How to export your Claude chats
Updated 23 October 2026
Whether you want a backup, a copy for your notes, or a clean PDF of one conversation, there are two ways to get your chats out of Claude.
Export everything: Claude's data export
- On claude.ai or the Claude desktop app, open Settings → Privacy. (You can't start it from the phone apps.)
- Click Export data.
- After a short wait, Claude emails a download link to your account's address. Download it while signed in.
Things to know:
- The link expires 24 hours after it arrives. Request a new export if you miss it.
- Free, Pro and Max accounts can export directly. On Team and Enterprise plans an owner has to allow members to export their own data, and exports don't include files you uploaded.
- The export is data, not documents: great for a backup, awkward to read or share as is.
Export one chat, in the format you need
Claude has no "download this conversation" button. Copying from the page loses formatting and structure. TidyTalk, our Chrome extension, adds one: open the side panel, find the chat (search or folders), and choose ⋯ → Export as:
- Markdown: for Obsidian, Notion or a repository. Code blocks and headings survive.
- Plain text: for anything that doesn't understand Markdown.
- JSON: every message with roles and dates, for scripts.
- PDF: a clean print layout; choose "Save as PDF" in the print dialog.
Exporting one chat at a time is free. With Pro you can export a whole folder, a selection of chats, or your search results as a zip in one go, and Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini chats all export the same way.
Make the export searchable
TidyTalk can import Claude's data export too: in the side panel's Status tab, choose Import a data export and pick the zip. Every old chat becomes searchable at once, on your computer, and opens at the exact message. Nothing is uploaded.
Keep a copy you control
A good habit: request Claude's data export every few months as a full backup, and export the chats you'll reuse (research, specs, drafts) as Markdown or PDF into your notes, where you'll actually find them.
Sources
TidyTalk is an independent Chrome extension and isn't affiliated with OpenAI, Anthropic or Google. Add it to Chrome, free.