How to export SMS, iMessage and Text messages from iPhone to a PC or Mac computer
- Have you been having an important conversation with someone by SMS/TXT or iMessage on your iPhone and want to preserve it or export to a PDF document?
- Has someone been sending you abusive SMS/TXT or iMessages that you want to report to authorities?
- Have you been negotiating the sale of something important by TXT/SMS/iMessage and now need to commit it to paper to form a legal document?
The GOOD news is the data is transferrable to a PC or Mac in PDF format
The other GOOD news is, that there is a FREE method of doing so, just using an iPhone
However, the BAD news is that if you want to control the formatting of the output and have the meta tag data included on each message (To, From, Date and Time etc.) then you are going to have to use a 3rd party Application/Program as Apple does not offer a way of doing so.
Apple do not endorse any of these 3rd party Applications and Programs, so they are not available from the Apple App store but there are a couple that come with very good reviews and TrustPilot endorsement and even have a FREE trial option.
We show you the simple ways you can use your iphone to capture conversations below and then a quick review of the paid Apps we have come across after doing our research.
How to save an entire text conversation on your iPhone (free)
1. Open the text chain you wish to preserve and hold a finger down on one of the texts in the conversation.
2. Tap the “More…” option when it appears, then tap the circle to the left of each text and image you want to save.
3. Tap on the curved arrow at the bottom right corner of the screen, then enter the phone number or email address that you wish to send the text the conversation to.
4. You can also hold a finger down on the new text message and tap “Copy” to copy it for pasting elsewhere on your iPhone, such as into an email or a note.
3rd Party Applications that transfer messages to pdf or other formats and include the meta data of the messages
There are many, many 3rd party applications that claim to be able to export messages to other formats whilst retaining the meta data such as the sender, name, date and time
We do NOT ENDORSE any of the products below but have attempted to rank them in terms of independent reviews and ratings such as TrustPilot and the ability to trial the product before purchasing.
iMazing
Free Trial Download – Yes
Paid Version $AU 50
Reviews and Ratings
TrustPilot 4.8/5 (2773 reviews)
Other independent reviews
iBackup Extractor
https://www.wideanglesoftware.com/ibackupextractor/
Free Trial Download – Yes
Paid Version $A 34
Reviews and Ratings
Trustpilot 4.4/5 (1551 Reviews)
only internal
Other independent reviews
None found
CopyTrans Backup Extractor
Windows Only
https://www.copytrans.net/copytrans-backup-extractor/
Free Trial Download – Yes
Paid Version $USD 19.99
Reviews and Ratings
only internal
Other independent reviews
None found
DECIPHER MESSENGER EXPORT
https://deciphertools.com/decipher-messenger-export.html
Free Trial Download – No
Paid Version $USD 19.99
Reviews and Ratings
only internal
Other independent reviews
None found
