Reads the real export format
Works directly with the JSON structure Instagram's Download your information tool produces, including the mojibake text encoding it uses for accented characters and emoji.
Private · runs in your browser
View your Instagram DMs like the real app
Drop your Instagram export here
or click to choose a file — .json or .zip, any size
Drop the zip or message_1.json from Instagram's Download your information — read every message and photo in a familiar view, search it, then export a PDF.
Nothing is uploaded. Your chat is parsed entirely in your browser — it never touches a server.
Three steps, under a minute
- 1
Request your data
In Instagram, go to Accounts Center → Your information and permissions → Download your information → Download or transfer information, select Instagram, choose "Some of your information" → Messages, pick a date range and format JSON (not HTML), and request the download.
- 2
Open the file here
Instagram emails you a zip within about 48 hours. Drop the whole zip, or just the
message_1.jsonfile for one conversation, into ChatViewer. Nothing leaves your device. - 3
Read, search, export
Browse the conversation, search every word, check the statistics, then export a PDF — free, unlimited, or court-ready with integrity hashes.
What you get
Photos inline
Photos saved in your export's media folders appear right inside the conversation, in the order they were sent.
Search that finds everything
Full-text search with highlighting, plus filtering by sender — useful for Instagram group DMs.
Unlimited PDF
The $9 one-time Unlimited PDF exports every message with embedded photos and no watermark, however long the DM history.
Court-ready PDF
The $19 Court-ready PDF adds a cover page, sequential message numbers, Bates stamps, a SHA-256 hash of your export file and of the PDF, a verification page, and a prefilled certificate template for your jurisdiction.
Private by architecture
No account, no upload, no tracking of your messages. Once loaded, the page keeps working even offline.
Simple one-time pricing
Free
$0
- View any export with media, search and statistics
- PDF of the first 500 messages, small watermark
- No account, nothing uploaded
Unlimited PDF
$9 one-time
- Every message, no watermark
- Embedded photos
- Use on every export, forever
Court-ready PDF
$19 one-time
- Everything in Unlimited
- Cover page, message numbering, Bates stamps
- SHA-256 integrity hashes and verification page
- Prefilled certificate template for your country
Unlock keys are issued instantly after payment and work in any browser. Prices in USD; local currency shown at checkout.
What's inside an Instagram export
Instagram's Download your information tool delivers a zip by email, usually within 48 hours of the request. Inside, each conversation lives in its own folder:
your_instagram_activity/messages/inbox/<name>_<id>/message_1.json— the messages themselves, as structured JSON. A long thread is split acrossmessage_1.json,message_2.jsonand so on.- A photos subfolder (and sometimes audio/video folders) alongside it, holding the actual media files the JSON references by path.
One well-known quirk: Instagram's JSON stores text as double-encoded, mojibake-looking bytes — accented letters, emoji and non-Latin scripts come out garbled (something like é instead of é) unless they're decoded correctly. The viewer decodes this automatically so names and messages read normally instead of as broken text.
Make sure you picked JSON, not HTML, when requesting the download — HTML exports are laid out for browsing, not for a tool to parse reliably.
When you need the court-ready version
Instagram DMs come up in harassment, stalking and custody matters more often than people expect, and a handful of screenshots rarely convinces a skeptical reader that nothing was left out. The Court-ready PDF instead produces the complete thread with sequential numbering, Bates stamps, and a SHA-256 hash of both your original export and the finished PDF.
To be clear about the limits: this tool cannot certify that a court will accept the export — that depends on your jurisdiction's evidence rules and how the rest of your case is put together, and none of this is legal advice. The included certificate template (Section 65B for India, a §1746 declaration for the US, a witness statement for the UK, and equivalents for Australia, Canada and elsewhere) still needs to be completed and signed by whoever actually downloaded the data.
Questions people ask
Is it private?
Yes. Your Instagram export is parsed entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded. You can disconnect from the internet after the page loads and it keeps working; close the tab and the file is gone.
How do I download my Instagram messages?
Go to Accounts Center → Your information and permissions → Download your information → Download or transfer information, select Instagram, choose "Some of your information" → Messages, pick JSON as the format, and request it. It arrives by email as a zip, usually within 48 hours.
Why does my export text look garbled?
Instagram's JSON stores non-ASCII text (accents, emoji, non-Latin scripts) in a double-encoded form that looks like mojibake if you open it raw. The viewer decodes it automatically so it reads correctly.
Can I upload just the zip Instagram emailed me?
Yes, drop the whole zip and the viewer finds the message_1.json (and message_2.json, etc.) and media folders inside it automatically.
Does this work for Instagram group DMs?
Yes, group threads work the same way, with per-sender filtering so you can isolate one participant's messages.
Can I export Instagram DMs to PDF?
Yes — open your export here, click Export PDF, and choose a tier. See the Instagram messages to PDF page for the full comparison of Free, Unlimited and Court-ready.