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signalbackup-tools

Tool to work with backup files generated by the Signal Android application (https://signal.org/). The tool is provided as-is, there may be bugs. The tool and I are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Signal Foundation.

Important Note

Signal is an actively developed application and consequently, the database format changes regularly. Often the changes do not affect the backup file format or the working of this program, but every once in a while a change does break (some of) the functionality of this program. It has happened before and it will happen again. Sometimes I fix it within hours, but when I am short on time, it may take a little longer. Any breakage will be dealt with as soon as I have some spare time.

Requirements

To compile this project, current stable released versions of the following are needed:

Obtaining

<span id="windows">Windows binary</span>

For the most recent Windows executable, check the releases page. This executable is a static build, cross compiled from my Arch Linux system. It is only minimally tested, but generally appears to work just fine.

Note for Windows users: this is a command line application. This means you can not just double-click the executable to run it, you need to run it from a terminal. Common terminals for Windows are cmd (Command Prompt) and PowerShell. An example of running the program on Windows 10 can be seen here.

<span id="linux_packages">Linux packages</span>

<span id="macos">macOS</span>

A homebrew formula is provided in homebrew/signalbackup-tools.rb. Download this file to your machine. Then, on modern macOS versions, with homebrew set up, compiling should be as simple as running brew install --HEAD --formula [path/to/signalbackup-tools.rb]. Once installed, the program can be upgraded by running brew upgrade --fetch-HEAD --formula signalbackup-tools.

Manually compiling should also be possible assuming the dependencies are installed, for more info see here, or more recently here. macOS users might also consider the aforementioned Nix package.

<span id="compiling">Compiling</span>

To compile the program, three main options are available:

Running

[!TIP] In all examples below, one or more passphrases are provided on the command line. If so desired, these can be omitted in which case you are prompted for the passphrase at runtime.

In its simplest form, this tool is run as such:

signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase]

This will open the file input using the provided passphrase, and do nothing with it. If an output file is supplied the backup is written to that file:

signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase] --output [output]

Optionally, a new passphrase can be provided for the output file with the option --opassphrase, or -op for short. If not provided, as in the above example, the input passphrase is used again.

<span id="dump">Dump decrypted database to disk</span>

The program can dump the decrypted backup components to a directory, or read the contents of a directory and pack and encrypt it back into a valid backup file. When dumping, make sure the directory to dump to is empty to start with. In theory, the decrypted files could be edited before re-encrypting. The tool can be called the same as above, except the output should be a directory:

signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase] --output [outputdirectory]

To skip exporting media (like message attachments, avatars and stickers), add the option --onlydb. To re-encrypt the contents of a directory into a valid backup file, use the directory as input and provide the --output and --opassphrase options.

<details> <summary>Example (click to show)</summary> <p> 
[~/programming/signalbackup-tools] $ mkdir RAWBACKUP
[~/programming/signalbackup-tools] $ ll RAWBACKUP/
total 0
[~/programming/signalbackup-tools] $ ./signalbackup-tools ~/PHONE/signal-2019-07-14-06-59-26.backup 949543591444534240555456749437 --output RAWBACKUP/
IV: (hex:) 13 3f 94 13 be 5a 6d 1c 97 d0 20 88 4e f8 64 46 (size: 16)
SALT: (hex:) 5e 89 ec d8 f3 99 68 5b 9b a6 8b d8 3b b7 7d 8f e5 6a 2a 03 bb 2c c0 b9 f6 a1 0e bc bf ba 1a 25 (size: 32)
BACKUPKEY: (hex:) 38 4c a3 1c 17 9c f7 9b 27 30 98 bc 13 bf b6 5d 1d 90 df 13 c1 11 79 a4 ef d0 65 75 b9 55 cc 61 (size: 32)
CIPHERKEY: (hex:) 25 15 18 5f ac 06 3f 13 b5 0d c6 eb 8b e0 84 34 13 3f 84 f7 77 9b f6 ec 44 00 cb c0 77 2d 70 1f (size: 32)
MACKEY: (hex:) f3 00 34 77 1f a3 74 74 56 42 5e ad 6b d7 71 bf 40 7f e0 4f df 3a d1 1a 22 79 91 3a 97 73 88 28 (size: 32)
COUNTER: 322933779
Reading backup file...
FRAME 42337 (100.0%)... Read entire backup file...
done!
Writing HeaderFrame...
Writing DatabaseVersionFrame...
Writing Attachments...
Writing Avatars...
Writing SharedPrefFrame(s)...
Writing StickerFrames...
Writing EndFrame...
[~/programming/signalbackup-tools] $ ll RAWBACKUP/
total 2204384
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald    118871 jul 19 15:40 Attachment_1000_1518474349909.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald        16 jul 19 15:40 Attachment_1000_1518474349909.sbf
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald     30017 jul 19 15:40 Attachment_1001_1518475497752.bin
     [...]
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald   9363456 jul 19 15:40 database.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald         4 jul 19 15:40 DatabaseVersion.sbf
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald         2 jul 19 15:40 End.sbf
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald        54 jul 19 15:40 Header.sbf
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald        96 jul 19 15:40 SharedPreference_0.sbf
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald        97 jul 19 15:40 SharedPreference_1.sbf
[~/programming/signalbackup-tools] $ ./signalbackup-tools  RAWBACKUP/ --output NEWBACKUPFILE --opassphrase 949023591444534240555368549425
Exporting backup to 'NEWBACKUPFILE'
Writing HeaderFrame...
Writing DatabaseVersionFrame...
Writing SqlStatementFrame(s)...
  Dealing with table 'sms'... 34595/34595 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'mms'... 2370/2370 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'part'... 1934/1934 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'thread'... 29/29 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'identities'... 21/21 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'drafts'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'push'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'groups'... 10/10 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'recipient_preferences'... 67/67 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'group_receipts'... 1320/1320 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'job_spec'... 1/1 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'constraint_spec'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'dependency_spec'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'sticker'... 0/0 entries...
Writing SharedPrefFrame(s)...
Writing EndFrame...
Done!
[~/programming/signalbackup-tools] $ cmp ~/PHONE/signal-2019-07-14-06-59-26.backup NEWBACKUPFILE && echo "Files are identical"
Files are identical
[~/programming/signalbackup-tools] $

NOTE The original and new files are not actually guaranteed to be identical, it just so happens that in this case the AvatarFrames are read from the filesystem in the order they appeared in the original.

</p> </details>

<span id="dumpmedia">Dump media to disk</span>

Dumping message attachments

To only export media attachments from one or all of the threads in a backup, run with --dumpmedia as follows:

signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase] --dumpmedia [outputdirectory]

Where outputdirectory is an empty directory, or does not exist (in which case it will be created).

To limit the export to certain threads, the option --limittothreads [LIST_OF_THREADS] can be added. The list of threads can contain both ranges and comma separated values, e.g. --limittothreads 1,2,3,8-16,20. The thread numbers can be obtained from --listthreads. Additionally, threads can be identified by a string representing the display name, phone number or username of the recipient: --limittothreadsbyname "Alice","Family Group","+14255550123". Similarly, the option --limittodates [LIST_OF_DATES] will limit the output to media from the time periods listed. For the format of the date list, see the crop to dates option.

Normally, stickers are included in the media export, as they are normal attachments in the database. To prevent this, add the option --excludestickers.

Dumping avatars

To only export avatars from one or all contacts in a backup, run with --dumpavatars as follows:

signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase] --dumpavatars [outputdirectory]

Where outputdirectory is an empty directory, or does not exist (in which case it will be created).

To limit the export to certain contacts, add the option --limitcontacts [LIST_OF_CONTACTS]. The list should look like this: "Alice,Bob,John Doe(,...)", where each name is exactly as it appears in Signal's conversation overview or from this program's --listrecipients output.

<span id="fix">Fixing broken backups</span>

[!IMPORTANT] Around version 6.26 of Signal Android (circa July 2023), the backup format was changed in a way that makes it impossible to recover from data corruption that happens across fame boundaries. This functionality is disabled for newer backups. In other cases (corruption within a single frame, the occasional bug in Signal), part of the data could possibly still be recovered, though it might require a custom function. You could always open an issue if you need help. Note that this type of corruption, where only a single frame is affected, is rare and recent versions of Signal Android usually deal with this case quite well.

At the moment it has been used successfully to fix backups that were corrupted for some reason (see https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/issues/8355, and https://community.signalusers.org/t/tool-to-re-encrypt-signal-backup-optionally-changing-password-or-dropping-bad-frames/6497). If you want to fix a broken backup, run the tool as follows:

signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase] --output [outputfile] (--opassphrase [newpassphrase])

NOTE: if the corruption happens outside of attachment data, which is usually unlikely, chances of recovery are much lower.

If the output passphrase is omitted, the input passphrase is used to encrypt the new backup file. If the 'input' is a directory, it is assumed to contain a decrypted dump of the backup (as made by this tool) and the input passphrase can be omitted. In this case the output passphrase is required, unless 'output' is also a directory.

If the 'output' is omitted only the scan is done, and the broken message is identified, giving you the option to delete it from the phone. The corrupted attachment data is dumped to file.

<details> <summary>Example (click to show)</summary> <p> 
[~/programming/signalbackup-tools] $ ./signalbackup-tools CORRUPTEDSIGNALBACKUPS/signal-2019-05-20-05-29-06.backup3 949543593573534240555368549437 --output NEWBACKUPFILE --opassphrase 949543593573534240555368549437
signalbackup-tools source version 20190926.164320
IV: (hex:) 12 16 72 95 7a 00 68 44 7e cf 7d 20 26 f9 d3 7d (size: 16)
SALT: (hex:) cc 03 85 02 61 97 eb 5b ed 3e 05 00 c4 a8 77 40 28 08 aa 9f e5 a8 00 74 b4 f8 56 aa 24 57 a9 5d (size: 32)
BACKUPKEY: (hex:) 8f ff df 2b 9f 96 73 9a 63 95 0f ea 3f b1 e5 a4 87 12 19 ca 93 31 86 2a 60 3f 41 ef 6d a4 08 44 (size: 32)
CIPHERKEY: (hex:) ce 53 c1 f2 92 4b e3 b8 e1 56 85 61 14 96 82 8b 83 7f 07 21 83 52 1a c2 3f 6b 16 83 3e 33 94 a3 (size: 32)
MACKEY: (hex:) c2 77 af 1e 4b 05 db 62 52 57 af 8a d6 a4 d4 e9 6c 93 53 81 9a e7 6f 12 2c ce 13 8f b3 5e 8d 3a (size: 32)
COUNTER: 303461013
Reading backup file...
FRAME 37636 (071.5%)... 
WARNING: Bad MAC in attachmentdata: theirMac: (hex:) 30 75 bb b3 fb 65 a5 2a 5f b5
                                      ourMac: (hex:) ff f2 37 c1 f0 d4 2c 67 a3 cf 6c 41 55 bd 9c 1d 85 84 0e 66 96 ae 52 4e 90 b5 a3 37 33 3c b4 fc

WARNING: Bad MAC in frame, trying to print frame info:
Frame number: 37637
        Type: ATTACHMENT
         - row id          : 1317 (8 bytes)
         - attachment id   : 1536842122829 (8 bytes)
         - length          : 1516761 (8 bytes)
         - attachment      : (hex:) 47 49 46 38 39 61 e0 01 09 01 f7 00 30 00 ff 00 01 00 02 01 00 05 01 00 05 ... (1516761 bytes total)
Frame is attachment, it belongs to entry in the 'part' table of the database:
 - _id : 1317
 - mid : 1552
 - seq : 0
 - ct : image/gif
 - name : (NULL)
 - chset : (NULL)
 - cd : (NULL)
 - fn : (NULL)
 - cid : (NULL)
 - cl : (NULL)
 - ctt_s : (NULL)
 - ctt_t : (NULL)
 - encrypted : (NULL)
 - pending_push : 0
 - _data : /data/user/0/org.thoughtcrime.securesms/app_parts/part2625620938717109701.mms
 - data_size : 1516761
 - file_name : (NULL)
 - thumbnail : (NULL)
 - aspect_ratio : 2
 - unique_id : 1536842122829
 - digest : (NULL)
 - fast_preflight_id : 5897879359555196456
 - voice_note : 0
 - data_random : (hex:) f7 1e 34 f3 ba 07 34 44 56 04 15 dc 80 88 b7 10 9e c1 18 80 65 c7 7f 60 d9 cc 0f c9 d4 95 ce b4
 - thumbnail_random : (hex:) 14 f7 79 84 e5 a5 68 fe 98 a4 cb db 36 1f 6f c8 ca 3c 57 45 60 e2 d2 f2 f6 ee 42 71 42 7b 8e d7
 - width : 480
 - height : 265
 - quote : 0
 - caption : (NULL)

Which belongs to entry in 'mms' table:
 - _id : 1552
 - thread_id : 1
 - date : 2018-09-13 14:35:22 +0200 (1536842122790)
 - date_received : 2018-09-13 14:35:22 +0200 (1536842122809)
 - msg_box : 10485783
 - read : 1
 - m_id : (NULL)
 - sub : (NULL)
 - sub_cs : (NULL)
 - body : 
 - part_count : 1
 - ct_t : (NULL)
 - ct_l : (NULL)
 - address : +316XXXXXXXX
 - address_device_id : (NULL)
 - exp : (NULL)
 - m_cls : (NULL)
 - m_type : 128
 - v : (NULL)
 - m_size : (NULL)
 - pri : (NULL)
 - rr : (NULL)
 - rpt_a : (NULL)
 - resp_st : (NULL)
 - st : (NULL)
 - tr_id : (NULL)
 - retr_st : (NULL)
 - retr_txt : (NULL)
 - retr_txt_cs : (NULL)
 - read_status : (NULL)
 - ct_cls : (NULL)
 - resp_txt : (NULL)
 - d_tm : (NULL)
 - delivery_receipt_count : 1
 - mismatched_identities : (NULL)
 - network_failures : (NULL)
 - d_rpt : (NULL)
 - subscription_id : -1
 - expires_in : 0
 - expire_started : 0
 - notified : 0
 - read_receipt_count : 0
 - quote_id : 0
 - quote_author : (NULL)
 - quote_body : (NULL)
 - quote_attachment : -1
 - shared_contacts : (NULL)
 - quote_missing : 0
 - unidentified : 0
 - previews : (NULL)
Trying to dump decoded attachment to file 'attachment_1552.bin'
FRAME 37637 (071.6%)... Failed to read next frame (4294967295 bytes at filepos 1611402482)
Starting bruteforcing offset to next valid frame...
Checking offset 802590 bytes
GOT GOOD MAC AT OFFSET 802591 BYTES!
Now let's try and find out how many frames we skipped to get here....
Checking if we skipped 0 frames... nope! :(
Checking if we skipped 1 frames... nope! :(
Checking if we skipped 2 frames... nope! :(
Checking if we skipped 3 frames... YEAH!
Frame number: 37641
        Type: SQLSTATEMENT
         - (statement: "INSERT INTO part VALUES (?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?)" (83 bytes)
         - (uint64 parameter): "1319"
         - (uint64 parameter): "1554"
         - (uint64 parameter): "0"
         - (string parameter): "image/jpeg"
         - (bool parameter)  : "true" (value: "1")
         - (bool parameter)  : "true" (value: "1")
         - (bool parameter)  : "true" (value: "1")
         - (bool parameter)  : "true" (value: "1")
         - (bool parameter)  : "true" (value: "1")
         - (bool parameter)  : "true" (value: "1")
         - (bool parameter)  : "true" (value: "1")
         - (bool parameter)  : "true" (value: "1")
         - (bool parameter)  : "true" (value: "1")
         - (uint64 parameter): "0"
         - (string parameter): "/data/user/0/org.thoughtcrime.securesms/app_parts/part7691613523019485618.mms"
         - (uint64 parameter): "133247"
         - (bool parameter)  : "true" (value: "1")
         - (bool parameter)  : "true" (value: "1")
         - (bool parameter)  : "true" (value: "1")
         - (uint64 parameter): "1537091993419"
         - (bool parameter)  : "true" (value: "1")
         - (bool parameter)  : "true" (value: "1")
         - (uint64 parameter): "0"
         - (binary parameter): "(hex:) d3 a6 ea 3c 27 90 0f 12 74 71 54 ac 94 92 0f 08 30 04 e0 e1 b3 41 36 37 6d 8a 5d 44 fb 23 6e b5"
         - (bool parameter)  : "true" (value: "1")
         - (uint64 parameter): "720"
         - (uint64 parameter): "1280"
         - (uint64 parameter): "0"
         - (bool parameter)  : "true" (value: "1")

Got frame, breaking
FRAME 39960 (100.0%)... Read entire backup file...
done!
Removing 1 bad frames from database...
Exporting backup to 'NEWBACKUPFILE'
Writing HeaderFrame...
Writing DatabaseVersionFrame...
Writing SqlStatementFrame(s)...
  Dealing with table 'sms'... 32752/32752 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'mms'... 2212/2212 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'part'... 1814/1814 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'thread'... 27/27 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'identities'... 19/19 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'drafts'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'push'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'groups'... 10/10 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'recipient_preferences'... 63/63 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'group_receipts'... 1195/1195 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'job_spec'... 1/1 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'constraint_spec'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'dependency_spec'... 0/0 entries...
Writing SharedPrefFrame(s)...
Writing EndFrame...
Done!
[~/programming/signalbackup-tools] $
</p> </details>

<span id="export">Export HTML, TXT, CSV & XML</span>

Export to HTML

_NOTE: Note that while the the generated HTML is heavily inspired by Signal's look it does not aim to be a perfect reproduction of it. The generated HTML and CSS are only tested on Firefox (but both pass W3C validation).

To export your messages to HTML, use --exporthtml [DIRECTORY]. To limit the output to certain threads the option --limittothreads [LIST_OF_THREADS] can be added. The list of threads can contain both ranges and comma separated values, e.g. --limittothreads 1,2,3,8-16,20. The thread numbers can be obtained from --listthreads. Additionally, threads can be identified by a string representing the display name, phone number or username of the recipient: --limittothreadsbyname "Alice","Family Group","+14255550123". Similarly, the option --limittodates [LIST_OF_DATES] will limit the output to messages within the time periods listed. For the format of the date list, see the crop to dates option. Because writing out all media files can be a long process, the option --append can be added to reuse any existing media files, only new media and the HTML-files will be rewritten. Example:

signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase] --exporthtml [directory]

Because browsers may have difficulty loading an entire conversation if it consists of a large number of messages, the option --split [N] can be added to split the output HTML in multiple pages. The optional number N is the maximum number of messages on each generated page (default: 1000). Alternatively the option --split-by [period] will generate separate pages for each calender [period]. Currently supported periods are 'year', 'month', 'week', and 'day'. Note the -split and --split-by options are mutually exclusive.

By default, the function will create a HTML page resembling Signal's dark mode. If you prefer a light theme, add the --light option. If you want to be able to switch between the two modes without generating a new HTML page, you could add the --themeswitching option to the command. This will add a button to switch themes. Be aware this causes the page to use JavaScript and cookies.

Other options that can be used together with --exporthtml:

[!NOTE] A big thanks to Gertjan van der Burg! While HTML export was always a planned feature of this program, it would not have happened this quickly without his project signal2html. The HTML this function generates is modified from the template from his original project.

[!NOTE] An experimental feature to export Signal Desktop data to HTML exists. See Operations for Signal Desktop.

Export to TXT

To export to plain text use --exporttxt [DIRECTORY]. Some data is omitted from this export, such as attachment data and quotes. To limit the output to certain threads the option --limittothreads [LIST_OF_THREADS] can be added. The list of threads can contain both ranges and comma separated values, e.g. --limittothreads 1,2,3,8-16,20. The thread numbers can be obtained from --listthreads. Additionally, threads can be specified by display name, phone number or username: --limittothreadsbyname "Alice","Group Name","+14255550123". Similarly, the option --limittodates [LIST_OF_DATES] will limit the output to messages within the time periods listed. For the format of the date list, see the crop to dates option. Example:

signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase] --exporttxt [directory]

The output will look something like this:

[2023-07-10 01:23] <alice> Where are you?
[2023-07-10 01:25] <bob> I'm at the beach.
[2023-07-10 01:26] *** <bob> sent "Signal-1.jpeg"
[2023-07-10 01:27] <alice> Come home. You haven't washed the dishes. (Bob: 😮)
Export to CSV

To export the tables to a file of comma separated values (CSV), use --exportcsv [table1]=[filename1],[table2]=[filename2],.... To get all messages from the database, only the 'message' table needs to be exported. To get all messages out of older databases, the 'sms' and 'mms' tables need to be exported.

Export to XML

To export to XML file, use --exportxml [filename]. The exported XML file is intended to be compatible with SMS Backup & Restore's format (see the schema and description). It has been successfully used to import Signal messages into messaging apps on phones, and — when Signal still supported this — importing these SMS into Signal. This way some messages could be moved from Signal Android to Signal iOS (which does not currently support backups). The XML format (and SMS in general) does not support many features found in Signal (quotes, for example), so the exported file will not be a full representation of the backup's contents. The resulting XML file will likely be quite large, around 30% larger than the input backup file, due to the base64 encoding of attachments.

NOTE: Over time changes in Signal's database format have broken specifically this feature multiple times. It is not very well tested and its current working status is not very well known.

<span id="crop">Cropping to certain conversations or dates</span>

NOTE: This feature is experimental (even more so than the others). I test it fairly well myself, but I have no knowledge of it being used by other people. If you use it, please let me know if it works for you.

Crop to threads

To crop a backup file to certain threads, run:

signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase] --croptothreads [list-of-threads] --output [output] (--passphrase [newpassphrase])

Where the list of threads are the ids as reported by signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase] --listthreads. The list supports commas for single ids and hyphens for ranges, for example: --croptothreads 1,2,5-8,10. Additionally, threads can be specified by display name, phone number or username: --croptothreadsbyname "Alice","Some Group","+14255550123".

Crop to dates

To crop a backup file to certain dates, run:

signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase] --croptodates begindate1,enddate2(,begindate2,enddate2(,...)) --output [output] (--opassphrase [newpassphrase])

The 'begindate' and 'enddate' must always appear in pairs and can be either in "YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss" format or as a single number of milliseconds since epoch. For example, the following commands are equivalent (in my time zone) and both crop the database to the messages between Sept. 18 2019 and Sept 18 2020: --croptodates "2019-09-18 00:00:00","2020-09-18 00:00:00" or --croptodates 1568761200000,1600383600000.

<span id="merge">Merging backups</span>

NOTE: Although this feature generally seems to work quite well, it requires constant maintenance to keep up with changes in Signal's internal database. You may encounter problems if this program happens to be slightly out of date when you run it. As always, feel free to open an issue to notify me of problems.

To merge two backups, the backups must be at compatible database versions. The database version can be found by running signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase] --listthreads. Though many database versions work perfectly fine together, sometimes breaking changes are made. For example two databases at versions before and after 168 can not be merged successfully. Before opening an issue, if needed, import the backups into Signal and export them again to get them updated and at equal versions. To import all threads from one database into another, run:

signalbackup-tools [first_database] [passphrase] --importthreads ALL --source [second_database] --sourcepassphrase [passphrase] --output [output_file] (--opassphrase [output passphrase])

It is recommended to use the larger (containing the most data (contacts, threads,...)) as the 'first_database' and the smaller one source. If not all threads should be imported from the source, a list of thread ids can be supplied (e.g. --importthreads 1,2,3,8-16,20). The thread ids can be determined from the output of --listthreads. Threads can additionally be specified by display name, phone number or username by using --importthreadsbyname "Bob","Family Group","+14255550123".

Note this function does not automatically discard duplicate messages. If the backups you are merging contain (partly) the same messages — for example if they originate from some common backup/installation — you will probably want to crop the source backup by date before merging so it only contains messages not in the target. For newer databases, omitting this step will cause errors, as Signal does not allow duplicate messages in its database anymore.

If you use this option and read this line, I would really appreciate it if you let me know the results. Either send me a mail (basjetimmer at yahoo-dot-com) or feel free to just open an issue on the tracker for feedback.

<span id="desktop">Importing conversations from Signal-Desktop</span>

NOTE: This feature is highly experimental, problems may occur. Make sure to always keep a copy of your original backup file. Feedback is appreciated

NOTE 2: While this program will compile and work with almost any version of SQLite3, this specific feature requires that the SQLite3 version used is at least as new as the one used by the Signal Desktop client. Older versions will likely not be able to read Signal Desktop's database. For example, as of writing, the version available in Ubuntu is older than the one used by Signal Desktop. For Ubuntu(-like) distributions a PPA exists with a more up-to-date version here (disclaimer: I am not affiliated with this PPA, and never used it).

To import conversations from a Signal-Desktop installation, run:

signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase] --importfromdesktop --output [output] (--opassphrase [newpassphrase])

As with all commands this program supports, [input] is an existing Signal Android backup file. The messages from the desktop are imported into this backup file.

Make sure your Signal-Desktop instance is cleanly shut down before running, if this fails for some reason the option --ignorewal can be added (the program will warn about this and exit if necessary), but this may cause the database to appear in an out-of-date state. This function requires some files belonging to your Signal Desktop installation: config.json and sql/db.sqlite. It tries to locate them at their default location (Linux: ~/.config/Signal/, macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Signal/, Windows: C:/Users/<Username>/AppData/Roaming/Signal/). If this fails, the default location for Signal Beta is attempted. In some cases one may want to specify the location this tool should look for the files. For example if wanting to work with the Signal Desktop Beta data, while the non-Beta is also present (it would be found first), or the files are in some non standard location (a backup for example). In such a case, the directory containing the files (not the files themselves) can be passed by using --desktopdir <DIR>.

To limit the message import to a certain time frame, the option --limittodates <LIST OF DATES> can be added. The format of the list of dates is identical to that of the croptodates function. In most cases, the option --autolimitdates can be used to automatically only import messages from the Desktop database before the first, or after the last message in the input backup.

This function has some limitations, most notably the contacts referenced in the data that is to be imported must be present in the Android backup. If a message is found that is sent by/to an unknown contact, it is skipped. For other limitations see here. NOTE: An experimental option to import contacts from the Desktop client has been added (--importdesktopcontacts). If it works, the requirement that contacts need to be present in the backup file will be dropped, and Signal Desktop data can be imported into an otherwise completely empty Signal backup file. To my knowledge, as of writing (2024-11-02) this option is untested. If using this, feedback is very much appreciated. Please see 250#issuecomment-2414052506 for more details.

<span id="json">Importing conversations from Telegram / JSON file</span>

The program has successfully been used to import messages from a Telegram export (in JSON format). Telegram's JSON format is publically documented, so any data that can be converted to this format can be imported.

This feature will be better documented in the future. For now, more details are available here, and any questions and remarks can be added there. General usage:

signalbackup-tools [INPUT] [PASSPHRASE] --importtelegram [JSONFILE] -o [OUTPUT]

The program will attempt to map the contacts present in the JSON file to those present in the Android backup. It is important all contacts exist in the Android backup, new contacts can not be created. For any JSON contact that the program can not automatically map, this mapping must be done manually using --mapjsoncontacts.

Other related options:

<span id="deleting_attachments">Deleting/Replacing attachments</span>

NOTE: This feature is highly experimental, problems may occur. Make sure to always keep a copy of your original backup file. Feedback is appreciated

Deleting attachments

To remove attachments from the database, while keeping the message bodies (for example to shrink the size of the backup) the option --deleteattachments can be used:

signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase] --deleteattachments --output [output] (--opassphrase [newpassphrase])

To further specify precisely which attachments are to be deleted, the following options can be added:

When adding this specifying options, only attachments which match all given options are deleted.

Replacing attachments

There are two ways to replace attachments in a database. Currently attachments can only be replaced with image files of type jpeg, png or gif (non-animated).

Option 1

To replace attachments in a backup file one can use the option --replaceattachments [type=image,type2=image2,...]. Where 'type' is a mime type and image is the new attachment. To narrow the selection of attachments being replaced, all the same options mentioned above can be used (--onlyinthreads, --onlyolderthan, --onlylargerthan, --onlytype).

<details> <summary>Example and screenshots (click to show)</summary> <p> 
$ ls -lh
total 3,0G
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald  148 feb  5 21:23 GIF.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald  195 feb  5 21:23 IMAGE.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald 3,0G feb 13 15:46 signal-2022-02-14-00-00-00.backup
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald  189 feb  5 21:23 VIDEO.png
$ ../signalbackup-tools signal-2022-02-14-00-00-00.backup 111112222233333444445555566666 --replaceattachments "image=IMAGE.png,image/gif=GIF.png,video=VIDEO.png" -o signal-2022-02-14-00-00-01.backup
signalbackup-tools (../signalbackup-tools) source version 20220111.170852 (OpenSSL)
IV: (hex:) c3 05 25 [...]
SALT: (hex:) 90 38 9e [...]
BACKUPKEY: (hex:) 33 78 2f [...]
CIPHERKEY: (hex:) bb dc b0 [...]
MACKEY: (hex:) a3 92 76 [...]
COUNTER: 3271894439
Reading backup file...
FRAME 39538 (100.0%)... Read entire backup file...

done!
Checking to replace attachment: image/jpeg
Replaced attachment at 1/2046 with file "IMAGE.png"
Checking to replace attachment: image/jpeg
Replaced attachment at 2/2046 with file "IMAGE.png"
Checking to replace attachment: image/jpeg
Replaced attachment at 3/2046 with file "IMAGE.png"
Checking to replace attachment: image/jpeg
Replaced attachment at 4/2046 with file "IMAGE.png"
Checking to replace attachment: image/jpeg
Replaced attachment at 5/2046 with file "IMAGE.png"
Checking to replace attachment: image/jpeg
Replaced attachment at 6/2046 with file "IMAGE.png"
Checking to replace attachment: image/jpeg
Replaced attachment at 7/2046 with file "IMAGE.png"
Checking to replace attachment: image/png
Replaced attachment at 8/2046 with file "IMAGE.png"
Checking to replace attachment: image/jpeg
Replaced attachment at 9/2046 with file "IMAGE.png"
Checking to replace attachment: image/jpeg
Replaced attachment at 10/2046 with file "IMAGE.png"
Checking to replace attachment: image/jpeg
Replaced attachment at 11/2046 with file "IMAGE.png"
Checking to replace attachment: image/jpeg
Replaced attachment at 12/2046 with file "IMAGE.png"
Checking to replace attachment: video/x-matroska
Replaced attachment at 13/2046 with file "VIDEO.png"
Checking to replace attachment: image/jpeg
Replaced attachment at 14/2046 with file "IMAGE.png"
Checking to replace attachment: video/mp4
Replaced attachment at 15/2046 with file "VIDEO.png"
Checking to replace attachment: image/jpeg
Replaced attachment at 16/2046 with file "IMAGE.png"
Checking to replace attachment: image/jpeg
Replaced attachment at 17/2046 with file "IMAGE.png"
Checking to replace attachment: image/gif
Replaced attachment at 18/2046 with file "GIF.png"
Checking to replace attachment: image/gif
Replaced attachment at 19/2046 with file "GIF.png"

[...]

Checking to replace attachment: image/jpeg
Replaced attachment at 2046/2046 with file "IMAGE.png"

Exporting backup to 'signal-2022-02-14-00-00-01.backup'
Writing HeaderFrame...
Writing DatabaseVersionFrame...
Writing SqlStatementFrame(s)...
  Dealing with table 'part'... 2046/2046 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'drafts'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'push'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'groups'... 1/1 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'group_receipts'... 9/9 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'sticker'... 31/31 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'recipient'... 7/7 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'storage_key'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'remapped_recipients'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'remapped_threads'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'mention'... 3/3 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'payments'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'chat_colors'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'sender_key_shared'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'pending_retry_receipts'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'msl_payload'... 93/93 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'msl_recipient'... 94/94 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'msl_message'... 93/93 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'thread'... 6/6 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'mms'... 2097/2097 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'sms'... 32832/32832 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'avatar_picker'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'identities'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'group_call_ring'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'sender_keys'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'reaction'... 17/17 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'notification_profile'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'notification_profile_schedule'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'notification_profile_allowed_members'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'emoji_search'... 0/0 entries...
Writing SharedPrefFrame(s)...
Writing KeyValueFrame(s)...
Writing Avatars...
Writing EndFrame...
Done!
$ ll -h
total 3,0G
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald  148 feb  5 21:23 GIF.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald  195 feb  5 21:23 IMAGE.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald 3,0G feb 13 15:46 signal-2022-02-14-00-00-00.backup
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald  33M feb 13 15:48 signal-2022-02-14-00-00-01.backup
-rw-r--r-- 1 bepaald bepaald  189 feb  5 21:23 VIDEO.png

Note the mime types do not have to be complete, and the longest type will be matched with highest precedence. In the above case, that means all image/gif images are replaced with "GIF.png", while all other images are replaced with "IMAGE.png".

replace_example

</p> </details>
Option 2

To more easily replace individual attachments with other files, one can first export the decrypted backup to a directory, and then for each attachment to replace, place the new file in the directory and name it exactly like the attachment to be replaced, changing the extension to '.new'. Then call the program with the --replaceattachments option (without arguments).

<details> <summary>Example (click to show)</summary> <p> 
$ # dump decrypted backup to directory
$ mkdir RAW126
$ ./signalbackup-tools signal-2022-01-28-08-11-49.backup 123456789012345678901234567890 -o RAW126/
signalbackup-tools (./signalbackup-tools) source version 20220111.170852 (OpenSSL)
IV: (hex:) c3 05 25 [...]
SALT: (hex:) 90 38 9e [...]
BACKUPKEY: (hex:) db ff af [...]
CIPHERKEY: (hex:) 69 b5 7d [...]
MACKEY: (hex:) 7c db e4 ed [...]
COUNTER: 3271894439
Reading backup file...
FRAME 80968 (100.0%)... Read entire backup file...

done!

Exporting backup into 'RAW126//'
Writing HeaderFrame...
Writing DatabaseVersionFrame...
Writing Attachments...
Writing Avatars...
Writing SharedPrefFrame(s)...
Writing KeyValueFrame(s)...
Writing StickerFrames...
Writing EndFrame...
Writing database...
Done!
$ # Now place a new attachment in the directory
$ cp ~/IMAGE.png RAW126/Attachment_4653_1643101250724.new
$ # And re-encrypt, note the message saying 'replaced 1 attachment' when reading the attachments.
$ ./signalbackup-tools RAW126/ --replaceattachments -o OUTPUT.backup -op 012345678901234567890123456789
signalbackup-tools (./signalbackup-tools) source version 20220111.170852 (OpenSSL)
Opening from dir!
Reading database...
Reading HeaderFrame
Reading DatabaseVersionFrame
Reading SharedPreferenceFrame(s)
Reading KeyValueFrame(s)
Reading EndFrame
Reading AvatarFrames: 20/20
Reading AttachmentFrames
 - Replaced 1 attachments
Reading StickerFrames
Done!

Exporting backup to 'OUTPUT.backup'
Writing HeaderFrame...
Writing DatabaseVersionFrame...
Writing SqlStatementFrame(s)...
  Dealing with table 'part'... 4377/4377 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'drafts'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'push'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'groups'... 25/25 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'group_receipts'... 4033/4033 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'sticker'... 31/31 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'recipient'... 103/103 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'storage_key'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'remapped_recipients'... 1/1 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'remapped_threads'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'mention'... 10/10 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'payments'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'chat_colors'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'emoji_search'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'sender_key_shared'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'pending_retry_receipts'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'msl_payload'... 184/184 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'msl_recipient'... 190/190 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'msl_message'... 184/184 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'thread'... 38/38 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'mms'... 5876/5876 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'sms'... 61273/61273 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'avatar_picker'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'identities'... 35/35 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'group_call_ring'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'sender_keys'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'reaction'... 52/52 entries...done
  Dealing with table 'notification_profile'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'notification_profile_schedule'... 0/0 entries...
  Dealing with table 'notification_profile_allowed_members'... 0/0 entries...
Writing SharedPrefFrame(s)...
Writing KeyValueFrame(s)...
Writing Avatars...
Writing EndFrame...
Done!
</p> </details>

[!TIP] A handy python script that uses this option was developed to replace attachments with shrunk versions. It is available here. Thanks @cycneuramus!

<span id="desktop_functions">Operations for Signal Desktop</span>

While this tool only deals with backups from Signal Android, and there are no plans to change that, a small number of functions that operate on a Signal Desktop database is available. These options primarily exist to facilitate debugging the import from Desktop function.

Running with these options does not require an input file to be provided. These options support some of the same modifying options as --importfromdesktop, namely: --desktopdirs, and --ignorewal.

<span id="various">Various</span>

This program supports a small number of other options, most of which are of little to no use for everyday users. A select few that may be useful are mentioned here. A more complete list can be found by running with --help.

<ul> <details> <summary>Example (click to show)</summary> <p> 
$ ./signalbackup-tools DEV2signal-2024-12-05-14-08-16.backup 000000000000000000000000000000 --listrecipients
 *** Starting log: 2024-12-05 15:57:28 ***
signalbackup-tools (./signalbackup-tools) source version 20241203.085751 (SQlite: 3.47.1, OpenSSL: OpenSSL 3.4.0 22 Oct 2024)
BACKUPFILE VERSION: 1
BACKUPFILE SIZE: 10940289
COUNTER: 1335720069
Reading backup file: 100.0%... done!
Database version: 256
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| _id | display_name                         | e164         | blocked | hidden | has_avatar | type          | registered | has_id | has_thread |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[...]
| 10  | colorgroup_yellow                    | (NULL)       | 0       | 0      | 1          | Group (v2)    | (n/a)      | 1      | 1          |
| 11  | group color black                    | (NULL)       | 0       | 0      | 1          | Group (v2)    | (n/a)      | 1      | 1          |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
$ ./signalbackup-tools DEV2signal-2024-12-05-14-08-16.backup 000000000000000000000000000000 --setchatcolors 10=ffff00,11=000000 --output BAD_COLORS.backup
 *** Starting log: 2024-12-05 15:57:35 ***
signalbackup-tools (./signalbackup-tools) source version 20241203.085751 (SQlite: 3.47.1, OpenSSL: OpenSSL 3.4.0 22 Oct 2024)
BACKUPFILE VERSION: 1
BACKUPFILE SIZE: 10940289
COUNTER: 1335720069
Reading backup file: 100.0%... done!
Database version: 256

Exporting backup to 'BAD_COLORS.backup'
[...]
Done! Wrote 10940302 bytes.

signal-2024-12-05-155131

</p> </details> </ul>

<span id="advanced">Advanced options</span>

The program can run any sql queries on the database in the backup file and save the output. If you know the schema of the database and know what you're doing, feel free to run any query and save the output. Examples:

# delete all sms and mms messages from one thread:
signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase] --runsqlquery "DELETE * FROM sms WHERE thread_id = 1" --runsqlquery "DELETE * FROM mms WHERE thread_id = 1" --output [output] (--opassphrase [newpassphrase])

# list all messages in the sms database where the message body was 'Yes'
$ ./signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase] --runprettysqlquery "SELECT _id,body,DATETIME(ROUND(date / 1000), 'unixepoch') AS isodate,date FROM sms WHERE body == 'yes' COLLATE NOCASE"
signalbackup-tools source version 20191219.175337
IV: (hex:) 12 16 72 95 7a 00 68 44 7e cf 7d 20 26 f9 d3 7d (size: 16)
SALT: (hex:) cc 03 85 02 61 97 eb 5b ed 3e 05 00 c4 a8 77 40 28 08 aa 9f e5 a8 00 74 b4 f8 56 aa 24 57 a9 5d (size: 32)
BACKUPKEY: (hex:) 8f ff df 2b 9f 96 73 9a 63 95 0f ea 3f b1 e5 a4 87 12 19 ca 93 31 86 2a 60 3f 41 ef 6d a4 08 44 (size: 32)
CIPHERKEY: (hex:) ce 53 c1 f2 92 4b e3 b8 e1 56 85 61 14 96 82 8b 83 7f 07 21 83 52 1a c2 3f 6b 16 83 3e 33 94 a3 (size: 32)
MACKEY: (hex:) c2 77 af 1e 4b 05 db 62 52 57 af 8a d6 a4 d4 e9 6c 93 53 81 9a e7 6f 12 2c ce 13 8f b3 5e 8d 3a (size: 32)
COUNTER: 2907636
Reading backup file...
FRAME 4852 (100.0%)... Read entire backup file...

done!
 * Executing query: SELECT _id,body,DATETIME(ROUND(date / 1000), 'unixepoch') AS isodate,date FROM sms WHERE body == 'yes' COLLATE NOCASE
------------------------------------------------------
| _id   | body | isodate             | date          |
------------------------------------------------------
| 3235  | Yes  | 2017-10-21 17:10:15 | 1508605815286 |
| 9345  | Yes  | 2017-12-18 22:18:36 | 1513635516440 |
| 17125 | Yes  | 2018-02-02 15:46:16 | 1517586376228 |
| 21300 | Yes  | 2018-05-10 21:14:49 | 1525986889325 |
| 26317 | Yes  | 2018-10-25 15:16:58 | 1540480618238 |
| 32433 | Yes  | 2019-05-10 14:22:25 | 1557498145794 |
------------------------------------------------------

# now change a specific message:
[~/programming/signalbackup-tools] $ ./signalbackup-tools [input] [passphrase] --runsqlquery "UPDATE sms SET body = 'No' WHERE _id == 21300" --ouput [output]

If you also need to edit the attachments, dump the backup to directory first (as described above) and do whatever you want, but realize when editing the .bin file, it will usually require changes to also be made to the .sbf file and the sql database to end up with a valid database.

Future plans

Development will be slow at times.

Donate

If this tool was helpful to you or you appreciate my work and you can spare it, you might consider donating:

Paypal: Paypal

Ko-fi: ko-fi

BTC: 17RqHi9XBeUAEShbp2RnbmkCSAU2R94tH4

Donations will help development in that they will put food in my mouth, and I need food to write code :smile:

You might also consider helping out the Signal Foundation here: https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007319831-How-can-I-contribute-to-Signal-