How to Save WhatsApp Voice Notes Forever (iPhone, Android & MP3)

To keep a WhatsApp voice note forever, save it out of WhatsApp as a file: on iPhone, press and hold it and choose Forward, then Save to Files; on Android, copy it from the WhatsApp Voice Notes folder. Then keep two copies, one in the cloud and one on a computer, because a voice note that only lives inside the chat goes when the chat, the phone or the account does.

Save one voice note on iPhone

1. Open the chat with the voice note.
2. Press and hold the voice message, then tap Forward.
3. Choose Save to Files.
4. Pick a location, such as iCloud Drive or On My iPhone, rename the file if you like, and tap Save.

The file can now be opened from the Files app, copied to a computer or backed up like any other file. Give it a name you'll understand later: who is speaking and the date.

Save on Android

1. Open your phone's File Manager app (often called Files or My Files).
2. Search for WhatsApp Voice Notes and open the folder.
3. Open the dated folders inside and select the voice note you want.
4. Tap Copy (or Move) and choose an easy place to find, such as Downloads.

Copy rather than move if you want the voice note to keep playing inside the chat. Files from the same day sit together, so play one first to check you have the right voice before you copy it.

Save a whole chat's voice notes

If someone sent you many voice notes, WhatsApp's Export chat saves the whole conversation at once, with the media attached. WhatsApp's help page on exporting chats gives these steps:

On iPhone

1. Open the chat.
2. Tap the contact's name or the group name, then Export chat.
3. Choose With all media (or With selected media… to pick).
4. Choose Save to Files, or another destination.

On Android

1. Open the chat.
2. Tap More options (the three dots), then More › Export chat.
3. Tap Include media.
4. Choose where to send it, such as Gmail, Quick Share or Google Drive.

On iPhone the export is a ZIP file: open it in the Files app to see the voice notes inside. On Android, WhatsApp says the most recent media is added as attachments, so after exporting a long chat, check that the voice notes you care about are there. An export is a copy for you to keep. It can't be imported back into WhatsApp, and view once messages aren't included.

Turn them into MP3

WhatsApp saves voice notes as Opus audio (a .opus or .ogg file), and it has no option to save them as MP3. Most phones and computers can play Opus, but if you want an MP3 for an older player, a slideshow or a video, convert it on a computer with a free, well-known desktop app:

• VLC (videolan.org): in VLC, choose Media › Convert / Save on Windows or File › Convert / Stream on a Mac, add the voice note, pick the Audio - MP3 profile, choose where to save it, and start.
• Audacity (audacityteam.org): open the voice note, then export it as MP3.

Avoid free online converters. These are personal recordings, and uploading them means handing a stranger's server someone's voice. Keep the original file alongside the MP3, because each conversion loses a little quality.

What you can't save

View once voice messages. WhatsApp says you can't forward, copy, save, star or share photos, voice messages or videos sent with view once on. An unopened view once message can be restored from a backup, but once it has been opened, it isn't included in backups. There's no way to keep one after you've played it (WhatsApp: About view once).

Disappearing messages. In a chat with disappearing messages on, voice notes vanish when the timer runs out. To stop that, press and hold the message and tap Keep. A kept message stays visible to everyone in the chat and doesn't disappear, and the sender has the final say over who can keep their message (WhatsApp: About kept messages). Turning disappearing messages off only affects new messages, so save the files you care about before their timer ends (WhatsApp: About disappearing messages).

Saving a loved one's voice notes

If someone you love has died or is very ill, the voice notes they sent you are already on your own phone, in your chat with them. Save them now, with the steps above, before anything happens to your phone or your account: before you reset or trade in your phone, change phones, or delete WhatsApp.

If you're looking after their phone, the voice notes other people sent them are on it, so don't reset it, wipe it or give it away until you've saved what you want. And don't cancel their phone line yet: see what to do before closing a loved one's line in our guide to saving voicemails.

Keep two copies of every file that matters: one in cloud storage, such as iCloud Drive or Google Drive, and one on a computer or an external drive. Name each file with who is speaking and the date. There's no rush beyond that. Do it one chat at a time, and ask someone to sit with you if that helps.