💬 Telegram for macOS Message Exporter

A professional, offline recovery and export tool for the native Telegram for macOS app (not the cross‑platform Telegram Desktop/Qt app). It decrypts the local db_sqlite using .tempkeyEncrypted and produces a clean, readable transcript in HTML, Markdown, or CSV.

Overview

Telegram for macOS stores messages locally in an encrypted SQLite database. This tool decrypts the local database, parses Telegram’s Postbox structure, and exports a clean transcript that a non‑technical user can read.

It is designed for offline recovery on a Mac where the local cache still exists and has not yet synced a deletion.

Compatibility note: this targets the native Telegram for macOS app (macos.telegram.org / Homebrew cask telegram). The cross‑platform Telegram Desktop (Qt) app uses a different storage layout.

Motivation & Use Case

Telegram does not provide server‑side recovery for deleted chats. In scenarios like accidental deletion, device loss, or audit requirements, the only remaining source of truth can be the local encrypted cache on a macOS device.

This project was created after a family conversation was removed with no way to restore it via Telegram’s servers. The local Mac still had the encrypted cache, so this tool was built to recover what remained locally and convert it into a clean, shareable export.

Key Features

🔐 Offline decryption using Telegram’s local key format (dbKey + dbSalt)
🧾 Human‑readable exports with names, timestamps, and link handling
✨ Modern HTML transcript with date jump + back‑to‑top
📊 CSV export for analysis or spreadsheets
⏱️ Date filters for targeted ranges
🧭 Best‑effort peer mapping for clean names

What It Does

Decrypts db_sqlite using .tempkeyEncrypted
Extracts messages from the Postbox store
Outputs HTML, Markdown, or CSV transcripts
Supports date filtering and peer‑specific exports

What it does not do:

Restore chats back into Telegram
Recover media that was never downloaded/cached locally
Bypass Telegram passcode without the passcode

Requirements

macOS with Telegram for macOS data present (native app)
Python 3.10 or higher (tested on 3.11–3.13)
Virtual environment recommended

Installation

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .

If you prefer a requirements file:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Install from GitHub (latest):

pip install -U "git+https://github.com/soakes/telegram-message-exporter.git"

Clone from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/soakes/telegram-message-exporter.git
cd telegram-message-exporter
pip install -e .

Quick Start

1) Decrypt the database

telegram-exporter decrypt \
  --key ~/Library/Group\ Containers/6N38VWS5BX.ru.keepcoder.Telegram/stable/.tempkeyEncrypted \
  --db  ~/Library/Group\ Containers/6N38VWS5BX.ru.keepcoder.Telegram/stable/account-*/postbox/db/db_sqlite \
  --out plaintext.db

If Passcode Lock is enabled:

TG_LOCAL_PASSCODE="your-passcode" \
  telegram-exporter decrypt --key <key> --db <db> --out plaintext.db

2) Find the peer ID

telegram-exporter list-peers --db plaintext.db --search "Alex"

3) Export a transcript

telegram-exporter export \
  --db plaintext.db \
  --peer-id 123456789 \
  --me-name "Me" \
  --format html \
  --out chat_export.html

Common Workflows

Export HTML for a specific chat:

telegram-exporter export --db plaintext.db --peer-id 123456789 --format html --me-name "Me" --out chat_export.html

Export a date range:

telegram-exporter export \
  --db plaintext.db \
  --peer-id 123456789 \
  --start-date 2024-01-01 \
  --end-date 2024-12-31 \
  --format html \
  --out chat_2024.html

Debug decryption profile selection:

telegram-exporter decrypt --key <key> --db <db> --out plaintext.db --debug

Export all chats (large output):

telegram-exporter export --db plaintext.db --format html --out all_chats.html

CLI Reference

Command	Purpose
`decrypt`	Decrypt `db_sqlite` to a plaintext SQLite file
`diagnose`	Inspect tables and sample rows
`list-peers`	Find peer IDs by name fragment
`export`	Export messages to HTML/Markdown/CSV

Common flags:

--db Path to plaintext DB
--key Path to .tempkeyEncrypted
--peer-id Peer to export
--format html, md, or csv
--start-date / --end-date Date filtering
--me-name Label for outgoing messages
--debug Extra diagnostics (decrypt)

Example Output

HTML (snippet)

<header class="glass header-panel">
  <div class="brand">
    <div class="logo">💬</div>
    <div class="title-area">
      <h1>Alex Example</h1>
      <p class="subtitle">Recovery export for Telegram for macOS</p>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="badge glass"><span class="dot"></span><span class="text">Ready</span></div>
</header>

Markdown (snippet)

# Telegram Chat History: Alex Example

**Exported:** 2026-02-04 16:05:12
**Total Messages:** 418

## Wednesday, February 04, 2026

**14:13:09 — Me**

3h48 is good also

CSV (snippet)

date,time,timestamp,direction,speaker,text,peer_id,author_id
2026-02-04,14:13:09,1770214389,out,Me,"3h48 is good also",123456789,123456789

Key Paths (macOS)

Telegram for macOS stores its data here:

~/Library/Group Containers/6N38VWS5BX.ru.keepcoder.Telegram/stable/
.../account-*/postbox/db/db_sqlite
.../stable/.tempkeyEncrypted

Media cache (if downloaded):

.../account-*/files/

Safety & Privacy

🔌 Keep the Mac offline during recovery to avoid sync deletions
🧊 Media is only recoverable if it was cached locally
🧪 If decryption fails, retry with --debug and verify key path

Limitations

🔒 Requires the local passcode if Passcode Lock is enabled
☁️ Cannot restore or re‑upload chats to Telegram servers
🗂️ Attachments only appear if they were previously cached on the Mac
🧩 Some newer Telegram message types may not fully decode

FAQ

Can this restore the chat inside Telegram?
No. This tool exports a transcript; it does not re‑insert messages back into Telegram.

Why do I only see some attachments?
Only files that were downloaded and cached locally can be recovered.

What if I get “file is not a database”?
The key and DB are mismatched, or Passcode Lock is enabled without the passcode.

Does it work with Telegram Desktop (Qt) or mobile backups?
No. This targets the native Telegram for macOS app and its local storage layout.

Versioning

The canonical version is stored in VERSION and exposed via:

telegram-exporter --version

Version bump helper:

./scripts/bump_version.py patch
./scripts/bump_version.py minor
./scripts/bump_version.py major
./scripts/bump_version.py --set 1.2.3

Updating

If installed from GitHub:

pip install -U "git+https://github.com/soakes/telegram-message-exporter.git"

If installed from a local clone:

git pull
pip install -e .

Quality Checks

black src/telegram_message_exporter telegram_exporter.py scripts/bump_version.py
ruff check src/telegram_message_exporter telegram_exporter.py scripts/bump_version.py
pylint src/telegram_message_exporter telegram_exporter.py

Project Structure

telegram-message-exporter/
├── pyproject.toml                     # Packaging metadata + CLI entrypoint
├── telegram_exporter.py               # Convenience wrapper (no install)
├── scripts/
│   └── bump_version.py                # Version helper
├── src/
│   └── telegram_message_exporter/
│       ├── __init__.py                # Package entrypoint
│       ├── __main__.py                # python -m entrypoint
│       ├── cli.py                     # Argument parsing + commands
│       ├── crypto.py                  # SQLCipher + tempkey handling
│       ├── db.py                      # DB heuristics + message extraction
│       ├── exporters.py               # HTML / Markdown / CSV
│       ├── postbox.py                 # Postbox parsing utilities
│       ├── models.py                  # Message data model
│       ├── utils.py                   # Date + link helpers
│       └── hashing.py                 # Murmur3 helper
├── requirements.txt                   # Python dependencies
└── README.md

Credits

This project builds on community reverse‑engineering work. Special thanks to @stek29 for the original research and reference implementation of Telegram for macOS local key format and Postbox structure. This tool extends those ideas into a polished, end‑user‑friendly CLI and export workflow.

Contributing

For enhancements or alternate export styles, feel free to open a PR (or fork and submit one). We’ll review and merge solid improvements—this repo is meant to be a good base to build on.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

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Repository files navigation

💬 Telegram for macOS Message Exporter

Table of Contents

Overview

Motivation & Use Case

Key Features

What It Does

Requirements

Installation

Quick Start

1) Decrypt the database

2) Find the peer ID

3) Export a transcript

Common Workflows

CLI Reference

Example Output

HTML (snippet)

Markdown (snippet)

CSV (snippet)

Key Paths (macOS)

Safety & Privacy

Limitations

FAQ

Versioning

Updating

Quality Checks

Project Structure

Credits

Contributing

License

About

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Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 19 Commits
.github		.github
scripts		scripts
src/telegram_message_exporter		src/telegram_message_exporter
.gitignore		.gitignore
.pylintrc		.pylintrc
LICENSE		LICENSE
MANIFEST.in		MANIFEST.in
README.md		README.md
VERSION		VERSION
pyproject.toml		pyproject.toml
requirements.txt		requirements.txt
telegram_exporter.py		telegram_exporter.py

License

soakes/telegram-message-exporter

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Repository files navigation

💬 Telegram for macOS Message Exporter

Table of Contents

Overview

Motivation & Use Case

Key Features

What It Does

Requirements

Installation

Quick Start

1) Decrypt the database

2) Find the peer ID

3) Export a transcript

Common Workflows

CLI Reference

Example Output

HTML (snippet)

Markdown (snippet)

CSV (snippet)

Key Paths (macOS)

Safety & Privacy

Limitations

FAQ

Versioning

Updating

Quality Checks

Project Structure

Credits

Contributing

License

About

Topics

Resources

License

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