[WECHAT .DAT TO JPG]

Turn WeChat's scrambled .dat image files back into normal pictures — a whole folder at once.

WeChat for PC saves the images you receive as .dat files that no image viewer can open. They are your ordinary photos with every byte scrambled by a one-byte key — obfuscation, not real encryption — so they can be converted back exactly, with no quality loss. Choose some .dat files or a whole WeChat image folder below.

[CONVERT WECHAT .DAT TO JPG]

Converted in your browser — nothing is uploaded. One file downloads as an image; several download as a ZIP.

[WHERE WECHAT KEEPS THE .DAT FILES]

On Windows, with WeChat 3.x, received images are under your Documents folder:

Documents\WeChat Files\<your WeChat ID>\FileStorage\Image\2024-05\
Documents\WeChat Files\<your WeChat ID>\FileStorage\MsgAttach\<chat>\Image\2024-05\

Pick the Image or MsgAttach folder with the "whole folder" button: every .dat file inside, in every month folder, is converted, and the folder structure is kept in the ZIP. Thumb folders hold small previews of the same pictures.

WeChat 4 for PC stores its files elsewhere (an xwechat_files folder) and in a different format — see below.

[WHY SOME FILES CANNOT BE CONVERTED]

  • WeChat 4 images. Newer WeChat for PC versions encrypt images with AES, using a key that stays inside the running app. Those files start with a different marker and are reported as skipped. Open them in WeChat and use Save As.
  • Other .dat files. Databases, caches and settings in the same folders are not images and are left alone. Many other programs use the .dat extension too — see identifying a .dat file.

[HOW THE CONVERSION WORKS]

Every image format begins with a fixed signature — a JPEG with FF D8 FF, a PNG with 89 50 4E 47. WeChat XORs every byte of the file with the same key byte, so the first bytes of a .dat file reveal the key: XOR them with the expected signature and the key falls out. Applying the same XOR to the whole file restores the original image, bit for bit.

This happens in your browser. The images never leave your computer, which matters for private chat photos.

[HOW TO CONVERT WECHAT .DAT FILES TO JPG]

Convert WeChat .dat image files back to normal images in your browser.

  1. Find the image folder. Open Documents\WeChat Files\<your WeChat ID>\FileStorage\Image on your PC.
  2. Select files or the folder. Use "Choose .dat files" for a few images, or "Or a whole folder" to convert everything inside it.
  3. Save the images. One file downloads as a JPG, PNG or GIF; several download together as a ZIP that keeps the folder structure.

[FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS]

Are my WeChat images uploaded?

No. The conversion runs in your browser and the images never leave your computer.

Is the converted image the original quality?

Yes. The conversion reverses the scrambling exactly, so the result is byte-for-byte the image WeChat received.

Why are some files skipped?

Files from WeChat 4 for PC use real AES encryption with a key held inside the app, so they can only be exported from WeChat itself. Files that are not images, such as caches, are skipped too.

Does this work for WeChat on a phone?

Phone WeChat keeps images inside its private app storage. Save images from the chat on the phone, or use WeChat for PC and convert the .dat files there.