Message Mammoth
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Guides · Updated November 2026
Does iCloud save text messages?
Short answer. Yes, in one of two ways. If Messages in iCloud is on, your messages sync to iCloud and are left out of iCloud Backup. If it's off, they're included in iCloud Backup, as long as backups are on. Apple describes this in its page on what iCloud backs up. Neither gives you a file you can open, print or send.
How to check which one you use
- Open Settings and tap your name, then iCloud.
- Look for Messages in iCloud (on recent iOS versions, tap See All first). If it's on, that's how your messages are saved.
- If it's off, check iCloud Backup on the same screen. If that's on, your messages are in your daily backup.
What happens when you delete a message
A deleted message first stays in Recently Deleted in Messages for up to 30 days, and can be recovered from there.
- Messages in iCloud on: deleting a message on one device deletes it on all of them and in iCloud.
- Messages in iCloud off: once it leaves Recently Deleted, the message is gone from the phone, and from iCloud once the backups that held it are replaced by newer ones.
Check how long your iPhone keeps messages
In Settings, open Messages (on recent iOS versions, Settings, then Apps, then Messages) and look at Keep Messages under Message History. If it says 30 Days or 1 Year, older messages are deleted automatically. Choose Forever to keep them.
Getting a copy you can read
iCloud keeps your messages so they can be restored or synced, not so you can open them as a document. To keep a copy you can read, print or hand to someone, export the conversation to a PDF or CSV. Message Mammoth does that on a Mac, from Messages on the Mac or from your iPhone over a cable, and keeps everything on the Mac. It's free to preview every message and to try exports of up to 20 messages in total, calls and group events included; unlimited exports are $29.99 once.