Because the primary message file is in , it is not easily readable by humans. You can use a JSON Viewer or specialized "Hangouts Reader" scripts found on platforms like GitHub to convert the text into a readable conversation format.
: Subdirectories containing photos, videos, and stickers shared during conversations. Hangouts.7z
The extension indicates that the file was compressed using the 7-Zip LZMA algorithm. This format is often used for data exports because it offers a significantly higher compression ratio than standard .zip files, making it efficient for large messaging histories. Expected Contents Inside a Hangouts data export, you will typically find: Because the primary message file is in ,
: A master file containing all your message history, timestamps, and participant IDs in a raw, structured text format. The extension indicates that the file was compressed
: For advanced users, you can use the command 7z x Hangouts.7z to extract via terminal.
To access the contents of , you can use the following methods: