CS2 Chat Logs: How to Save and Find Them
Nothing is saved by default — the switch has to be thrown before the match, not after
CS2 does not keep chat history. Once you leave a server the text is gone, and no command brings it back. To have a record you must add -condebug to CS2's launch options before playing; from then on chat is appended to console.log in your CS2 folder under game/csgo/. The one exception for a match already played is a demo, which replays chat along with everything else.
The reason people search for this is almost always the same: something was said in a match and they want it in writing afterwards. The hard part is that CS2 stores none of it. Chat is delivered to your client, drawn on screen, and discarded — there is no transcript on Valve's side that you can request and none on yours unless you asked for one in advance.
So this splits into two questions: how to make sure it is logged from now on, and what can be salvaged from a match that has already finished.
Turn on logging (before the match)
- In Steam, right-click Counter-Strike 2 and choose Properties.
- In Launch Options, add
-condebug. If you already have options set, leave them and add this one separated by a space. - Close the window and start CS2. Logging begins with that launch.
-condebug writes everything that appears in the developer console to a file, and chat messages are printed to the console, so they land in the file too — alongside connection messages, kill feed entries and anything else the console shows. It is a console log that happens to contain chat, not a purpose-built chat log, which is why it is noisier than people expect.
Two companions are worth knowing. -conclearlog wipes the file on each launch, which keeps it readable if you only ever care about the current session.con_logfile entered in the console redirects output to a different filename mid-session, which is handy if you want one match kept separate from the rest.
Where the file lives
The log is written inside the CS2 installation rather than in Documents or AppData:
steamapps/common/Counter-Strike Global Offensive/game/csgo/console.log
The reliable way to get there without hunting through drives — particularly if CS2 is installed on a second disk — is Steam itself: right-click CS2, then Manage → Browse local files, and open game then csgo. Open the file in any text editor and search for the player's name.
Note that it appends. Left alone across months it grows large and slow to open, and it mixes every session together, so it is worth clearing or archiving it periodically rather than treating it as an organised archive.
Recovering chat from a match already played
If logging was off, the only remaining route is a demo. A match demo replays the round from the server's own recording, chat included, so playing it back lets you read what was said. Premier and competitive matches can be downloaded from your match history in the client for a limited window, and our demo guide covers downloading and scrubbing through one.
What will not work: asking Valve for a transcript, third-party sites offering to pull your chat history, or any console command run after the fact. None of them have access to text your client already discarded, and the sites in that first category are generally after a Steam login.
Steam chat is a separate thing
Steam friends messages are not the same as in-game chat and are handled the opposite way: Steam does keep history, synced to your account, and you can scroll back through a conversation in the Steam chat window or the mobile app. If the exchange you are looking for happened in a Steam DM rather than in the match, it is still there and needs none of the above.
Frequently asked questions
Does CS2 save chat logs automatically?
No. In-game chat exists only while you are connected to the server. Disconnect and it is gone — there is no history tab, no saved transcript, and no console command that recovers a conversation after the fact. Logging has to be switched on before the match you want a record of.
How do I enable CS2 chat logging?
Add -condebug to CS2’s launch options in Steam. From then on everything printed to the developer console, including chat, is appended to console.log inside your CS2 installation under game/csgo/. It applies from the next launch onward and cannot be applied retroactively.
Where is the CS2 console.log file?
In your Steam library folder, under steamapps/common/Counter-Strike Global Offensive/game/csgo/console.log. The quickest route there is Steam’s own Browse Local Files option on CS2, then open the game folder and the csgo folder inside it.
Can I recover chat from a match I already played?
Only if logging was already enabled at the time, or if you recorded a demo. A demo replays the match including chat, so match demos are the one route to a conversation you did not log. Without either, the text is not stored anywhere you can reach.
Do I need chat logs to report someone?
No. Reports are made in-game and Valve reviews the match on its own servers, so a log adds nothing to a report. Logs are for your own records — a league admin, a team dispute, or a platform outside CS2 that asks for evidence.