Get the Chat History from a Gmail Address

You can get the chat history from Gmail on any computer by making chats viewable from the Settings menu, then selecting the “Chat” option from Gmail’s menu. Please note that you can’t access Gmail chat history on mobile platforms.

Steps

Making Chats Viewable

  1. Open a browser of your choosing. To view chats on your Gmail account, you’ll need to first enable them as an option in Gmail’s menu.
  2. Open your Gmail account. If you aren’t logged in already, you’ll need to enter your email address and password for Gmail.
  3. Click the gear symbol in the upper right-hand side of the screen. This will open the “Settings” drop-down menu. This option should be directly beneath your profile picture icon.
    • You can also click “More Labels” in the Inbox menu. This will open a drop-down menu with the “Chats” option inside.
  4. Select the “Settings” option in the drop-down menu. This will take you to the Settings menu, from which you can make the “Chats” option visible in the default menu.
  5. Click “Labels” in the top row of the Settings menu. You can edit your default Inbox options from here.[1]
  6. Find the “Chat” option and click “Show” next to it. This will enable chats in your Inbox menu.
  7. Click the “Inbox” option to return to your Inbox. You will now be able to view chats!

Viewing Your Chat History

  1. Open your Gmail account. If you aren’t logged in already, you’ll need to enter your email address and password for Gmail.
  2. Navigate to the Inbox menu.
  3. Scroll down until you find the “Chats” option. The Chats option will allow you to view the transcriptions of any Gmail chats from that account.
  4. Click the “Chats” option.
  5. Look over your chats. You can click on individual chats to view their contents.[2]
    • You can search through specific chats by typing keywords into the search bar above your chats.

Tips

  • Due to the app’s restrictions, you won’t be able to view Gmail chats on mobile—even if you archive them.

Warnings

  • Always obtain the permission of everyone in a chat record before showing it to anyone else.

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Sources and Citations

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