RunLocalTools

Fake Chat Screenshot Generator: Free, Private, No Signup

Build mockup chat screenshots in 8 messaging styles, light or dark. Edit as a script or message list, import a WhatsApp export, and download PNG, JPEG or WebP. Runs in your browser.

What it does

Fake Chat Generator turns a conversation you write into a clean, phone-style screenshot. Pick one of eight app-inspired styles (iMessage, WhatsApp, Google Messages, Telegram, Messenger, Instagram DM, Discord, Signal), choose light or dark, and download the result as an image. It is built for UI mockups, tutorials, story and script planning, classroom examples, and demos that must not use real people’s messages. The styles are drawn from scratch and are inspired by each app, not copies of them.

How it works

Your chat lives in two editors that stay in sync: a quick script (Me: hi / Sam: hey) and a visual message list. The preview updates as you type. When you export, the page is rendered to an image in your browser, at 1x, 2x or 3x. A long chat can be exported as one tall image, or split at message boundaries into phone-height screens in a ZIP. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no account.

How to use it

  1. Choose a platform and light or dark mode on the Look tab.
  2. Write the conversation on the Script tab, or build it message by message on the Messages tab. Add [10:42] before a line to set its time. A name you haven’t used before becomes a new person.
  3. Open a message’s options for status, edited, reply quote, forwarded, reactions, images, voice note, file card, link card, system line, date divider or typing indicator.
  4. Turn on Group chat to add people, each with their own colour and photo.
  5. Adjust the status bar (time, battery, signal, network, carrier), the bezel, the wallpaper, the text size and the bubble colours.
  6. Click Preview and download, choose PNG, JPEG or WebP, and save. Use Copy image to paste it elsewhere, or Download all screens for a ZIP of a long chat.

Script commands: /voice 0:31, /file name.pdf | 2.4 MB, /link Title | host.com | description, /image caption, /typing, /deleted, and /system text on its own line.

Features worth knowing

  • Eight styles, each with light and dark mode.
  • 1:1 and group chats, with per-person colours and photos.
  • Message status, edited and deleted markers, replies, forwards, emoji reactions, image grids, voice-note waveforms, file and link cards, system lines, date dividers and typing indicators.
  • Import a WhatsApp export (.txt). It handles day-first and month-first dates, 12 and 24 hour times, bracketed and dashed formats, multi-line messages and system lines, and lets you pick the date order when a file is ambiguous.
  • Undo and redo (Ctrl/Cmd+Z), drag or Alt+Arrow reordering, and a saved-chats switcher.
  • Save and load a whole chat, images included, as a project .json file.
  • Right-to-left text, CJK text and emoji are supported.

FAQ

Are the screenshots real? No. They are simulated conversations. A small “Simulated conversation, not a real chat” strip appears at the bottom by default. You can switch it off, but please don’t present a mockup as a real message.

Is my chat saved if I refresh? Yes. Chats and their images are stored in your browser’s own storage and restored when you come back. Tick Private mode on a chat to keep it out of storage entirely. Delete this chat and Clear all saved data remove what was saved.

Can I import a real WhatsApp conversation? Yes. Export a chat from WhatsApp as a .txt file and drop it on the Import tab. It is read on your device. Because that chat is then saved in your browser like any other, use Private mode for anything sensitive.

Why do fonts look slightly different between devices? The tool uses your device’s system fonts and loads no web fonts, so text rendering varies a little between operating systems.

Why won’t it show a link preview or profile picture from a URL? Fetching them would mean network requests. You type a link card by hand and upload avatars yourself.

Can I use the result to trick someone? No. Don’t use it to impersonate real people, fabricate evidence, scam or harass anyone. It is meant for mockups, teaching, storytelling, design and privacy-safe demos.

Privacy

Everything runs on your device. Your messages, names and images are never uploaded, and there is no account. The chat editor, the WhatsApp parser, saving and the image export are all local. The only network request is one download of the image-rendering library (html2canvas 1.4.1) from a public CDN when the tool opens. That request carries none of your content. No feature in this tool sends your data anywhere, so there is nothing to opt in to. Saved chats stay in your browser’s storage until you delete them or clear your browser data.

Supported formats and limitations

  • Export: PNG, JPEG, WebP at 1x, 2x or 3x; a transparent background around the device bezel is available; ZIP of screens for long chats.
  • Import: WhatsApp .txt exports and this tool’s own project .json. Images: PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF (up to 4 per message).
  • Sizes: iPhone, Android, 9:16 story, fit-to-content, or custom width and height.
  • Limits: up to 2,000 messages and 12 people per chat. Very large images make saved chats heavy, so the tool warns you.
  • Approximation: the styles imitate each app’s look but are not pixel-exact. Real apps change often.
  • Not included: real logos, live link previews, profile-picture lookups, video messages.

Related tools (add links in the body copy only for tools confirmed shipped in the registry)

  • Dressing the screenshot up with a device frame or background: {{url:screenshot-beautify}}
  • Blurring or blacking out details in a real screenshot before sharing: {{url:img-redact}}
  • Marking up a screenshot with arrows and notes: {{url:annotate}}
  • Making fake names, emails and sample data for your dialogue: {{url:dummy-data}}

Optional registration note (plain text, for you to apply)

  • id: fake-chat, category Social & Creator, keep the existing Backlog entry’s tier and url, and set it to shipped.
  • Blurb: “Build mockup chat screenshots in 8 messaging styles. Local, free.”
  • Accepts a text handoff (handoffShapes:['text']), loaded as a script.
  • Sends an image handoff. It appears as a Send-to target on any tool whose registry entry declares handoffShapes:['image'].
  • Link placeholders above need real URLs from the registry. Drop any of those four tools that isn’t shipped yet.