Export guide
Export your PokerStars hand history
PokerStars writes local hand histories and will also email you an archive of hands you no longer have.
How to get the file
4 steps
- 1
Check the setting
In the client, open Settings and find the playing-history options. Make sure saving hand histories locally is enabled, and note the retention period, which controls how long files survive before the client deletes them.
- 2
Open the folder
Go to Documents\PokerStars\HandHistory and open the folder named after your screen name. Files are .txt, split by table and date.
- 3
Or request an archive
If the hands are older than your retention period, PokerStars can email an archive of a date range on request through its support channel.
- 4
Paste or drop it here
Drop the .txt into the replayer, or start an analysis with it. PokerStars files are the format everything else in poker was modelled on, and they read cleanly.
Where the files live
- Windows: Documents\PokerStars\HandHistory\<your screen name>
- macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/PokerStars/HandHistory/<your screen name>
What usually goes wrong
- The client deletes local files after the retention period you set. Raise it if you study in batches.
- Zoom and regular tables write separate files.
- The 'Instant Hand History' window shows a hand but is not the file. Use the folder.
Once you have the file
Two things are worth doing with it. The first is free: drop it into the statistics reader to get the numbers a tracker would have given you, or into the replayer to walk a hand street by street with the pot, the stack-to-pot ratio and the pot odds of each decision worked out for you. Both run in your browser: nothing is uploaded, and there is no account.
The second is the reason this site exists. A session debrief reads the whole file, picks the hands that decided the session, reviews them street by street and prices what each mistake cost in big blinds. The first one is free and complete.
Common questions
Where are PokerStars hand histories stored?
On Windows, Documents\PokerStars\HandHistory\<your screen name>. On macOS, ~/Library/Application Support/PokerStars/HandHistory/<your screen name>. Files are plain text, one per table and date.
My folder is empty. Why?
Either local saving is switched off in the client settings, or the retention period has already elapsed and the client removed the files. Both are settings you control, and neither can be recovered locally once the files are gone.
One thing this is not
Everything on this page is about files from a session that is already over. Nothing here is usable during play, and real-time assistance is against the rules of every room listed.
Your session, debriefed
These calculators answer one spot. A debrief reads the whole session: the hands that decided it, reviewed street by street, and your leaks priced in big blinds. The first one is free and complete, not a preview.
No card. No subscription. $3 a session after that, and credits never expire.