How To Save Text Messages On Android And iOS Devices

By Technobezz

First Published on August 07, 2018 | RECENTLY REVISED

This article is 4 years old.

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If you are looking for steps to save text messages on Android and iOS devices, then let us share some ways. Since text messages and conversations can often be important for some of us, we may want to save it when we may be resetting our device, changing phones or upgrading your device. To make sure that you do not lose your messages, it is best to save them. You can use an app or you can use Gmail to back up your messages. Apple users will find iTunes to be a helpful service for saving messages. Let us look at the different ways in which you can save the messages on Android and iOS devices.

Apps To Save Text Messages On Android And iOS And The Required Step To Follow

Android Devices

There are a number of apps on the Play Store that can help you save text messages on your Android device. Two of the most popular apps which are free and reliable are SMS Backup + and SMS Backup and Restore. While SMS Backup + allows you to save your messages to your Gmail account, you have options to store your messages in the Dropbox or any other email account as well when you use SMS Backup and Restore. We will discuss the steps for both these apps.

SMS Backup +

Make sure that your Gmail account is prepared for the backup messages by enabling IMAP if it is not already enabled on your Gmail account. To do this, log in to your Gmail account and head into the Settings menu. Look for Forwarding and POP/IMAP and click on it. Check if IMAP is already enabled, if not then click on the box to check it and scroll down and Save the Changes. Once this is done, your Gmail account will be able to work with SMS Backup + to create a backup of your messages.
Head to the Play Store on your Android device and look for SMS Backup +. Download the app and allow the installation to complete.
Once the app is installed, click on the logo to open it. You will be on a screen which will give you the option to Backup or Restore and you will find a number of other options below the two.
Start with tapping on Connect which is the first option.
It will ask you to enter your Gmail account details. Enter your Gmail email address where you want the message to be saved.
It will ask for certain permissions to allow SMS Backup + to save messages to your Gmail account. Grant the permissions to proceed further.
The next screen will ask you if you would like to begin backing up the messages immediately. You can click on OK to begin backup. If you click on Skip then your current messages will not be saved.
It will take time to backup all your messages. If you happen to have a lot of messages on your device then it can take almost half an hour for the process to complete.
Once the app begins saving your messages, go back to your Gmail account and check if the messages start showing up. On your Gmail account, you will see a new label that says SMS. Click on this new label and check if the messages show up as the app starts saving your messages to your Gmail account.
Now that your current messages have been backed up, make sure that all future messages are automatically backed up by setting up auto backup on SMS Backup +.
Go to the main screen of the app and tap on Auto Backup Settings and then click on Regular Schedule to choose how frequently you want the app to scan for new messages and save them. If you have set a regular schedule, then you can select never on the incoming schedule. To save data, you can also tap on Wi-Fi only to ensure that the app backs up the messages only when it is connected to the Wi-Fi.
There are further settings that you can check under Backup, like Advanced Settings to check options on what you would like to backup.

SMS Backup and Restore

Download and install the app SMS Backup and Restore from the Google Play Store.
Once the installation is completed, launch the app by tapping on the icon for the app.
On the main screen of the app, tap on Backup to begin backing up your text messages.
You can select the text messages that you would like to save and the different location options for storing the saved text messages. You can choose from a local backup or a local as well as online backup. You can save SMS messages using this app on Google Drive, Dropbox or to your email address.
To set up automatic storage of your SMS, you must go to the app Settings by tapping on the three dots on the top right of the screen.
Once the backup is complete, you can check all your saved messages from within the app by tapping on View Backups. An XML version of the saved text messages will be available for you to go through.

Once you have set up automatic backup, your messages will be saved automatically and if you change your phone in the future or reset it, all your messages can easily be restored from the app.

iOS Devices

Using iTunes and iExplorer

The best way to save messages on your iOS device is to use iTunes and iExplorer. It is easy to use and since most of us already have it on our devices, we are familiar with the Settings too but please keep in mind that iExplorer is a premium app and if you do not have it then it will cost you $40 for the basic version. Use the following steps to save your iMessages, SMS and MMS on iTunes:

Launch iTunes and connect your iOS device to a computer.
Open iTunes on your computer and choose your iOS device
Under the Summary tab, you will notice an option that says Backup. Look for the section that says Manually backup and Restore and then choose the option Backup Now. Once iTunes has completed saving the messages, check under Latest backups and you should find all the messages that were recently backed up by the app.
To access these messages, you will require iExplorer which is a premium iOS app.
Download and install iExplorer and go to the section which says Browse iTunes Tap on Messages to check the saved text messages. You can select a conversation and export them as PDF, TXT or CSV file.

For those who use iExplorer already and who do not want to use iTunes for backups, iExplorer can solely backup the text messages as well. In iExplorer, simply go to the Device Overview option and click on Data and then Messages to back up your current messages.

Using AnyTrans

AnyTrans is a free app which allows you to create backups for your messages. Follow these steps to use AnyTrans for your backups.

Download and install AnyTrans on your computer.
Once the installation is complete, connect your iOS device to the computer and launch the app.
Scroll down and look for messages. Click on it and on the next screen you will see all the messages on your device.
Click on the conversation you want to backup and then tap on the download icon on the top right of the screen to save the conversation to the computer.
Once the messages have been transferred to your computer you can delete them from your iOS device.

Use these methods to save text messages on Android and iOS devices. We have tried to mention the most commonly used ways and popular apps so that it is easy for you to get support if you happen to get stuck somewhere. All these methods are easy and the apps used in the methods are user-friendly. So if you are looking for ways to save text messages then use one of these methods and you wouldn’t have to worry about saving messages in the future.