I'm looking for help with backing up my iMessage conversations, particularly from my dad who passed away three years ago. I've accumulated a lot of texts from him over the years, both on my current iPhone 7 and my older iPhone 4, and I'd like to gather them all in one place and preserve them. My main questions are: 1. Do I need a Mac to access all my old texts from iCloud? I've always backed up my messages under the same Apple ID, but I don't know if that's enough to view everything across my devices. 2. How can I save or export my entire text conversations? I've encountered issues with software that promised to do this, and I'm looking for a simple way to save the threads without having to screenshot each message. If getting a Mac will help me achieve this and allow me to access all my messages, I'm willing to invest in one. Anyone with experience that can guide me through this?
3 Answers
I’m really sorry for your loss. You could try using TouchCopy to export your messages into a PDF file, it worked well for me. It’s available for both Mac and Windows. If you do get a Mac, you can view all your iMessages through the Messages app and might even have the option to print your messages to a PDF from there.
You might want to check out a software called iMazing. It can extract your text threads in different formats and works on both Mac and Windows. Having a Mac could make it easier to manage, but I’m not sure if it can pull directly from iCloud backups. You might need to confirm that separately. Just a heads up, your iPhone 4 may not yield any data unless you’ve backed it up to iCloud.
Thanks so much!
There's also a free alternative called iMessage Exporter. It’s open-source and supports a lot of features. Might be worth checking out if you're looking for a no-cost option!
Oooh thanks!
Thanks!