Message Mammoth
Download free
Guides · Updated November 2026
Is there a way to save text messages?
Short answer. Yes. Do three things: set Keep Messages to Forever, keep a backup, and export the conversations that matter to a PDF so you have a copy you can read, print and send.
1. Stop the iPhone deleting old messages
Open Settings, then Messages (on recent iOS versions, Settings, then Apps, then Messages). Under Message History, set Keep Messages to Forever. With 30 Days or 1 Year, older messages are deleted automatically.
2. Keep a backup
Either turn on Messages in iCloud, or keep iCloud Backup on, or back up the iPhone to a computer with a cable. Each one protects you if the phone is lost or broken. Our guide to whether iCloud saves your messages explains which one you're using.
A backup is for restoring a phone, not for reading. You can't open it and scroll through a conversation.
3. Export the conversations that matter
For a conversation you may need later, such as with a landlord, an employer, a former partner, or about a sale, make a copy outside the phone. A PDF with every message dated is easy to read, print, and hand to someone else, and it stays the same even if messages are later deleted on the phone.
Message Mammoth does this on a Mac, from Messages on the Mac or from your iPhone over a cable. 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.
A quick checklist
- Keep Messages is set to Forever
- Messages in iCloud or a backup is on, and the latest backup is recent
- Important conversations are exported to PDF and stored somewhere other than the phone
- If a conversation might matter in a dispute, you've exported it early and kept the phone unchanged