The art of conversing digitally via phones is the norm nowadays, and with that comes the ability to store conversations. But, if you do want to back up your text messages to your PC from your iPhone in case of data loss, how do you do it without having to pay for expensive software? Well, that's exactly what we're going to tell you – how to save text messages from iPhone to PC for free. Go on with the article and explore the methods.
Part 1: Easy steps to transfer Android SMS to PC. Go to 'Imformation > SMS' on the interface, you can see a list of your text messages. You may select your messages and preview them. Tap on the 'Export' icon on the top of the screen and you can continue to choose the output format. That's the whole procedure to save messages from Android to PC. All contained text messages on your iPhone will be scanned out and displayed on the right. 3) Export SMS from iPhone to Computer. Select the text messages you want to backup and press the 'Export' button which is located on the top of interface to export the selected messages from your iPhone to your personal computer. More Useful Articles.
If you only have a couple of text messages that you want to save from iPhone to PC for free, you can do so via an indirect backup. You see, if you copy the messages and email them to yourself, you can then access them when you log into your email account on your PC. If you never delete the email, it'll always be accessible.
It's extremely quick and saves you a ton of hassle. But, if you want to back up mass text messages on your iPhone, this may not be a viable option. Plus, if you need to save attachments from messages, this method will bring up some problems.
This strategy may sound overwhelming and complicated, but it's actually very simple. All you need to do is back up your iPhone via iTunes like normal, and Apple will save your text messages as part of that.
Then if you head to 'C:Users[USERNAME]AppDataRoaming' you'll find a bunch of folders with different names. You should only be interested in the ones named '3d0d7e5fb2ce288813306e4d4636395e047a3d28.mddata.' as they're your precious text messages. Unless you have an SQL editor you may not be able to view them, but if you just save those files somewhere safe, you'll have an archive of your text messages.
BTW, you can also directly search this file and then save it to any place you think it will be safe there.
If you want a solution that is perfectly designed for this task, plus many more Apple issues, then iMyFone D-Port is a great option. As a free program to save text messages from iPhone, It's able to cater for all models of iPhone and all iOS versions (including iPhone X running iOS 11.4). But, here are its main features:
Key Features:
Let us explain how easy it is to use. Actually only several clicks you can finish the process.
And tada! You have saved text messages from iPhone to PC for free, and without any effort.
Notice: This software also empowers you to export all of your text messages from this backup so that you can edit, print, or alter them for any use, but this is an addition feature that requires a purchase.
Whether you want to choose the fast method, or utilize an expert piece of software such as iMyFone D-Port, there are several methods to save text messages from iPhone to PC for free. Just remember to save them regularly in case you lose important information in your conversations.
Your iOS device can hold thousands of messages, from fond memories and photos to critical information which your attorney may need to use in a legal case. With iMazing, you can export your messages on both Mac and PC and in several different formats:
iMazing can also export just the attachments to your messages, so you can save all the great photos your friends have sent you, and even print your messages.
Here's how to transfer your iPhone messages to your computer
💡Tip: to download text messages from your iPhone, iMazing needs to make a full backup of your device. This may take a while, so please be patient.
If you've used iMazing for a while already, make sure you are running at least iMazing 2.9 (macOS) or 2.8 (Windows). Quite a few features described here were added in that version.
Download and install iMazing on your Mac or PC computer
Download and install iMazing. Launch the app, and connect your device to your Mac or PC.
Select your device in the sidebar, then select Messages. iMazing loads your device's latest backup. If you have some messages that are more recent, click the Refresh button in the toolbar to tell iMazing to make a newer backup.
When you select a conversation in the left column, you'll see it's corresponding messages and attachments in the right displayed in the right column.If you only want to save certain messages, select them now. If you need to export multiple conversations in bulk, you can select them now too.
💡Tip: to select multiple sequential items, click one, scroll, then press the Shift key and click another. To select non-contiguous items, click one, then click the CTRL key (Windows) or the Command key (Mac), and then click another. You can select as many messages or conversations as you want in this way.
Click one of the Export buttons in the toolbar at the bottom of the iMazing window.

iMazing will display a configuration sheet from which you can customize your export. Here is the PDF Export sheet:Each export format presents different options, see below for more detail on what they do. Click Next when you are done.
iMazing then displays a dialog asking you where you want to save the exported messages:Select a location, change the file name if needed, then click Choose. iMazing generates and saves the file, and you can then read these messages in the format you've chosen, or import them into other apps.
💡Drag-and-Drop! for ultra quick workflows, you can simply drag a whole conversation or a selection of messages to any location on your Mac or PC. If your selection only contains attachments, you'll export the raw attachments. In all other cases, iMazing will generate a PDF file with default export options. And if you drag and drop to a text editor directly, you'll get a raw text export.
From version 2.9 (macOS) or 2.8 (Windows) and above, iMazing offers great options for both generating PDFs and printing messages. Printouts are both customizable and very close to what is displayed on your iPhone.
The following options are available:
💡Legal exports: if you're producing a PDF or printing messages for a court case, make sure that you check Include Contact Details before you click Export to PDF or Print. It is often required that the phone number or account be included in printouts.
One of iMazing's greatest features is the ability to export data from iPhone and iPad into something you can actually use for further analysis. The most common use case is for lawyers or other independent professionals to document and bill interactions with clients. If that is what you're after, CSV is the format of choice, and can be leveraged to great effect in conjunction with iMazing's WhatsApp and Call History CSV export features.
💡Analyst Tip: you can export all conversations to a single CSV in bulk. iMazing will append each conversation to the same CSV, which you can then easily import in Excel or Google Sheets. Simply sort by Sent Date to display an aggregated timeline of your messaging activity.
Use this format to output a .txt file compatible with any text editor. Perhaps you're writing an article and need to cite texts sent by a source? Or your autobiography heavily quotes your chats? iMazing lets you choose exactly what type of content is included in the resulting text file:

When all you need are the photos, videos, contacts and files from your conversations, just select one or more threads and click Export Attachments. Pick a destination on your Mac or PC and The following attachment types will be exported:
iMazing's Messages view offers a date range filter as well as text search fields intended to quickly help you find and retrieve content.
If you need to place a specific message in it's original context, just select it and clear the search bar; iMazing will keep the message selected and display it back in its original context.
iMazing can also export messages from existing backups you've made with iTunes or with iMazing. You may need to do this if you've lost your iPhone, or if you accidentally delete some of your messages and want to recover them. Exporting messages from a backup works in exactly the same way as from a live device. Simply select the backup in iMazing's sidebar and follow the steps above.
You can even view and export messages from a previous snapshot of your iMazing backups - read this guide for more information on iMazing's Time Machine like capabilities.
Introduced in iOS 11.4, iCloud sync of messages is an optional setting which you can find in your iPhone's Settings app, under iCloud and Apple ID > iCloud > Messages. If you have this enabled, some of your older attachments (including shared photos and videos) may be offloaded to iCloud and become unavailable to iMazing. You will be able to view and export the messages you wish, but for missing attachments, iMazing will display an Attachment stored in iCloud message.
If you're exporting messages or other content in CSV format, check iMazing's preferences. you can choose whether you want to use a comma, tab, or semicolon as a delimiter in your CSV files. Access this from iMazing's preferences:
If you want to transfer your messages - and other data - to another iOS device, this guide will help: how to transfer data from an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to another device.