--
Note we've had this same discussion for years, where I don't see a single advantrage of FTP over WebDAV but that's why the answer is so important.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Maria Sophia wrote:

Occam's Razor has TWO tenets:
a. Simple
b. Solves all needs

The simplest solution that solves all the needs is likely the better.
So what matters is what are our respective needs.

If I can summarize my prior (long-winded technically detailed article)...

1. FTP is simple. So is WebDAV. On Windows. On Android.
2. Both are native to Windows. Both have free servers on Android.
3. There's no difference in simplicity between them (as far as I can tell).

FTP:
A. FTP is fine for ad-hoc file transfers.
B. But FTP cannot provide a native drive letter on Windows.
C. FTP requires third-party tools for filesystem integration.

WebDAV:
a. WebDAV provides native drive-letter mounting on Windows.
b. WebDAV integrates cleanly with Windows scripts, applications & tools.
c. For full filesystem interoperability between Android or iOS and Windows,
WebDAV is more capable than FTP if mapping a drive is one of your needs.
--
Occam's Razor says a simple solution that solves all needs is likely best.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 1/27/2026 5:34 PM, Maria Sophia wrote:

But you haven't seemed to discuss shares and mounts when we discuss them. There are fundamental differences when it comes to Windows mounts & shares!

One is mere mapping; the other is mounting as a drive letter.
They're not the same thing.

Who cares. The only thing I want do do is, to copy pictures taken
with the phone (or in this case a zip file generated by exporting a
chat from Whatsapp) to the pc and sometimes copy videos or apk files
to the phone. And that happens only every few month.

I don't do anything and my entire Android phone is permanently mounted on Windows the moment I boot up my Android phone and I boot up Windows.

That makes your solution unusable for me. If you have a pc which
downloads every few month some files from the internet, do you then
want that this pc is connected to the internet all the time?
The communication software on pc and phone must be active only
if I transfer data. I don't want an open port to the phone all
the time.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Herbert Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

On 1/26/2026 10:27 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:07, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the
phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

I did a test for one Chat/person. I got the .txt file with the text of
the messages (with the smileys, etc.), pictures (.jpg), audio (.opus),
videos (.mp4), but did *not* get PDFs (there should be two).

For a PDF, the ,txt file says

8/27/25, 20:30 - Frank Slootweg: DOC-20250827-WA0004. (file attached)

but the file is not included in the .zip file. N.B. in the above line it
looks like the file does not have an extension (which would be a
problem), but the file in the original chat *is* a PDF and is opened by
for example the (Google) 'Drive PDF Viewer. But also in that viewer, the
name is shown without an extension: "DOC-20250827-WA0004." (note the dot
at the end). So something is fishy.

Also that PDF was attached to a small message and that message
("Huisregels Dutch GP") is not in the .txt file. Very strange!

Other than these two missing PDFs, the .zip file seems to contain
everything.

BUT, as I think Carlos hinted at, if a message contains a quote of an
earlier message (as we do on Usenet), the quote is not in the .txt file,
only the response is. So something like

"Yes"

and then you have to guess to what the "Yes" applies. This particular
chat had two of these missing quotes.

Bottom line: Somewhat useful, but not very much.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

One is mere mapping; the other is mounting as a drive letter.
They're not the same thing.

Who cares.

OK. That's a *different* issue than which is the better solution. :)

To compare FTP v WebDav objectively, I opened this comparison thread today:
Newsgroups: alt.comp.os.windows-11,alt.comp.os.windows-10,comp.mobile.android
Subject: Discussion of FTP vs WebDav for Android/iOS filesystem sharing on Windows PC
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:11:06 -0500
Message-ID: <10larja$2ai$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com>

The only thing I want do do is, to copy pictures taken
with the phone (or in this case a zip file generated by exporting a
chat from Whatsapp) to the pc and sometimes copy videos or apk files
to the phone. And that happens only every few month.

Since your needs are so simple, almost any solution I've tested in the past works for you (& that's fine). Nobody said you had to use a better tool.

These will all likely work just fine for your simple copying needs:
AirDroid, ADB, AFT MTP client, DirectNetDrive, FTPUse, Ftpuse,
Fb-adb Android Linux shell, Go-mtpfs MTP FUSE filesystem,
Gphotofs Camera Linux mount, JMTP FS, KDEconnect, Kies Connect,
LibIconv, LibMTP, LibMTP, LibMTP library MTP implementation,
LibUSB Win32, LibUsbK, LibiConv, MTP support on KDE, MTPDrive,
MTPSync, MTPdude, MTPfs FUSE filesystem, NetDrive 1.3.2.0,
NetDrive 3.6.571, Nitroshare, PhoneLink, SFTP Net Drive, SideSync,
SMB Cifs (client) X-Plore, SMB Cifs (root), Scrcpy/sndcpy,
Termux copy, WebDav, WebDrive, XNJB Mac OS X GUI, etc.

For me, I have the added requirement that scripts (like syncing)
need to work without me having to specify the Android drive letter.

I don't do anything and my entire Android phone is permanently mounted on
Windows the moment I boot up my Android phone and I boot up Windows.

That makes your solution unusable for me.

Um... er... huh?

All I would have to do is *not* run the "net use" command.
And then there is no mounting of Android onto Windows as a drive letter.

If you have a pc which
downloads every few month some files from the internet, do you then
want that this pc is connected to the internet all the time?

Eh... ah... huh?

All you have to do is run the "net use" command when you actually need the Android phone file system to be mounted as a drive letter onto Windows.

The communication software on pc and phone must be active only
if I transfer data. I don't want an open port to the phone all
the time.

Bbbbbuuuuttttt it's just this one command you run when you need it.

net use Z: \\102.168.1.2@8000\DavWWWRoot

When you don't need it anymore, you just unmount the phone from Windows.

net use Z: /delete

--
On Usenet, we have found the best way to do everything that we need to do.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:

Herbert Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

On 1/26/2026 10:27 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:07, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the >> phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

I did a test for one Chat/person. I got the .txt file with the text of
the messages (with the smileys, etc.), pictures (.jpg), audio (.opus),
videos (.mp4), but did *not* get PDFs (there should be two).

For a PDF, the ,txt file says

8/27/25, 20:30 - Frank Slootweg: DOC-20250827-WA0004. (file attached)

but the file is not included in the .zip file. N.B. in the above line it looks like the file does not have an extension (which would be a
problem), but the file in the original chat *is* a PDF and is opened by
for example the (Google) 'Drive PDF Viewer. But also in that viewer, the
name is shown without an extension: "DOC-20250827-WA0004." (note the dot
at the end). So something is fishy.

The missing PDF mystery is solved!

I was again thinking about the missing extension and especially about
the dot at the end of the filename.

It turns out that (Windows) File Explorer does not show such files. I
opened the .zip file with the 7-Zip program and lo and behold there
were the 'missing' files! I just clicked on them and (Google) Chrome was
quite happy to open them, never mind the missing extension.

Also that PDF was attached to a small message and that message
("Huisregels Dutch GP") is not in the .txt file. Very strange!

This *is* still a mystery, because that text should be in the .txt
file, but isn't (and it's also not in the PDF).

Other than these two missing PDFs, the .zip file seems to contain everything.

BUT, as I think Carlos hinted at, if a message contains a quote of an earlier message (as we do on Usenet), the quote is not in the .txt file,
only the response is. So something like

"Yes"

and then you have to guess to what the "Yes" applies. This particular
chat had two of these missing quotes.

Bottom line: Somewhat useful, but not very much.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 1/27/2026 9:22 PM, Maria Sophia wrote:

Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

Since your needs are so simple, almost any solution I've tested in the past works for you (& that's fine). Nobody said you had to use a better tool.

But I can't imagine a simpler way to do it: one finger tip on the
phone and one QR-code scan on the PC and all is up and running.
And you don't have to learn anything new because all you are using
is the Windows explorer (in the same way as you do it on the local disk).

It does all I want and in the simplest way possible. So I call
it the "better tool".

The communication software on pc and phone must be active only
if I transfer data. I don't want an open port to the phone all
the time.

Bbbbbuuuuttttt it's just this one command you run when you need it.
C:\> net use Z: \\102.168.1.2@8000\DavWWWRoot

The problem is not the client (pc) but the server (phone). If
the port is open all the time, there is a much higher risk to be
misused than when the server is only running while it is actually
used.



--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

Since your needs are so simple, almost any solution I've tested in the past >> works for you (& that's fine). Nobody said you had to use a better tool.

But I can't imagine a simpler way to do it: one finger tip on the
phone and one QR-code scan on the PC and all is up and running.

As I said, I agree with you that both FTP & WebDav are equally simple.
a. Both require nothing to be installed on the Windows PC.
b. Both require a free server to be set up on the mobile device
c. Both require an "address" to be pasted into Windows to work

As I had said, Occam's Razor has two tenets, and this satisfies both
for you, since your needs are lesser than those of mine in this case.

1. Occam's Razor says we take the simplest solution
2. That satisfies all the conditions.

Note Occam's Razor isn't the simplest solution alone.
It's the simplest solution that satisfies the need.

For you, FTP solves both conditions, and I do not disagree with you.

And you don't have to learn anything new because all you are using
is the Windows explorer (in the same way as you do it on the local disk).

The "net use" command dates back to the earliest Microsoft networking tools
in the late 1980s and has been present in every Windows NT-based system
since Windows NT 3.1 (1993). Nothing new there...

It does all I want and in the simplest way possible. So I call
it the "better tool".

Yes. Note that I will never disagree with a logically sensible statement.
For your purposes, Occam's Razor fits:
a. It's a simple tool...
b. That meets your requirements.

I would say that WebDav is just as simple and meets your requirements also,
but what's different (as you note above) is you'd need to learn "net use".

So, for you, it's the simplest tool (because you already know it).
And it meets all your requirements.

Hence, I can't disagree since I follow logic every moment of my life.

The communication software on pc and phone must be active only
if I transfer data. I don't want an open port to the phone all
the time.

Bbbbbuuuuttttt it's just this one command you run when you need it.
C:\> net use Z: \\102.168.1.2@8000\DavWWWRoot

The problem is not the client (pc) but the server (phone). If
the port is open all the time, there is a much higher risk to be
misused than when the server is only running while it is actually
used.

Bbbbbuuuuttttt you only run the mobile phone server when you need it.
Just like you do with the FTP server.

There's no difference at all in that regard.
Anyway, we have had this same conversation for years, so let's summarize
that I agree with you that FTP fits your Occam's Razor conditions, while it does not fit mine (because my conditions require a Windows drive letter).

That's fair.

Please do see the thread on the comparison of the two methodologies.
The goal is for us all, together, to learn from each others' experiences.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2026-01-27 21:48, Frank Slootweg wrote:

Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:

Herbert Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

On 1/26/2026 10:27 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:07, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the >>>>> phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

I did a test for one Chat/person. I got the .txt file with the text of
the messages (with the smileys, etc.), pictures (.jpg), audio (.opus),
videos (.mp4), but did *not* get PDFs (there should be two).

For a PDF, the ,txt file says

8/27/25, 20:30 - Frank Slootweg: DOC-20250827-WA0004. (file attached)

but the file is not included in the .zip file. N.B. in the above line it
looks like the file does not have an extension (which would be a
problem), but the file in the original chat *is* a PDF and is opened by
for example the (Google) 'Drive PDF Viewer. But also in that viewer, the
name is shown without an extension: "DOC-20250827-WA0004." (note the dot
at the end). So something is fishy.

The missing PDF mystery is solved!

I was again thinking about the missing extension and especially about
the dot at the end of the filename.

It turns out that (Windows) File Explorer does not show such files. I opened the .zip file with the 7-Zip program and lo and behold there
were the 'missing' files! I just clicked on them and (Google) Chrome was quite happy to open them, never mind the missing extension.

Ah. Good.

Also that PDF was attached to a small message and that message
("Huisregels Dutch GP") is not in the .txt file. Very strange!

This *is* still a mystery, because that text should be in the .txt
file, but isn't (and it's also not in the PDF).

Other than these two missing PDFs, the .zip file seems to contain
everything.

BUT, as I think Carlos hinted at, if a message contains a quote of an
earlier message (as we do on Usenet), the quote is not in the .txt file,
only the response is. So something like

"Yes"

and then you have to guess to what the "Yes" applies. This particular
chat had two of these missing quotes.

That's bad.

Bottom line: Somewhat useful, but not very much.

Right.

Still, the tool from "https://github.com/mtln/chat-export" that Herbert Kleebauer mentioned, that runs on a computer, makes the zip export
readable. It is incomplete, though.


Arlen mentioned two other tools:

<https://github.com/andreas-mausch/whatsapp-viewer/releases/download/v1.15/WhatsApp.Viewer.zip>
<https://github.com/EliteAndroidApps/WhatsApp-Key-DB-Extractor/archive/refs/heads/master.zip>

which I understand run on the phone. One extracts the encoding key for
the chats files, the other reads a chat and produces a working html. Is
it a better quality file?

But Arlen mentions a Windows GUI, so I am confused.

<https://github.com/andreas-mausch/whatsapp-viewer/>

There is a readme there.

🛑⚠ WhatsApp Viewer does not work with the latest WhatsApp database format. ⚠🛑

Well, that's bad.

«You need root access to your phone. If you don't know what it is: Wikipedia»

Well, I'm done, out.

And it is a Windows program; I use Linux.


What exactly it needs root access for, it doesn't say.



You need root access to your phone. If you don't know what it is: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooting_%28Android%29)
Download your WhatsApp database and key files:

/data/data/com.whatsapp/files/key
/data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/msgstore.db
/data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/wa.db

Open WhatsApp Viewer
File -> Open -> Select file
Select msgstore.db in the folder "extracted"
Leave account name empty, is was used for older versions of
WhatsApp (crypt5)
Optional: If you want, you can import contact names from the wa.db file


Maybe those 3 files are only accessible being root on the phone?
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Carlos E.R. wrote:

Maybe those 3 files are only accessible being root on the phone?

Hi Carlos,

Please allow me to clarify:
a. You do not need to be root
b. The apps mentioned work on Windows
c. The only thing needed from the phone is the archive & the key

I downloaded and installed both of these programs on Windows, not Android. <https://github.com/andreas-mausch/whatsapp-viewer/releases/download/v1.15/WhatsApp.Viewer.zip>
<https://github.com/EliteAndroidApps/WhatsApp-Key-DB-Extractor/archive/refs/heads/master.zip>

Well, neither needs to be "installed", as they're both just executables.
The executable for WhatsApp.Viewer definitely pops up a Windows chat GUI.

I didn't test them with the phone though as I don't have the OP's need.

But the GUI that I see is clearly on Windows for viewing WhatsApp archives. What's needed from the phone are the archives! :)

And the key.
But you do NOT need to be rooted.

The readme's go out of their way to say anyone can do it w/o being rooted.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Herbert Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> ha scritto:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the
phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I
think this is the fasted method because the transfer is only within
the local WLAN.

There is also software to convert the exported data to html, but
I didn't try it:

https://github.com/mtln/chat-export

Actually you can do everything without PC as well.
You can save your zip file in a location accessible to Termux and
install python and chat-export on the android smartphone ( Termux
is needed obviously):
$ pkg install python git

$ pip install chat-export

Then run:
$ chat-export -z "/right_path_of/your_file.zip" --embed-media

It will answer something like this:
Select the WhatsApp chat export ZIP file you want to convert to HTML.
Tkinter is not available on your system. Using prompt input
instead of file picker dialog.
Please enter the path to your WhatsApp chat export ZIP file: ...
Processing selected file: ...
[...]
Writing HTML files... Done!

:-)
--
Qihe
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

In comp.mobile.android, on Tue, 27 Jan 2026 09:43:56 +0100, "Carlos
E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:50, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/26/2026 10:27 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-26 22:07, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

A few days ago I exported a >500 MByte chat. I saved it locally on the >>>> phone and then transferred the zip file to the PC with ftp (using
"primitive ftpd" on the phone and "Windows Explorer" on the PC) . I

What format has the chat?

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

That is useless crap. Now I remember, I tried that one years ago.

It certainly is disappointing. Whatsapp could have done a lot better.

I mentioned the one that would not export. Did i get around to telling
you all -- no I didn't; -- that I found you could forward the chat, but
you have to tap on each little piece individually. I stopped looking at
the top line, and didn't notice when the Forward option disappeared and
only the Delete option was left.

I was up to 600 items, and I taped 200 of them again trying to get the
Forward icon back

At that pointm it seemed just as efficient to stop and start over.

I eventually figured out that if you try to forward an item where
someone called but you didn't answer, it removes the Forward option and
leaves only delete. The same thing happens if you try to forward a line
which has a [deleted comment] or something like that. I was tapping as
fast as I could and I tapped some of those even after I knew they were
bad but I paid closer attention to the top line and went back and
untapped them.

All in all there were 1500 parts to the chat, plus the 6oo + 200 in the
first attempt, which makes 2300 taps. Took me well over an hour, I
think.

The result has even a worse format, in that the time for every comment
is the time I did the fowarding and there is no date at all. What's app
could have done better.

Thwn I deleted that I had forwarded anything, and I deleted that I had
exported everything, and I deleted the two files that I uploaded to
google Drive, which btw, appeared on his phone's google drive but not on
his laptop's google drive. I guess he has two but I don't know how that
can be. I know he uses the one in his laptop beccuase there 50 or so interesting files, unrelated to scams. But the one on the phone was
empty after I deleted the two I put there.

The message part are the plain text messages, without the emoticons, and >without the files inserted in the text in their context. Like a PDF file >would be.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 1/31/2026 4:10 AM, micky wrote:

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

That is useless crap. Now I remember, I tried that one years ago.

It certainly is disappointing. Whatsapp could have done a lot better.

I mentioned the one that would not export. Did i get around to telling
you all -- no I didn't; -- that I found you could forward the chat, but
you have to tap on each little piece individually.

The result has even a worse format, in that the time for every comment
is the time I did the fowarding and there is no date at all. What's app could have done better.

But what is the real problem with using "export chat" for archive
purpose? You get all attached pictures, videos and other files and
nearly all the text of the chat. If you also want to archive the
formatting done by Whatsapp, scroll to the beginning of the chat
(on the PC), press <Print> to start the snipping tool, select video
and start screen recording. Then in Whatsapp, press <Page down> every
second and when reaching the chat end, save the video. This video
is even more demonstrative than any other saved form because it is
much harder to fake than for example a simple text file.





--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:20:32 +0100, Herbert Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

On 1/27/2026 10:03 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

And Primitive ftpd also provides the "Save As" button
when exporting chats from Whatsapp.

That's a curious one. I get that one.

I also get Cx File explorer and can then save as a local file.

Android by default doesn't offer the "Save As" so you will need an
additional app which provides this service. Doesn't matter whether
this is "Primitive FTPD" or "Cx File explorer" or any other app.

But I was glad that Primitive FTPD provided that feature because
it was installed already for file transfer and I didn't need a
further app.

But I don't understand why Whatsapp itself doesn't offer a "Save As".

Me neither.

I found out why the things I exported by bluetooth moved, on their own.
It wasn't on their own. I have to click bluetooth, Accept a file, for
each file expected. Then when it comes the window changes and lists the
file that just came. At that poin it's in the temp folder. I can
browse to any folder I want or just click Save and it puts it in Documents-something I had done that for some but not others. So they
were in two places.

Now I'm trying to take a picture of my passport with the phone and sent
that to the PC. That's even more confusing Tried Gmail first, and it
filled in the From. I filled in the To: and clicked Send but nothing
happened. Tried again and from then on the From wasn't filled in and I
coudl't go there to fill it in

Tried MyPhoneExplorer which usually works great. The previous day it
labeled 4 pictures of my passport as date TODAY, and I dragged them to
the PC file manager. None of the pictures were good enough for the
website so next day I did 4 more. But though they were in the android
phones Gallery, hey were not seen by Myphoneexploer!

Tried bluetooth and it didn't work either.

Never did figure it out and got tired and wquit.

Today I used blutooth and it was fine again, but again the website
didn't like my picture. I may need a bigger white border, or maybe my
picture is too dark. :-(
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Tue, 27 Jan 2026 05:03:54 -0500, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:

On Tue, 1/27/2026 3:39 AM, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/27/2026 1:28 AM, micky wrote:

Beside Bluetooth, Google Drive, Gmail there is also an entry
"Save As" which is provided by the app "primitive ftpd" which

I don't have that entry.

But if I install F-droid, that line will appear?

F-Droid is an alternative app store for Google Playstore.
You don't have to install F-Droid to be able to install
apps hosted on F-Droid, but then there are no automatic
updates for the installed apps (but for me it is an advantage
when working apps are not automatically replaced by newer ones).

https://f-droid.org/packages/org.primftpd/
https://github.com/wolpi/prim-ftpd

The direct link to Primitive ftpd is:

https://f-droid.org/repo/org.primftpd_67.apk

Just download and install it on the phone.

Primitive ftpd is very easy to use because the
Windows explorer has a built-in ftp client and
therefore no extra software is needed on the PC.
Just start Primitive ftpd on the phone and enter
the displayed ftp address in the address bar of
the Windows explorer (or if you have a QR-code scanner
attached to your PC, just scan the displayed QR-code).
Then the file system on your phone is displayed in
explorer like a local folder and you can use drag&drop
to copy files from or to your phone. Copying files
by WLAN is much faster than using bluetooth.


And Primitive ftpd also provides the "Save As" button
when exporting chats from Whatsapp.

But the advantage of FSquirt, is it works over Bluetooth,
when a number of other things are "busted" on your computer.
That's the only real feature it has. It's reasonably
robust (assuming Pairing still works on your beast).

Even when Windows didn't have a working TCP/IP stack
across Bluetooth, the FSquirt file transfer, still worked.
Don't ask me what the stack used to do that was. I was
just impressed that it worked.

C:\Windows\System32\fsquirt.exe

I think that's the same thing as clickign on the bluetooth icon in the
systray or overflow, and then clicking on send or receive a file. That's
worked for me 2 days ago and today (though not yesterdah for some
reason) and one has to remember that it has to be clicked on for each
file. For several filee, I can see that it's quicker to run fsqirt,
whose window would remain, than clicking on the systray each time.

Paul

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Sun, 2/1/2026 4:39 PM, micky wrote:

Today I used blutooth and it was fine again, but again the website
didn't like my picture. I may need a bigger white border, or maybe my picture is too dark. :-(

"Whenever i go to change my whatsapp profile picture i cant and it shows me all my contacts" [3 yr ago]

https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsapp/comments/128vq0q/whenever_i_go_to_change_my_whatsapp_profile/

"I have the exact same thing.

Using Android, it tries to send the photo as a message instead of updating my profile photo.

I'm hoping they will fix this bug soon!

For now I'm using whatsapp web to update my profile pic "

Paul

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2026-01-31 08:42, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/31/2026 4:10 AM, micky wrote:

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

That is useless crap. Now I remember, I tried that one years ago.

It certainly is disappointing. Whatsapp could have done a lot better.

I mentioned the one that would not export.  Did i get around to telling
you all -- no I didn't; -- that I found you could forward the chat, but
you have to tap on each little piece individually.

The result has even a worse format, in that the time for every comment
is the time I did the fowarding and there is no date at all.  What's app
could have done better.

But what is the real problem with using "export chat" for archive
purpose?

No formatting.

It is plain text, and only names attached photos, audios, videos, etc.


If WhatsApp would print to PDF the entire chat with clickable files
inserted in the correct places, that would be wonderful.

Some people talk to me via audio messages, while I answer by typing. The
plain text chat is useless.

Software that tries to do a correct export or a conversion have been
mentioned before in this thread.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:20:32 +0100, Herbert Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

[...]

But I don't understand why Whatsapp itself doesn't offer a "Save As".

Me neither.

I found out why the things I exported by bluetooth moved, on their own.
It wasn't on their own. I have to click bluetooth, Accept a file, for
each file expected. Then when it comes the window changes and lists the
file that just came. At that poin it's in the temp folder. I can
browse to any folder I want or just click Save and it puts it in Documents-something I had done that for some but not others. So they
were in two places.

Now I'm trying to take a picture of my passport with the phone and sent
that to the PC. That's even more confusing Tried Gmail first, and it filled in the From. I filled in the To: and clicked Send but nothing happened. Tried again and from then on the From wasn't filled in and I coudl't go there to fill it in

As I said before, don't only say what does *not* work, but also say
which 'Share' options *are* offered on *your* phone!

So for the passport photo example: In your photo or file manager app, long-press on the photo/file so that it gets selected. Now there will
probably a 'Share' option on the screen. Tap that. Now a popup will
appear, showing which Share destinations/apps are available on *your*
phone. Tell us *all* the apps which are listed, including those under
'More' (need to swipe the bottom part to the left).

[More 'Doesn't work.' stuff deleted.]
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

"Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> ha scritto:

On 2026-01-31 08:42, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/31/2026 4:10 AM, micky wrote:

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc.
in the original format.

That is useless crap. Now I remember, I tried that one years ago.

It certainly is disappointing. Whatsapp could have done a lot better.

I mentioned the one that would not export. Did i get around to telling
you all -- no I didn't; -- that I found you could forward the chat, but
you have to tap on each little piece individually.

The result has even a worse format, in that the time for every comment
is the time I did the fowarding and there is no date at all. What's app >>> could have done better.

But what is the real problem with using "export chat" for archive
purpose?

No formatting.

It is plain text, and only names attached photos, audios, videos, etc.

If you tell Whatsapp to export the zip file including media and
then you run in the terminal
$ chat-export -z ChatWhatsApp.zip --embed-media

...you will get an HTML file with "embed media " .

.

If WhatsApp would print to PDF the entire chat with clickable files
inserted in the correct places, that would be wonderful.

Some people talk to me via audio messages, while I answer by typing.

I can open the HTML file and tap on the audio messages and listen
to them and all the pictures are in the right place.
You probably exported the chat without media or maybe you didn't
run chat-export with the proper option (--embed-media
).
--
Qihe
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2026-02-02 15:28, Qihe wrote:

"Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> ha scritto:

On 2026-01-31 08:42, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 1/31/2026 4:10 AM, micky wrote:

The chat is exported as a zip file. It contains the chat as .txt
file (utf-8 including smileys.) and all pictures, videos, pdfs etc. >>>>>> in the original format.

That is useless crap. Now I remember, I tried that one years ago.

It certainly is disappointing. Whatsapp could have done a lot better.

I mentioned the one that would not export. Did i get around to telling >>>> you all -- no I didn't; -- that I found you could forward the chat, but >>>> you have to tap on each little piece individually.

The result has even a worse format, in that the time for every comment >>>> is the time I did the fowarding and there is no date at all. What's app >>>> could have done better.

But what is the real problem with using "export chat" for archive
purpose?

No formatting.

It is plain text, and only names attached photos, audios, videos, etc.

If you tell Whatsapp to export the zip file including media and
then you run in the terminal
$ chat-export -z ChatWhatsApp.zip --embed-media

...you will get an HTML file with "embed media " .

Yes, but we are talking of what WhatsApp on its own does.

...
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

"Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> ha scritto:

But what is the real problem with using "export chat" for archive
purpose?

No formatting.

It is plain text, and only names attached photos, audios, videos, etc.

If you tell Whatsapp to export the zip file including media and
then you run in the terminal
$ chat-export -z ChatWhatsApp.zip --embed-media

...you will get an HTML file with "embed media " .

Yes, but we are talking of what WhatsApp on its own does.

Ops! Actually "export chat" is not "chat-export"...
:-)
--
Qihe
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2/2/2026 12:55 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-31 08:42, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

But what is the real problem with using "export chat" for archive
purpose?

No formatting.

It is plain text, and only names attached photos, audios, videos, etc.

But Whatsapp is chat not mail. If you talk to other people
or make phone calls, do you always use a switched-on voice
recorder so you later can replay the talk? An exported
Whatsapp chat is mostly never used again, so the formatting
doesn't matter as long as the all the information is there
in case it is really needed at a later time.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Herbert Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

On 2/2/2026 12:55 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-31 08:42, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

But what is the real problem with using "export chat" for archive
purpose?

No formatting.

It is plain text, and only names attached photos, audios, videos, etc.

But Whatsapp is chat not mail. If you talk to other people
or make phone calls, do you always use a switched-on voice
recorder so you later can replay the talk? An exported
Whatsapp chat is mostly never used again, so the formatting
doesn't matter as long as the all the information is there
in case it is really needed at a later time.

I beg to differ. I/we regularly revisit (and even search in) old chats
in order to find/check information. Until now, we do that in/with
WhatsApp, so it's no problem, but when the chats get very big/old, one
might want to have a way to archive them 'offline', but with full
context and that context includes documents, media, links, etc..

For me/us, there really isn't a big difference between IM like
WhatsApp and e-mail. IM is faster with mostly shorter (but not
neccesarily short) messages, but often with documents, media, links,
etc.. E-mail is slower with mostly longer messages, but only with simple attachments (if any), no video, ausio, etc.. All those are minor
differences, not essential ones, especially not for archiving and later revisting.

So all in all, not being able to use WhatsApp itself for this archiving/revisiting functionality is a disadvantage compared to e-mail
clients which *can* do these things for e-mail.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2026-02-02 16:26, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

On 2/2/2026 12:55 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-31 08:42, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

But what is the real problem with using "export chat" for archive
purpose?

No formatting.

It is plain text, and only names attached photos, audios, videos, etc.

But Whatsapp is chat not mail. If you talk to other people
or make phone calls, do you always use a switched-on voice
recorder so you later can replay the talk? An exported
Whatsapp chat is mostly never used again, so the formatting
doesn't matter as long as the all the information is there
in case it is really needed at a later time.

The formatting is crucial.

I don't mean bold text. I mean all the images, videos, audios,
documents, inserted in the chat.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 2026-02-02 19:28, Frank Slootweg wrote:

Herbert Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

On 2/2/2026 12:55 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

On 2026-01-31 08:42, Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

But what is the real problem with using "export chat" for archive
purpose?

No formatting.

It is plain text, and only names attached photos, audios, videos, etc.

But Whatsapp is chat not mail. If you talk to other people
or make phone calls, do you always use a switched-on voice
recorder so you later can replay the talk? An exported
Whatsapp chat is mostly never used again, so the formatting
doesn't matter as long as the all the information is there
in case it is really needed at a later time.

I beg to differ. I/we regularly revisit (and even search in) old chats
in order to find/check information. Until now, we do that in/with
WhatsApp, so it's no problem, but when the chats get very big/old, one
might want to have a way to archive them 'offline', but with full
context and that context includes documents, media, links, etc..

For me/us, there really isn't a big difference between IM like
WhatsApp and e-mail. IM is faster with mostly shorter (but not
neccesarily short) messages, but often with documents, media, links,
etc.. E-mail is slower with mostly longer messages, but only with simple attachments (if any), no video, ausio, etc.. All those are minor
differences, not essential ones, especially not for archiving and later revisting.

So all in all, not being able to use WhatsApp itself for this archiving/revisiting functionality is a disadvantage compared to e-mail clients which *can* do these things for e-mail.

I also miss a feature to delete (after properly archiving) all messages
before certain date, including the media.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 3/02/2026 12:36 am, Frank Slootweg wrote:

micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:20:32 +0100, Herbert
Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

[...]

But I don't understand why Whatsapp itself doesn't offer a "Save As".

Me neither.

I found out why the things I exported by bluetooth moved, on their own.
It wasn't on their own. I have to click bluetooth, Accept a file, for
each file expected. Then when it comes the window changes and lists the
file that just came. At that poin it's in the temp folder. I can
browse to any folder I want or just click Save and it puts it in
Documents-something I had done that for some but not others. So they
were in two places.

Now I'm trying to take a picture of my passport with the phone and sent
that to the PC. That's even more confusing Tried Gmail first, and it
filled in the From. I filled in the To: and clicked Send but nothing
happened. Tried again and from then on the From wasn't filled in and I
coudl't go there to fill it in

As I said before, don't only say what does *not* work, but also say
which 'Share' options *are* offered on *your* phone!

So for the passport photo example: In your photo or file manager app, long-press on the photo/file so that it gets selected. Now there will probably a 'Share' option on the screen. Tap that. Now a popup will
appear, showing which Share destinations/apps are available on *your*
phone. Tell us *all* the apps which are listed, including those under
'More' (need to swipe the bottom part to the left).

[More 'Doesn't work.' stuff deleted.]

Does this mean "Big Brother" now knows more about your stuff than it
used to?? ;-)
--
Daniel70
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From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Daniel70 <daniel47@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:

On 3/02/2026 12:36 am, Frank Slootweg wrote:

micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:

In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:20:32 +0100, Herbert
Kleebauer <klee@unibwm.de> wrote:

[...]

But I don't understand why Whatsapp itself doesn't offer a "Save As".

Me neither.

I found out why the things I exported by bluetooth moved, on their own.
It wasn't on their own. I have to click bluetooth, Accept a file, for
each file expected. Then when it comes the window changes and lists the >> file that just came. At that poin it's in the temp folder. I can
browse to any folder I want or just click Save and it puts it in
Documents-something I had done that for some but not others. So they
were in two places.

Now I'm trying to take a picture of my passport with the phone and sent
that to the PC. That's even more confusing Tried Gmail first, and it
filled in the From. I filled in the To: and clicked Send but nothing
happened. Tried again and from then on the From wasn't filled in and I
coudl't go there to fill it in

As I said before, don't only say what does *not* work, but also say which 'Share' options *are* offered on *your* phone!

So for the passport photo example: In your photo or file manager app, long-press on the photo/file so that it gets selected. Now there will probably a 'Share' option on the screen. Tap that. Now a popup will
appear, showing which Share destinations/apps are available on *your* phone. Tell us *all* the apps which are listed, including those under 'More' (need to swipe the bottom part to the left).

[More 'Doesn't work.' stuff deleted.]

Does this mean "Big Brother" now knows more about your stuff than it
used to?? ;-)

Please explain what you're referring to. I was talking about a
passport photo which Micky took and the ways he has to get it where he
wants it to go. No 'Big Brother' involved, unless he chooses to.

And yes, I noted the smiley, but a smiley without proper context is
just that, a smiley.
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