Before switching phones or migrating your account, have you ever wanted to save your LINE chat history as text files?
LINE does have a built-in export feature, but it has one major limitation: you can only export one chat room at a time. If you have dozens or even hundreds of chat rooms, this is simply not practical.
In this article, we cover how to use LINE's standard export, and introduce a way to batch-export all your chat history to text at once.
1. Why You Should Save Chat History as Text
LINE chat history can also be saved via cloud backup (iCloud / Google Drive). However, keeping text files on hand offers significant advantages.
- No app dependency: Readable from any PC or phone, even without LINE
- Flexible search: Fast full-text search using any text editor or grep
- Ideal for long-term storage: .txt files are a future-proof format
- Compatible with other tools: Load into AI tools like NotebookLM for analysis
- Insurance for account migration: Even if your backup gets corrupted, the text data remains
2. Method 1: LINE's Built-in Export
LINE has a built-in feature to save chat history as .txt files.
iPhone / Android
Open the chat room
Open the chat room you want to export.
Open the menu
Tap the ≡ icon in the top right > More > Export Chat History.
Choose a destination
Select a method that makes it easy to transfer to your PC, such as email, AirDrop, or Google Drive.
PC LINE (Windows / Mac)
Open the chat room
Open the target chat room in LINE for PC.
Select "Save Chat"
Click the ≡ icon in the top right > Save Chat, then choose a save location.
Output format: Exported in text format (.txt). Date, time, sender name, and message body are recorded, but images, videos, and stickers are not included (they appear as placeholders like "[Sticker]" or "[Photo]").
3. Limitations of the Built-in Feature
LINE's built-in export is convenient, but it has major limitations.
- ✗ You can only export one chat room at a time
- ✗ No batch export feature
- ✗ If you have 100 chat rooms, you need to repeat the same steps 100 times
- ✗ Group chats, individual chats, and official accounts all require separate operations
- ✗ Easy to miss some chats during export
The reality: The average LINE user has 50 to 200 chat rooms. To export all chats with the built-in feature, you have no choice but to manually process each one individually.
4. Method 2: Batch Export with ChatArchive
ChatArchive solves this problem.
ChatArchive is a macOS app that directly accesses LINE's database to import and export all chat rooms with a single click.
- Back up all chat rooms at once
- Automatically decrypt the encrypted database
- Supports text, images, stickers, videos, voice messages, and files
- Export and import in .chatarchive format
- Browse in a chat UI + full-text search
- Fully local processing — your data is never sent anywhere
Back up all your chat history at once — no more exporting one by one
Buy License5. Comparison
| LINE Built-in | ChatArchive | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | One chat at a time | All chats at once |
| Steps required | Manual × number of chats | One click |
| Text export | ✓ .txt | ✓ .chatarchive |
| Images & stickers | ✗ Not supported | ✓ Retrieved from cache |
| Full-text search | ✗ | ✓ Cross-room search |
| Chat UI viewer | ✗ | ✓ |
| Privacy | On-device only | Fully local processing |
| Supported OS | iOS / Android / PC | macOS 14.0+ |
| Price | Free | License purchase |
6. Setting Up ChatArchive
Requirements
- macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or later
- LINE for Mac installed (and logged in)
Download ChatArchive
Download ChatArchive from the official site and place it in your Applications folder.
Purchase and activate your license
Purchase a license and enter the license key in the app to activate it.
Purchase a license to unlock all features
Buy LicenseGrant Full Disk Access
Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access and add ChatArchive. This is required to access LINE's database.
7. How to Export with ChatArchive
Launch ChatArchive
Open ChatArchive from your Applications folder. Make sure LINE for Mac is installed and you are logged in.
Click "Import"
Click the "Import" button on the main screen. ChatArchive will automatically detect, decrypt, and import LINE's encrypted database. No manual file selection needed.
Confirm the import
All chat rooms will be listed. You can browse and search them directly in the chat UI.
Export
Select export from the menu and choose a save location. All data is saved in .chatarchive format.
Storing your backup: For peace of mind, save the exported .chatarchive file to an external drive or cloud storage. You can re-import it into ChatArchive anytime to browse your history.
8. What's Included in the Export
Data imported by ChatArchive includes the following.
| Message Type | Details |
|---|---|
| Text | Message body saved as-is |
| Images | Retrieved from cache (placeholder if cache is unavailable) |
| Stickers | Retrieved from cache (placeholder if cache is unavailable) |
| Videos | Metadata recorded |
| Voice messages | Metadata recorded |
| Files | File name recorded |
| Location | Address and coordinates recorded |
| Contacts | Shared contact information recorded |
Compared to LINE's built-in export: LINE's standard text export only records text messages. ChatArchive also retrieves images and stickers from the cache whenever possible, capturing rich message data.
9. How to Use Exported Data
Long-term backup
Back up your entire chat history before switching phones, migrating accounts, or deleting your LINE account. Be prepared for unexpected data loss.
Search past conversations
Use ChatArchive's full-text search to search across all chat rooms instantly — find "that restaurant name" or "last year's plans" in seconds.
AI-powered analysis
Load your exported text data into AI tools like Google NotebookLM for summarization, analysis, and information extraction.
→ How to Analyze LINE Chat History with NotebookLM
Preserving memories
Save precious conversations with family and friends in a format you can read anytime. Keep text memories just like a photo album.
10. FAQ
Q: Do I need to be logged in to LINE on my Mac?
Yes. ChatArchive reads LINE's database on your Mac. You need to have logged in to LINE for Mac at least once and have your chat history synced.
Q: Is my data sent to external servers?
No. ChatArchive is fully local. It performs no network communication whatsoever, and your data is never sent to the internet.
Q: Are images and stickers saved too?
Images and stickers that remain in LINE's cache can be displayed and saved. Older images whose cache has been cleared will appear as placeholders.
Q: Can I view the exported file on a different Mac?
Yes. Import the .chatarchive file into ChatArchive on another Mac, and you can browse it right away.
Q: Can I try it for free?
The download is free. A license purchase is required to use all features.
Related Articles
- The Complete Guide to Backing Up All LINE Chat History on Mac
- How to Upload LINE Chat History to NotebookLM for AI Analysis
- How to Use ChatArchive — Complete Guide from Installation to Advanced Usage
All Your Chat History, One Click Away
No more exporting one by one.
Back up all your precious chat history with ChatArchive.