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.
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.
To compile this project, current stable released versions of the following are needed:
- A c++ compiler supporting at least the c++17 standard (tested with GCC 14.1.1 and Clang 17.0.6, also tested and working with a few older compiler versions)
- OpenSSL (any reasonably recent version from either the 3.X or 1.1x series)
- SQLite3 (any reasonably recent version)
Compiling
To compile the program, just running g++ -std=c++20 */*.cc *.cc -lcrypto -lsqlite3 should generally do the trick. Add any compiler flags you feel useful, I personally use at least -O3 -Wall -Wextra. When compiling with an old compiler version (gcc 8.x or clang <= 7), also add the -lstdc++fs flag and replace -std=c++20 with -std=c++17.
If you have cmake available on your system, running cmake -B build && cmake --build build -j $(nproc) inside the project directory should also produce a working binary (found in the directory 'build') and make use of multiple processors if available.
For people not comfortable compiling source code, a script is provided that should compile the binary on Arch and Fedora (and probably many other distributions). Assuming the needed requirements are installed, a simple sh BUILDSCRIPT should build the program (or, when using bash on a multiprocessor system, use bash BUILDSCRIPT_MULTIPROC.bash44 for a faster build, and let me know if it works).
- For Arch users, an AUR package is available.
- A pre-built rpm for openSUSE is available here, thanks to @marfrh (#205).
- The program is also available in
nixpkgsassignalbackup-toolsand can be installed on NixOS or any system that supports the Nix package manager. For those looking for more information on installing and running the Nix package, or those wanting to help others, there is an issue where information can be found and posted here. - Alternatively, a Dockerfile has been kindly provided by David J. Meier, and is available at his gitlab page: https://gitlab.com/splatops/cntn-signalbackup-tools.
macOs
A homebrew formula is provided in at homebrew/signalbackup-tools.rb. On modern macOs versions, with homebrew set up, compiling should be as simple as running brew install --HEAD [path/to/signalbackup-tools.rb]. Once installed, the program can be upgraded by running brew upgrade --fetch-HEAD.
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.
Windows binary
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.
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.
Fixing broken backups
Around version 6.26 of Signal Android, 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.
At the moment it has been used successfully to fix backups that were corrupted for some reason (see signalapp/Signal-Android#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:
signalbackups-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.
Example (click to show)
[~/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] $
Dump decrypted database to disk
The program can also 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:
signalbackups-tools [input] [passphrase] --output [outputdirectory]
To skip exporting media (like message attachments, avatars and stickers), add the option --onlydb.
Example (click to show)
[~/programming/signalbackup-tools] $ mkdir RAWBACKUP
[~/programming/signalbackup-tools] $ ll RAWBACKUP/
total 0
[~/programming/signalbackup-tools] $ ./signalbackup-tools --output RAWBACKUP/ ~/PHONE/signal-2019-07-14-06-59-26.backup 949543591444534240555456749437
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.
Dump media to disk
To only export media attachments from one or all of the threads in a backup, run with --dumpmedia as follows:
signalbackups-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 name: --limittothreadsbyname "Alice","Bob","Family Group". 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.
To only export avatars from one or all contacts in a backup, run with --dumpavatars as follows:
signalbackups-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.
Export HTML, TXT, CSV & XML
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). It is possible that some (very) old backups are not supported. If there is demand, support for older databases may be added in the future.
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 name: --limittothreadsbyname "Alice","Bob","Family Group". 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).
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:
--searchpageGenerates a page from which conversations can be searched. This page requires JavaScript and generates an extra file namedsearchidx.jsin the directory to facilitate searching.--includecalllogGenerates a page showing the call-log.--stickerpacksGenerates an overview of installed and known stickerpacks.--includeblockedlistGenerates an overview of blocked contacts in the backup.--addexportdetailsAdds some meta information about the backup (like size, filename, and database version) and this tool to the generated pages when printing.--includesettingsGenerates a page showing settings found in the backup file.--includefullcontactlistGenerates a page showing all contacts present in the database, including contacts with whom no thread exists, who are blocked or hidden, or who appear in your system contact list and may not have Signal installed.
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.
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 with --limittothreadsbyname "Alice","Bob","Group Name". 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: 😮)
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.
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.
Cropping to certain conversations or dates
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.
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 name: --croptothreadsbyname "Alice","Bob","Some Group".
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.
Merging backups
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 name using --importthreadsbyname "Bob","Alice".
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.
Importing conversations from Signal-Desktop
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 Signal Desktop. 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 appears 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 locations (Linux: ~/.config/Signal/, macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Signal/, Windows: C:/Users/<Username>/AppData/Roaming/Signal/). If the files are in a non-standard location or this fails for some other reason, the directories containing them (not the files themselves) can be passed using --desktopdirs <DIR1> <DIR2>.
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. If your input backup file is newer than your Signal-Desktop data, the option --autolimitdates can be used to automatically only import messages from before the first 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.
Deleting/Replacing attachments
NOTE: This feature is highly experimental, problems may occur. Make sure to always keep a copy of your original backup file. Feedback is appreciated
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:
--onlyinthreads [list-of-threads]. The list supports commas for single ids and hyphens for ranges, for example:--onlyinthreads 1,2,5-8,10. To obtain the number-id of threads use--listthreads.--onlyolderthan [date]/--onlynewerthan [date]. Where 'date' supports the same format as the--croptodatesoption (here).--onlylargerthan [size]. The size is specified in bytes.--onlytype [mime type]. This argument can be repeated. Only selects attachments which match 'mime type*' (note the asterisk). For example--onlytype image/jwill match both 'image/jpg' and 'image/jpeg'. To delete all image type attachments, simply use--onlytype image.--prependbody [string]/--appendbody [string]. Prepend or append the message body with the supplied string. If the message was otherwise empty, the body will equal the supplied string. Otherwise, it will be appended or prepended and a blank line will be inserted automatically. Suggested use:--prependbody "(One or more media attachments for this message were deleted)".
When adding this specifying options, only attachments which match all given options are deleted.
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).
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).
Example and screenshots (click to show)
$ 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".
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).
Example (click to show)
$ # 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!
Tip
A handy python script that uses this option was developed to replace attachments with shrunk versions. It is available here. Thanks @cycneuramus!
Various
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.
--no-showprogressDisable (most) progress indicators. Especially useful when trying to parse the programs output in a script.-v/--verboseRun in verbose mode. This will print a lot of text to output, may be useful in case of errors.--listrecipientsLists all recipients found in the database.--showdbinfoPrints a list of all tables and their columns in the backups Sqlite database.--scanmissingattachmentsIf you see "warning attachment data not found" messages, feel free to use this option and provide the output to the developer.--migrate214to215Changes in the database prevent v214 and v215 from being compatible for merging. This function attempts to migrate the older database so it can be used as a source for--importthreads. See also #184.--importtelegramImport messages from a json file as exported by Telegram. This function will get better documentation in the future, but for now see: #153.
Advanced options
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.
merging existing backups (successful tests have been done)DONE- exporting to other formats (
csv, xml,html) WIP cropping backup to certain conversations and time spans (successfully done in testing)DONEreplacing/deleting attachments without changing/deleting messages. For example, replacing with thumbnails or tiny placeholders to save space.DONE (pretty much hopefully)importing databases from the desktop app. I have no experience with that yet.DONE (I think, mostly)
Development will be slow at times.
If this tool was helpful to you or you appreciate my work and you can spare it, you might consider donating:
Paypal:
Ko-fi:
BTC: 17RqHi9XBeUAEShbp2RnbmkCSAU2R94tH4
ETH: 0xc59892f4E54E3e8Ab285f3C41B396d9E15C8B4aA
Donations will help development in that they will put food in my mouth, and I need food to write code 😄
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-
