How to Save Text Messages from iPhone to Computer (Mac & PC)

To save text messages from an iPhone to a computer, either back up the whole iPhone with Finder (Mac) or Apple Devices or iTunes (Windows), which keeps messages but only for restoring, or export the conversations to readable files. The free export tool is imessage-exporter, which runs on a Mac or reads a Windows backup. iMazing is the paid option.

The difference between those two matters more than any brand name. A backup is a sealed copy you can put back on a phone. An export is a file you can open, read and print. Most guides blur the two, and people end up with a 60 GB backup and still can't show anyone a conversation. I run ChatToPDF, which turns an export into a readable PDF, so I'll explain where that last step fits. I'll also be clear that it can't read your phone or a backup directly.

Backup or export: decide what you need

• Backup. Saves everything on the phone, including Messages, onto your computer. It's for restoring an iPhone. You can't open it and read your texts without extra software.
• Export. Writes chosen conversations out as text, CSV, HTML or PDF. It's for reading, searching, printing or sharing.

If you're replacing or repairing the phone, back up. If you want to keep a particular conversation readable for years, export it. Ideally do both.

On a Mac

Option 1: Messages in iCloud (free, already there)

If Messages in iCloud is switched on for both your iPhone and your Mac, signed in to the same Apple Account, your conversations already appear in the Mac's Messages app. You can read and search them there, and save a conversation as a PDF with File → Print, then the PDF menu. For long threads, scroll up first so the older messages load.

This keeps your texts viewable on the Mac, but they're still synced: delete a conversation on the iPhone and it disappears from the Mac too. It's a view of your messages, not an independent copy.

Option 2: a Finder backup (free, restore-only)

Connect the iPhone, select it in the Finder sidebar, and choose Back Up Now. Ticking Encrypt local backup is worth it, because encrypted backups include more data, and you'll need that password later. According to Apple's backup guide, backups are stored in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/.

You can't browse this backup in the Finder; it's a folder of coded file names. But it's the input that imessage-exporter and iMazing can read.

Option 3: imessage-exporter (free, readable files)

imessage-exporter is a free, open-source command-line tool that reads the Mac's own Messages database (what Messages in iCloud has synced) and writes each conversation out as a text or HTML file, with attachments if you ask for them. Install it with Homebrew (brew install imessage-exporter) or Rust's cargo, give Terminal Full Disk Access, and run one command. All the steps are in my imessage-exporter guide.

On Windows

Windows has no Messages app and no Messages in iCloud, so every Windows route starts with a backup.

Option 1: an Apple Devices or iTunes backup (free, restore-only)

Install Apple's Apple Devices app from the Microsoft Store (or iTunes on older setups), connect the iPhone, and back it up to "this computer". Apple's guide explains where it lands: the backup folder sits under %USERPROFILE% for the Apple Devices app or the Microsoft Store version of iTunes, and under %AppData% for the older iTunes download, inside Apple\MobileSync\Backup (or Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup).

Option 2: imessage-exporter on that backup (free, readable files)

This is the route most guides miss, and it's the free answer for PC users. imessage-exporter's documentation says it runs on Windows and Linux as well as macOS, and that it can read an iPhone backup folder instead of a Mac database. Encrypted backups work too; it asks for the backup password. On Windows you install it through Rust's cargo, since the ready-made downloads are built for Macs, then point it at the backup:

cargo install imessage-exporter
imessage-exporter -f txt -c clone -a iOS -p "C:\path\to\MobileSync\Backup\<your-backup-folder>" -o C:\texts-export

Swap in the real backup folder name, a long string of letters and numbers. Converting HEIC photos to JPEG on Windows needs ImageMagick installed, so this command copies attachments as they are (-c clone). The imessage-exporter guide covers single-conversation exports and the other options.

Option 3: iMazing (paid, point and click)

If you'd rather not touch a command line, iMazing is a paid desktop app for Windows and Mac. It reads the iPhone or a backup and exports conversations in formats including CSV and PDF.

Every option compared

The last step: a PDF you can keep

An imessage-exporter text file or an iMazing CSV is readable, but it isn't pleasant to read through or print. That's where ChatToPDF comes in. Upload one of these on the iMessage to PDF page:

• imessage-exporter: a ZIP of the TXT export folder, including its attachments folder. The HTML output isn't supported, and a bare .txt file won't be read as iMessage.
• iMazing (or a similar tool): the Messages CSV on its own for text, or zipped with its attachments folder to include photos and voice messages.

You get a PDF with the sender, date and time on every message and "Page X of Y" on every page, in your choice of four layouts, plus Excel and CSV files. The document is labelled iMessage or SMS based on the export. One conversation is converted per upload; if the export contains several, I convert the largest and tell you which one, so export or upload just the one you want. Voice messages in .m4a or .mp4 can be transcribed on the $49 plan; Apple's original .caf files can't.

Prices are $7 for text up to 5,000 messages, $14 with photos, $29 with no cap. They're one-time, with no subscription, and listed on the pricing page. Uploaded files are deleted within 7 days.

iPhone import is the newest part of ChatToPDF, and I built it from the export tools' documented formats. Check the free preview before paying, and if something looks wrong the 7-day money-back guarantee applies.

Related guides

For printing rather than saving, see how to print text messages from an iPhone. If the messages are needed for a legal matter, read how to print text messages for court first. Android users have it easier: saving text messages on Android uses a free app. For Telegram, you need a computer too; see exporting a Telegram chat when you only have a phone.

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