Organised by chat
Photos, videos, voice notes and documents are copied into chat-named folders you can open in Finder — without digging through one undifferentiated Media pile.
ChatCrate
WhatsApp Media Archive · macOS · Burger Labs
Your WhatsApp media. Permanently organized.
ChatCrate finds the WhatsApp photos, videos, voice notes and documents already available through WhatsApp Desktop on your Mac, then turns them into a permanent, verified archive you can browse, update and inspect anytime.
ChatCrate is an independent Burger Labs product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by WhatsApp LLC or Meta Platforms, Inc.
Permanent archives
Build a lasting archive of WhatsApp media.
Copies, never moves
ChatCrate copies media into the archive you create. It does not move, delete or rewrite WhatsApp originals, and it does not write into the WhatsApp database.
Self-describing archives
Each archive keeps a private ChatCrate index alongside the human-readable folders, so you can reopen it later, reconnect an external drive and continue from where you left off.
Incremental updates
Update instead of starting again.
When new WhatsApp media appears on your Mac, open the same archive and choose Update Archive. ChatCrate scans again, compares against the existing archive, and shows what is new, already archived, duplicated or conflicting.
Only the new required media is copied. Existing verified files are left alone. Cancelled or interrupted updates keep already verified files and remain safe to resume later.
Media Explorer
Browse your archive like a real media library.
Real thumbnails
Photos and videos show real Quick Look thumbnails. Voice notes and documents stay clearly identifiable without cluttering the archive.
Filters and search
Filter by photos, videos, voice, documents, chat or date. Search by conversation or filename. Open Quick Look, reveal files in Finder, or browse by chat.
Friendly labels
The grid emphasises conversation and date so your archive reads like a media browser — not a list of opaque internal filenames.
Duplicates
Find identical content. Understand your storage.
ChatCrate detects exact byte-for-byte duplicates with SHA-256 checksums — even when filenames differ or the same media appears in multiple chats.
You get a clear report and potential duplicate-storage insight. ChatCrate never deletes duplicates automatically. Discovery stays under your control.
Archive Health
Verify that archived files are still intact.
Run Verify Archive later — including archives kept on external drives — to check that files are still present and match recorded sizes and checksums where available.
ChatCrate can report missing, unreadable or changed archived files. Verification checks known integrity signals; it is not a substitute for full disk-health monitoring or a second independent backup.
History and insights
See what changed — and when your media arrived.
Archive History
Each create, update and verification run leaves a durable record: what was discovered, copied, skipped and verified.
Insights
See media breakdowns by type, oldest and newest items, largest files and chat counts — derived from local archive metadata only.
Timeline
Browse media by month and jump straight into Media Explorer with that date filter applied.
Privacy
Your archive stays on your Mac.
No account. No archive upload. No cloud processing. No analytics or third-party tracking SDKs for archive contents.
Message text is not read or stored. ChatCrate works with media files and the folder access you grant — not with the text of conversations.
WhatsApp source files remain untouched. Support or Privacy pages on this website open only when you choose to visit them.
Requirements
Built for macOS 14 and later.
ChatCrate requires macOS 14 or newer. It is sandboxed: you grant access to the WhatsApp Desktop data folder and archive destination you select, including Downloads where that entitlement applies.
ChatCrate works with WhatsApp Desktop media already available locally on your Mac. If WhatsApp’s local storage layout changes, ChatCrate fails gracefully rather than inventing an empty archive.
Keep the memories. Leave WhatsApp alone.
ChatCrate is coming to the Mac App Store. The download link will appear here when the listing is live.
WhatsApp is a trademark of its respective owner. ChatCrate is an independent Burger Labs product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by WhatsApp LLC or Meta Platforms, Inc.