How to Export Instagram DMs to PDF and Print Them

Instagram has no print or PDF button. If you need one chat as a PDF today, for a lawyer, a mediator or a hearing, record it on your iPhone and the TextPort app turns the recording into a PDF. If you want every chat, Instagram's free export gets them all, but Meta says it can take up to 30 days.

That export comes as HTML (web page) or JSON (raw data) files, not a PDF, so it's better as a backup of everything than as something to hand over this week.

Which tools can export Instagram DMs to a PDF?

TextPort and Decipher Insta Export make the PDF for you. Instagram's own export hands you files you have to turn into a PDF yourself. The IG DM Exporter extension's listing names PDF in its first line, but its how-to says TXT, HTML or JSON, so check what you get before you count on a PDF. Every row comes from the tool's own page, read in October 2026.

Decipher's PDF starts from the same Instagram download, so it has the same wait, plus a computer. TextPort is the only one here that works from a screen recording on your iPhone.

Download your Instagram messages with Export your information

Instagram used to call this tool Download your information. Older guides still send you through Your Activity, but on Instagram today it lives under Meta Account.

1. Open Instagram, go to your profile and tap the menu in the top right.
2. Tap Meta Account (some people see Accounts Center instead), then Your information and permissions.
3. Tap Export your information, then Create export.
4. Pick your Instagram profile, tap Next, then Export to device.
5. Choose Specific types of information and select Messages, so the file doesn't fill up with everything else.
6. Check the date range. It may be set to only the last year, so switch it to All time if you want older messages.
7. Pick HTML as the format if you want to read and print the chats. JSON is raw data for other tools.
8. Choose the email for the notice and the media quality, then tap Start export.

On a computer, the same tool is under More (bottom left) > Settings > Meta Account > Your information and permissions > Export your information.

Then you wait. Meta's help page says, "It may take up to 30 days for us to email you an export link." You get an email and an Instagram notification when it's ready, and you have 4 days to download it from Available downloads. Meta says the process is password-protected.

What you get is one ZIP with every conversation, each in its own folder under messages, then inbox. You can't ask for just one chat. Messages you deleted won't be there either: Meta says deleted information "will not appear when you access or download your information."

Turn the download into a PDF or a printout

This part is easiest on a computer. Only have your iPhone? You can unzip the download there, but the steps after that assume a computer, so skip to the next section.

1. Unzip the file. On a computer, double-click it. On an iPhone, Apple's Files app does it: tap the ZIP and a folder appears with the files inside.
2. Open the messages folder, then inbox, then the folder named after the person you were talking to.
3. Open the HTML file in a web browser.
4. Save it as a PDF or print it. On a Mac, choose File > Print, then Save as PDF from the PDF menu. In Chrome on any computer, press Ctrl+P (Command+P on a Mac) and pick Save as PDF as the destination.

Long chats make long files, so check the page count before you hit Print.

Export one Instagram chat to PDF on your iPhone today

If you only need one conversation, you don't have to wait for Meta. TextPort reads the chat from a screen recording you make while you scroll through it. You don't need a computer, a cable or a data request.

1. Open TextPort and tap Add Chat. Tap the app name at the top and pick Instagram.
2. Tap On Your iPhone, then Start Screen Recording, then Start Broadcast.
3. Go to Instagram and open the chat. Scroll down slowly, from the oldest message to the newest, and keep each message on screen for about a second.
4. Go back to TextPort and tap Stop Recording. Trim the video so it starts and ends on the chat, then tap Start Processing.
5. Read through the chat and fix any text, sender or time that came out wrong. Then export it as a PDF, CSV or TXT, or print it. TextPort saves the chat as real text, not a stack of pictures of your screen.

The recorder stops by itself after 15 minutes, so split a very long chat into two recordings. Already have screenshots of the chat? Import those instead. Step-by-step help is in the guides for Scroll Capture, screenshots and exporting a PDF.

You can import your first three conversations for free. After that, TextPort is a weekly, monthly or annual subscription through the App Store. The same steps work for Messenger, Signal, Telegram and other chat apps.

If the chat is for a court case, read Are screenshots of text messages admissible in court? before you print anything.

Vanish mode and encrypted chats

Vanish mode. Messages in vanish mode disappear when someone leaves the chat or turns vanish mode off, and Instagram won't let you copy, save or forward them. Meta's help page says someone can still take a screenshot or a screen recording before a message disappears. It also says, "You'll receive a notification if we detect they take a screenshot." So if you screenshot the chat, the other person may be told. If you need a vanish mode chat, capture it before it disappears, and the recording can go straight into TextPort.

Encrypted chats. "End-to-end encrypted messaging on Instagram is no longer supported as of May 8, 2026," Meta says. If you had encrypted chats, Instagram shows instructions inside them for downloading the media and messages you want to keep. On an older version of the app, you may need to update it first.