Feature
Substring search across the whole archive: cross-chat hit counts in the sidebar, in-chat match counter with cycling. Same .tarc, instant results.
Type a word in the conversation-list search box. Chat Hoarding scans every chat in the open archive and surfaces a hit count per conversation. Click a result to jump straight into that chat with the matches highlighted. Useful when you remember a phrase but not who said it.
Inside a conversation, the in-chat search bar shows '3 of 17' and cycles forward/back with the keyboard. The viewport scrolls to each hit. Hits are highlighted in-place so you see the surrounding context, not just a snippet.
Search runs a case-insensitive substring match (SQLite LIKE) against the decrypted msgstore.db inside the .tarc bundle, scoped to the open archive only. Fast on real archives because the DB is local; no network round-trip. Full-text indexing (FTS5), media filename search, ranking, receipt-state filtering, and date-range jump are on the roadmap.
FAQ
Does it search media captions and document filenames?
Message body text and image captions, yes (they live in the same text_data column). Searching by document filename is on the roadmap.
Can I search inside voice notes?
No. Voice notes are stored as audio, not transcribed text. Transcription is not currently in scope.
Does search require an internet connection?
No. Search runs against the local .tarc bundle. The Mac app does not send any query content to a server.
Used in
Other capabilities
Decrypts the Crypt15 backup locally
AES-256-GCM decryption with your 64-digit key. msgstore.db.crypt15, the only database WhatsApp writes to the user-accessible backup folder. Keys never leave the Mac.
Easy, Medium, Advanced: get the backup off the phone
Companion app over wireless share, USB drag-drop via OpenMTP, or fully automatic adb pull bundled inside Chat Hoarding for Mac.
The whole conversation, not just the words
Voice notes, photos, videos, calls, locations, group history, and deletion markers with sender attribution.
Receipts on every message: sent, delivered, read, played
Three-state check indicator with timestamps. Per-recipient breakdown in group chats. Same icons WhatsApp uses.
Names instead of phone numbers
Auto-fills from your device address book (vCard exported by Chat Hoarding for Android, or pulled via adb), or manually per JID. Handles @lid privacy IDs.
.tarc, one file, lifetime archive
Bundles manifest, decrypted msgstore.db, an optional contacts.json (imported address book) and manual_contacts.json (your in-app renames), and the media folder, all inside a macOS package. Double-click to open. Survives the phone.
Two network calls. That's it.
Decryption, browsing, archive creation: fully on-device. Companion has no INTERNET permission. Chat Hoarding for Mac's only outbound calls are license activation and the update check.
Signed updates that install themselves
New versions arrive automatically. Each one is cryptographically signed; Chat Hoarding app refuses anything that doesn't match, even if the update feed were tampered with.
WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business, same archive
Chat Hoarding scans both com.whatsapp and com.whatsapp.w4b paths. Either backup, either app, same Crypt15 pipeline, one .tarc file.
Bold, italic, @mentions, replies — preserved as they were sent
Markdown markup (*bold*, _italic_, ~strike~, `code`), inline links, @mentions resolved to display names, reply-to threading rendered above each bubble.
Save your WhatsApp history forever.
$99 one-time. 2 Macs, revocable. 14-day refund.
