How to get WhatsApp messages ready for an employment tribunal

Export the chat from WhatsApp, pick out the messages that relate to the issues in your claim, and put them in date order with page numbers. Share them with the other side during disclosure, so they can go in the hearing file (often called the bundle). Then, in your witness statement, point to each message by its page number in that file.

This guide is about employment tribunals in England and Wales. Scotland has its own Presidential Guidance. If the tribunal has made orders in your case, follow those first.

What the tribunal’s guidance says

Each side shows the other the documents it holds that are relevant to the issues. This is called disclosure. It covers documents that may harm your case as well as ones that help it. The guidance gives emails, text messages and social media content as examples of relevant documents.
Copies you exchange should be “clean”: no notes or comments added later.
The hearing file should hold only documents that will be mentioned in witness statements or asked about at the hearing, and that are relevant to the issues. So pick the messages that matter, not the whole chat.
Whoever prepares the file puts the documents in order, usually date order, and numbers every page. This is often the employer.
Witness statements should have numbered paragraphs and follow a logical order, ideally date order. The tribunal often reads the statements and the pages of the file they refer to.
When the tribunal orders documents to be sent electronically and at least one side has a representative, the hearing file is a PDF, numbered from page 1 to the last page with no separately numbered sections, and its text must be searchable. If you have no representative, you’re encouraged to follow this as far as you can.

From the Presidential Guidance on general case management (2018) and on electronic documents (June 2026).

How to do it yourself, free

Export the chat from your phone and choose Without media. See how to export a chat. A computer may not hold the whole chat, so use the phone if you can.
Keep the export file exactly as it is, and keep the chat on your phone. Do any cutting down in a copy.
Go through the chat and pick the messages that relate to the issues in your claim. Include the messages either side when they’re needed to make sense of one. Don’t leave out relevant messages because they don’t help you.
Put them in date order in a document, exactly as sent: date, time, sender and text. Don’t correct spelling or add comments.
Add page numbers and a short index at the front, for example “Messages about shift changes, March to May 2026: pages 1 to 6”. Save it as a PDF.
Send it to the other side when disclosure is due, and agree that it goes in the hearing file.
When the hearing file is ready, use its page numbers in your witness statement, for example: “On 3 March 2026 my manager messaged me to say my shifts were cut (page 112).”

Or let ChatBundle do it

ChatBundle does the picking and the layout for you. Load your WhatsApp export: it’s read on your device. Check for free that your chat was read correctly, with a sample page of your own messages, before you pay. One bundle is £19, for one chat and one issue.

After you pay, AI picks the messages that relate to the issue you describe. You untick any, or search the chat and add more.
Message text is never changed. Each message shows its date, time and sender.
The PDF has a cover, an index, page numbers and a short, neutral summary with page references.
The cover shows a fingerprint of your export file, so the bundle can be matched to the original later.

Once your messages go into the hearing file, the file has its own page numbers. Use those in your witness statement.

What it doesn’t do: it only reads WhatsApp chat exports, not SMS, iMessage or screenshots, and it leaves out photos and voice notes. It doesn’t give legal advice, tell you whether messages can be used, or send anything to a court, tribunal or scheme.

Make my bundle About ChatBundle for work matters

Not legal or HR advice. This guide sums up what official guidance says. It isn’t advice on your case. Rules change, so check the current rules and any orders in your own case before you rely on them.

WhatsApp is a trademark of its owner. This site isn’t connected with or endorsed by WhatsApp.

How to get WhatsApp messages ready for an employment tribunal

This guide is about employment tribunals in England and Wales. Scotland has its own Presidential Guidance. If the tribunal has made orders in your case, follow those first.

What the tribunal’s guidance says

Each side shows the other the documents it holds that are relevant to the issues. This is called disclosure. It covers documents that may harm your case as well as ones that help it. The guidance gives emails, text messages and social media content as examples of relevant documents.

Copies you exchange should be “clean”: no notes or comments added later.

The hearing file should hold only documents that will be mentioned in witness statements or asked about at the hearing, and that are relevant to the issues. So pick the messages that matter, not the whole chat.

Whoever prepares the file puts the documents in order, usually date order, and numbers every page. This is often the employer.

Witness statements should have numbered paragraphs and follow a logical order, ideally date order. The tribunal often reads the statements and the pages of the file they refer to.

When the tribunal orders documents to be sent electronically and at least one side has a representative, the hearing file is a PDF, numbered from page 1 to the last page with no separately numbered sections, and its text must be searchable. If you have no representative, you’re encouraged to follow this as far as you can.

From the Presidential Guidance on general case management (2018) and on electronic documents (June 2026).

How to do it yourself, free

Export the chat from your phone and choose Without media. See how to export a chat. A computer may not hold the whole chat, so use the phone if you can.

Keep the export file exactly as it is, and keep the chat on your phone. Do any cutting down in a copy.

Go through the chat and pick the messages that relate to the issues in your claim. Include the messages either side when they’re needed to make sense of one. Don’t leave out relevant messages because they don’t help you.

Put them in date order in a document, exactly as sent: date, time, sender and text. Don’t correct spelling or add comments.

Add page numbers and a short index at the front, for example “Messages about shift changes, March to May 2026: pages 1 to 6”. Save it as a PDF.

Send it to the other side when disclosure is due, and agree that it goes in the hearing file.

When the hearing file is ready, use its page numbers in your witness statement, for example: “On 3 March 2026 my manager messaged me to say my shifts were cut (page 112).”

Or let ChatBundle do it

After you pay, AI picks the messages that relate to the issue you describe. You untick any, or search the chat and add more.
Message text is never changed. Each message shows its date, time and sender.
The PDF has a cover, an index, page numbers and a short, neutral summary with page references.
The cover shows a fingerprint of your export file, so the bundle can be matched to the original later.

Once your messages go into the hearing file, the file has its own page numbers. Use those in your witness statement.

Make my bundle About ChatBundle for work matters

How to get WhatsApp messages ready for an employment tribunal

What the tribunal’s guidance says

How to do it yourself, free

Or let ChatBundle do it

Sources for this guide

How to get WhatsApp messages ready for an employment tribunal

What the tribunal’s guidance says

How to do it yourself, free

Or let ChatBundle do it

Sources for this guide