Skype Chatsync Reader
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I've got Skype log files in the current chatsync/.dat format. How can I read them?
They are from a Skype user account for which I don't have the password, and if I try to move them and all accompanying files to my Skype account's data folder to read them through Skype, it complains about a corrupted database. Parts of the text is clear in these binary files, but not enough, and it's straining to read them through a hex dump. There is a viewer in Delphi floating around, but it only works with English messages, skipping lines containing Norwegian characters and mixing the user names up.
Update from year 2017: The tool described in this post DOES NOT WORK with recent versions of Skype. Either these versions stopped saving removed messages altogether, or they are doing it in a novel manner not recognized by the tool. In other words - you would only recover 'removed' messages if you are running older version of Skype (or these messages were sent at the time you were using that older version). Yesterday I happened to attend a discussion about the security and privacy of information stored locally in Skype and Thunderbird profiles. It turns out, if you obtain a person's Skype profile directory, you will be able to log in as him without the need to know the password.
In addition, made a remark that Skype does not really delete the messages that are marked as 'removed' in the chat window. I found that curious and decided to take a closer look. Indeed, there is a bunch of.dat files in the chatsync subdirectory of the Skype's profile, which preserve all messages along with all their edits or deletions. Unfortunately, the.dat files are in some, and the I found for reading those lacks in features. However, hacking up a small Python parser according to what is known about the format, along with a minimalistic GUI is a single evening's exercise, and I happened to be in the mood for some random coding. Sad Skype User on at 15:01 Hello, I wanted to retrieve simple one to one conversations but I always get message: 'Done.
Skype Chatsync Reader
Download Skype Chatsync Reader Program
No non-empty conversations found or could be loaded'. If I choose another 'chatsync' directory for a user that has not cleared his conversations, I get all the conversations. Am using the windows version of the app. I have even created a new Skype ID on my PC, made only 1 conversation and cleared it, then use your App to load the 'chatsync' directory for that user, same error as above.
Thanks Konstantin for this app. You said earlier that this prob could be due to the latest version of Skype. However has someone been able to lately recover deleted messages? Am using Skype 7.22.0.109 on windows 7 64bits. On at 15:30 As I said, I really wish I could be able to help, but I am not familiar enough with how Skype works and what might change in the newer versions. For example, it may be the case that chatsync files are not created in all situations, but only when the Skype 'decides' to synchronise things from one machine to another for some reason.
Skype Chatsync Reader Program
It may very well be due to changes in the recent Skype version. I'm running 6, where things seem to work. Given the overall history of Skype getting worse with newer versions 🙂 I'm somewhat reluctant to upgrade. If the format changed in the new version I wouldn't probably find the time at the moment to study it in detail again to fix things. On at 20:34 The main.db file, as far as I know, is a SQLite database (you can open it with, for example).
I have no clue how Skype reacts to 'unauthorized manipulations' of this file. Try and see 🙂 Not sure about logs or changes either (however, common sense suggests that 'securing own logs' is most probably not among the core functionalities a typical IM software would need to have). If you are really interested, a tool like might help you find out more precisely what files are written to and when. Leave a comment Name (required) E-Mail:(not displayed)(required) Website: Please note: Comment moderation is enabled and may delay your comment.
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