Where Does Adium Store Chat Logs?
Adium files chat transcripts as XML logs sorted by account and contact under its Application Support folder.
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Adium organizes logs like a filing cabinet. The Logs folder splits by local account with protocol prefixes, then by contact name, then by dated transcript files. Years of multi protocol history stay navigable without search.
Transcripts are XML under the hood, which spawned a small ecosystem of converters to HTML and back. The transcript viewer inside Adium renders them prettily, but any text tool reads the content. Multiple Adium users on one Mac get parallel folders instead of shared history.
Where Adium stores this, by platform
~/Library/Application Support/Adium 2.0/Users/Default/Logs
Logs sort by protocol.account then contact with dated .chatlog files. Transcript viewer in Adium renders them; converters handle the older HTML era.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between .chatlog and .AdiumHTMLLog?
Adium speaks both: .chatlog is its newer XML transcript format and .AdiumHTMLLog the older HTML one. Both directories sort identically, so converters and the transcript viewer each pick their era.
Can I import old iChat transcripts?
Use File and Import inside Adium, which converts iChat transcripts into its own log tree. The results land in the same Logs folder, immediately browsable per contact like native history.
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