How to Save Text Messages to Computer
The question of how to save text messages to the computer is asked by quite a lot of people, especially for those who need to preserve a copy of messages for some legal purposes or simply keep it as a backup. In this regard, it's good to know that there are several widely spread solutions to deal with your messages and keep them on a computer.
Of the three methods, the first two methods are for iOS users and the last method is for Android users. Part 1 is more straightforward that can save iPhone text messages directly to the computer. Part 2 requires you to back up your iPhone first, and then use a third-party tool to export and save text messages to your computer. If you own an Android device and want to save text messages from Android to the computer, Part 3 is what you need.
Part 1. How to Save Text Messages to Computer Directly
Qiling MobiMover is a professional iOS data transfer software that provides functions similar to iTunes - managing iOS data by transferring, exporting, deleting, and importing. With it, you can easily export all messages from your iPhone to Mac & PC in HTML format. You can easily access and view the files you export from iPhone. Besides, it has many other outstanding functions, such as download videos from Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and other video-sharing websites, free to unlock your iPad without a passcode, transfer files between iOS devices, etc.
Now, click the button below to safely download and install Qiling MobiMover Free on your computer, then follow the steps to save your iPhone text messages to computer using MobiMover.
Step 1. Connect your iPhone to your computer (Mac or PC) and click Trust on your iPhone to trust this computer. Launch Qiling MobiMover and navigate to "Content Management". Choose "Messages".
Step 2. Go to "Settings" to choose a folder to save the items to be transferred.
Step 3. Select the messages, including text messages (SMS) and iMessages, you want to save from your iPhone to the computer and click the "Transfer to PC" button. After that, MobiMover will start downloading text messages from your iPhone to the computer automatically. When it has finished, you can go to the selected folder to check the messages. (The items will be saved an HTML file on your computer, thus you need to open it with a browser to view its details.)
Part 2. Save your iPhone text messages with iTunes
iTunes is another choice for you to save iPhone text messages. The process is a bit more complex that requires you to back up your iPhone and then export messages from backup.
Backup text messages with iTunes
Step 1. Launch the latest iTunes on your computer > Connect your iPhone or iPad to your computer.
Step 2. Select your iPhone icon in the top-left corner of the interface > Click "Summary" > Choose "Back Up Now" on the right-hand side.
Find and open the files that contain your texts
Step 1. Once the backup is made, you can find your backup on the computer.
On a Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/
On a Windows: \Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\
Step 2. Open up your file with a third-party viewer. It's worth noting that you can't open that files in a text editor. If you want to open it, you'll need an SQLite editor or a special third-party viewer like iExplorer. Or you can also search for some online services to convert these files to PDF or CSV form.
Part 3: How to save text messages to computer from android
Many Android devices have their own backup solutions (HTC Backup and Samsung Kies for example) installed on their phone. You can backup your Android device to the computer with these applications and then use third-party software to open it. Here's how to do it. Here we take Samsung Kies as an example.
Backup text messages on Android
Step 1. Download and install the Samsung Kies application on your computer > Run it.
Step 2. Connect your device to the computer with a USB cable.
Step 3. Once your device has been detected, click the "Back up/Restore" option on the top of the screen > Choose "Messages" > Click the "Backup" button in the upper right corner of the screen.
Read exported text messages on computer
Most message backup software for iOS and Android saves text messages as .xml file, .txt file, or HTML file. These files can't be read directly via a text editor, so you will need to use some third-party software like Notepad++ - a free code editor that allows you to read the SMS .XML file.
The Bottom Line
With this tutorial, you've now hopefully saved your text messages to your computer. As you can see, Qiling MobiMover makes the process of saving messages quite easy. In addition, as an iOS data management tool, it also supports transferring other data like contacts, videos, music, and more between iOS devices. Just download it on your computer and have a try.
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