Free preview before you pay

Turn a Facebook Messenger export into a PDF

Messenger's JSON export tends to have the same broken characters as Instagram's. Upload the zip and get a clean dated transcript.

The finished PDF, made from an invented example

This is the real output of this tool, made from an invented example by the same code that makes yours. The people and details in it are fictional.

Messages 30People 2From 13 Jan 2026To 26 Jan 2026Pages ~2Price $7
Page 1 of the sample PDFPage 2 of the sample PDFPage 3 of the sample PDF
Open the whole sample PDF (3 pages)
From $7 · one payment, no account
Free preview first · files deleted within 7 days

How it works.

Messenger and Instagram exports share the same JSON layout and the same well known defect: text written as UTF-8 bytes escaped as Latin-1, so emoji and accented names arrive broken. The same repair fixes both.

Step 1

Ask Facebook for your information

On Facebook, go to Settings and privacy, Settings, Accounts Centre, Your information and permissions, Export your information, Create export, Export to device. Pick your messages, and choose JSON rather than HTML as the format.

Step 2

Upload the zip

Drop it here whole. Each conversation has its own folder inside, and the longest one is used.

Step 3

Check it, then download

You see it parsed before paying. The PDF opens with the message count and the date range, then the conversation with dates and senders, and photos if you add them.

Four ways to print it.

Every sample below is page one of a real PDF, made from the same sample as the one above by the same code that makes your file. Pick a style when you preview, and change it as often as you like.

A page of the sample transcript in the Messenger look style
Messenger lookBlue bubbles for one side, grey for the other, on white, like Facebook Messenger.
A page of the sample transcript in the Clean document style
Clean documentPlain and readable, made for paper. The safe choice if you are not sure.
A page of the sample transcript in the Formal / legal style
Formal / legalNumbered entries and full timestamps, for a hearing or a claim. No colour, so it photocopies.
A page of the sample transcript in the Book style
BookSet like a printed book, for binding or keeping. Warm paper, wide margins.

Guides on this

Save your Instagram DMs before you delete your account

Trust, with receipts.

No invented review scores, no badges, no “trusted by thousands”. Here is what is actually true, and you can check every line of it.

  • You see the result before you payUpload, look at your own parsed file, then decide. No account, no card, no email required to get that far.
  • Files are deleted within 7 daysYour upload, anything extracted from it, and the finished download. Automatically, on a schedule.
  • A person answers the emailOne Time Tool is a small independent studio in Johannesburg, South Africa. Questions go to hello@onetimetool.com and a person replies, not a bot.
  • Your card never touches this siteCheckout is hosted by Dodo Payments. We never see your card number.
  • One payment, for this one jobThere is no subscription, no plan and nothing to cancel. Depending on where you are, checkout may show the price in your currency and add local VAT or sales tax.
  • 7-day money backIf the output is not what you needed, email us and we refund it. No form to fill in.

Questions, answered.

Should I choose JSON or HTML when Facebook asks?
JSON. Facebook describes HTML as the easy-to-view version and JSON as the machine-readable one. This reads JSON only, so an HTML export will not work here.
Can I do a group chat?
Yes. Each person's name gets a colour so you can follow who said what. With more than six people the colours start to repeat.
What if my thread is enormous?
If a long thread comes split across several message files, uploading the whole zip merges them in time order. If the zip is over the size limit, email us and we will run it by hand.
A conversation I expected is not in my export.
It may be an end-to-end encrypted chat. Facebook has a separate download for those, on a computer, under Messenger's Privacy and safety settings, End-to-end encrypted chats, Message storage. We have not tested that download with this tool, so email us before paying for one.
What happens to my file?
It is deleted within 7 days, along with the finished PDF. It is used to make your file and nothing else. Nobody reads it.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no signup, no subscription and no password. You upload, you see the result, you pay once if you want it.

Other tools like this one.

More from Chats and messages.

Instagram DMsWhatsApp to PDFEvidence pack