What you need before you start<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n- Telegram Desktop<\/strong> on Windows, macOS or Linux. The phone apps don’t have this feature at all.<\/li>\n\n\n
- On a Mac, the version from desktop.telegram.org<\/a>. The copy in the Mac App Store does not include export.<\/li>\n\n\n
- Plenty of free disk space. A busy channel can easily run to tens of gigabytes once the videos are counted.<\/li>\n\n\n
- The channel open in your app. If the export option doesn’t show up, join the channel first.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
How to export every file from a channel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n- Open the channel<\/strong> in Telegram Desktop.<\/li>\n\n\n
- Click the three dots<\/strong> in the top right corner and choose Export chat history<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n
- Tick the media you want.<\/strong> You can choose photos, videos, voice messages, video messages, stickers, GIFs and files. Untick anything you don’t need. It saves a surprising amount of time.<\/li>\n\n\n
- Raise the size limit.<\/strong> Telegram skips large files by default. Drag the size slider all the way to the right so long videos are included.<\/li>\n\n\n
- Pick a format and a folder.<\/strong> Choose HTML if you want to scroll through the posts in a browser later, or JSON if you plan to process them with a script. Change the download path if your main drive is short on space.<\/li>\n\n\n
- Narrow the dates if you like.<\/strong> The From and To fields let you export one month instead of the whole history.<\/li>\n\n\n
- Click Export<\/strong> and leave the app open until it says it’s done.<\/li>\n\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
![\"Telegram](\"https:\/\/telegramdownloader.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/telegram-export-chat-history-steps.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWhat you end up with<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Telegram creates a folder named something like ChatExport_2026-10-25<\/code>. Inside it you will find the posts themselves, in messages.html<\/code> or result.json<\/code>, plus subfolders for each kind of media, such as photos<\/code>, video_files<\/code> and files<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOpen messages.html<\/code> in any browser and you can read the channel like a website, with every photo and video linked next to the post it came from. That is often more useful than a pile of files with numbers for names, because you can still see what each video was about.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen it doesn’t go to plan<\/h2>\n\n\n\nThere is no Export option<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Nine times out of ten it is one of three things. You are on a phone. You are on a Mac using the App Store version. Or the channel owner switched on Restrict saving content<\/strong>. In protected channels Telegram removes export completely, and there is no setting on your side that brings it back. We explain how that protection works in our guide to private and protected channels<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe big videos are missing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The size limit was left at its default. Run the export again with the slider at its maximum, and untick the media types you already have so Telegram doesn’t fetch them twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is taking forever<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Export downloads every file through your normal Telegram connection, one after another. A channel with a few dozen photos finishes in minutes. One with thousands of videos can take many hours. Keep the computer from going to sleep, and if you only need recent posts, use the date range instead of exporting years of history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You only need a few posts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Export works by media type and date, so it is a blunt tool when you want five specific videos. For a handful of posts from a public channel, it is quicker to copy each post link and paste it into Telegram Downloader<\/a>. You get a direct link that works in any browser or download manager, without installing anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDoing it from code<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How to export every file from a channel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n- Open the channel<\/strong> in Telegram Desktop.<\/li>\n\n\n
- Click the three dots<\/strong> in the top right corner and choose Export chat history<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n
- Tick the media you want.<\/strong> You can choose photos, videos, voice messages, video messages, stickers, GIFs and files. Untick anything you don’t need. It saves a surprising amount of time.<\/li>\n\n\n
- Raise the size limit.<\/strong> Telegram skips large files by default. Drag the size slider all the way to the right so long videos are included.<\/li>\n\n\n
- Pick a format and a folder.<\/strong> Choose HTML if you want to scroll through the posts in a browser later, or JSON if you plan to process them with a script. Change the download path if your main drive is short on space.<\/li>\n\n\n
- Narrow the dates if you like.<\/strong> The From and To fields let you export one month instead of the whole history.<\/li>\n\n\n
- Click Export<\/strong> and leave the app open until it says it’s done.<\/li>\n\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWhat you end up with<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Telegram creates a folder named something like ChatExport_2026-10-25<\/code>. Inside it you will find the posts themselves, in messages.html<\/code> or result.json<\/code>, plus subfolders for each kind of media, such as photos<\/code>, video_files<\/code> and files<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOpen messages.html<\/code> in any browser and you can read the channel like a website, with every photo and video linked next to the post it came from. That is often more useful than a pile of files with numbers for names, because you can still see what each video was about.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen it doesn’t go to plan<\/h2>\n\n\n\nThere is no Export option<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Nine times out of ten it is one of three things. You are on a phone. You are on a Mac using the App Store version. Or the channel owner switched on Restrict saving content<\/strong>. In protected channels Telegram removes export completely, and there is no setting on your side that brings it back. We explain how that protection works in our guide to private and protected channels<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe big videos are missing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The size limit was left at its default. Run the export again with the slider at its maximum, and untick the media types you already have so Telegram doesn’t fetch them twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is taking forever<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Export downloads every file through your normal Telegram connection, one after another. A channel with a few dozen photos finishes in minutes. One with thousands of videos can take many hours. Keep the computer from going to sleep, and if you only need recent posts, use the date range instead of exporting years of history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You only need a few posts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Export works by media type and date, so it is a blunt tool when you want five specific videos. For a handful of posts from a public channel, it is quicker to copy each post link and paste it into Telegram Downloader<\/a>. You get a direct link that works in any browser or download manager, without installing anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDoing it from code<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWhat you end up with<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Telegram creates a folder named something like Open Nine times out of ten it is one of three things. You are on a phone. You are on a Mac using the App Store version. Or the channel owner switched on Restrict saving content<\/strong>. In protected channels Telegram removes export completely, and there is no setting on your side that brings it back. We explain how that protection works in our guide to private and protected channels<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The size limit was left at its default. Run the export again with the slider at its maximum, and untick the media types you already have so Telegram doesn’t fetch them twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Export downloads every file through your normal Telegram connection, one after another. A channel with a few dozen photos finishes in minutes. One with thousands of videos can take many hours. Keep the computer from going to sleep, and if you only need recent posts, use the date range instead of exporting years of history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Export works by media type and date, so it is a blunt tool when you want five specific videos. For a handful of posts from a public channel, it is quicker to copy each post link and paste it into Telegram Downloader<\/a>. You get a direct link that works in any browser or download manager, without installing anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\nChatExport_2026-10-25<\/code>. Inside it you will find the posts themselves, in messages.html<\/code> or result.json<\/code>, plus subfolders for each kind of media, such as photos<\/code>, video_files<\/code> and files<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nmessages.html<\/code> in any browser and you can read the channel like a website, with every photo and video linked next to the post it came from. That is often more useful than a pile of files with numbers for names, because you can still see what each video was about.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen it doesn’t go to plan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
There is no Export option<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The big videos are missing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
It is taking forever<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You only need a few posts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Doing it from code<\/h2>\n\n\n\n