KakaoTalk Screenshot vs Export vs PDF, What Differs
The same KakaoTalk chat differs in readability, context and the ability to check for changes depending on how you keep it. This is not a claim that one of them will be admitted; it compares the characteristics of each.
Not legal advice. This page is general information. Whether a court admits or relies on a chat is for the court; convokeep does not promise admission or any outcome. Ask a qualified lawyer about your case. In Korea, for example, you can also ask the Korea Legal Aid Corporation (☎132).
What are screenshots like?
They are fast and intuitive because they show the screen as it is. On the other hand, a long chat takes dozens of images, the date may not appear on screen, and it can look as if only part was cut out. Being images, they are hard to search.
What is an export file (.txt) like?
The whole chat is in it as text with the date, time and sender, and you can search it. But it is a single file that is awkward to read as it is, and opening and saving it in an editor can change its content.
What is a PDF like?
It turns the exported file into a readable document with page numbers. A Record PDF contains the hashes of the source and the transcript data, and the PDF's own hash comes as a separate file, so you can later compare whether a file has changed.
Which should I keep?
In practice, people often keep the exported original file, the PDF built from it and, if needed, the screenshots together. Which combination is needed depends on the case and the court, so ask a lawyer.
Is a PDF guaranteed to be better than screenshots?
No. Admission and weight are for the court to decide, and a PDF layout cannot change that. It only makes the chat easier to read and lets you compare whether a file has changed.
Privacy
Reading the file, building the PDF and calculating hashes all happen in your browser. No chat or attachment is uploaded and there is no account. See the privacy policy and the disclaimer.
Related guides
- Make a PDF of a KakaoTalk chat
- Chat PDF integrity hash
- How to submit KakaoTalk chats as evidence
- KakaoTalk chat PDF for evidence
Ready to try it?
Drop your exported .txt file on the convokeep app for a free preview. The first 3 pages are free (watermarked, no integrity page); saving the full PDF is a one-time paid feature. No chat or attachment is uploaded: the file is read in your browser. To check later that a file is unchanged, use the hash checker.
This document was generated locally in the user's browser; no content was uploaded.