I searched the forums and found nothing. I need to save all of my text messages to a PC. Does anyone have a good way to rip them off od my phone? Thanks in advance!
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How can I save my iPhone text messages?
- Thread starter Ericus Macabeus
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Definitely PhoneView (or TouchCopy on Windows). It's a brilliant program for backing up all kinds of things from your phone in a more easily accessible way than iTunes allows for.
I never get why people are so desperate to save SMS conversations.
I used to be like that until I was forced to do a clean restore, then I realized I didn't care lol
I used to be like that until I was forced to do a clean restore, then I realized I didn't care lol
I can only speak for myself... but there is a specific, several-day long (several-hundred) text message conversation with my ex-gf I'd like to save (complicated reasons)...
Yeah... especially since I have now found out she is a sociopath. Crazy stuff. Thanks though.
Careful what you say then.
Haha... oh much worse has been said on twitter and she has easy access to that. Sociopath does not mean violent. The biggest aspect is the inability to feel guilt/remorse... well really feel much at all. Most is an act for personal gain. I've learned a lot and oddly find it interesting now. But anyway.. sorry to go off-topic!
Thanks for the phoneview but is it an app from the app store or do I download it to my computer?
Thanks. I need it for someone else who is using a PC so TouchCopy it is.
I found it at download.com.
For a lot of things, I agree. But I have long conversations from a couple of friends that I do save, and the ones between my husband and myself. I don't tend to be the sentimental type usually, but it's nice to have them on the computer so that if the phone goes sideways or *horrors* I switch away from Apple, I won't lose them completely. I've seen other people save them for legal reasons (see sociopath issue above) or because the other person has passed away. It's worth at least knowing the option is out there to save them.
Here is what i did. I didnt write this myself, but found it and saved it because it worked for me. You have to work from your backup files (saved by iTunes)
EDIT: I misread and thought you wanted to import them again in another Iphone or a restored one. I'll leve it here anyway, could be useful for others.
----
Here is a repost of what I did to copy text messages on a clean install:
(note: this was for going from 3.1.3 on a 3GS to 4.0 on an iPhone 4, so I don't know if it would be the same on older phones or firmwares)
1. Sync the phone you want to copy text messages from
2. Go to the folder with your backups
3. sort the folders by date modified to find the one containing your the backup you just made (this step is only necessary if you have multiple backup folders, such as if you've synced more than one phone on that computer)
4. Make a copy of the backup folder in case anything gets ****ed up
5. copy the following files from that backup folder to a new folder
-status.plist
-manifest.mdbx
-manifest.mbdb
-manifest.plist
-info.plist
-3d0d7e5fb2ce288813306e4d4636395e047a3d28
6. Set up the phone you want to transfer texts to as a new phone
7. make a new backup after it is set up
8. go to the folder with the new backup created in step 7, delete everything in it leaving an empty folder
9. Copy the 6 files listed in step 5 to the empty folder from step 8
10. right click the phone in iTunes and restore to backup
11. You should have a fresh phone, set up new but with all of your texts saved
It might give an error message when the restore finishes, but don't panic; take a look at your text messages and they should be there.
EDIT: I misread and thought you wanted to import them again in another Iphone or a restored one. I'll leve it here anyway, could be useful for others.
----
Here is a repost of what I did to copy text messages on a clean install:
(note: this was for going from 3.1.3 on a 3GS to 4.0 on an iPhone 4, so I don't know if it would be the same on older phones or firmwares)
1. Sync the phone you want to copy text messages from
2. Go to the folder with your backups
3. sort the folders by date modified to find the one containing your the backup you just made (this step is only necessary if you have multiple backup folders, such as if you've synced more than one phone on that computer)
4. Make a copy of the backup folder in case anything gets ****ed up
5. copy the following files from that backup folder to a new folder
-status.plist
-manifest.mdbx
-manifest.mbdb
-manifest.plist
-info.plist
-3d0d7e5fb2ce288813306e4d4636395e047a3d28
6. Set up the phone you want to transfer texts to as a new phone
7. make a new backup after it is set up
8. go to the folder with the new backup created in step 7, delete everything in it leaving an empty folder
9. Copy the 6 files listed in step 5 to the empty folder from step 8
10. right click the phone in iTunes and restore to backup
11. You should have a fresh phone, set up new but with all of your texts saved
It might give an error message when the restore finishes, but don't panic; take a look at your text messages and they should be there.
I used to be like that too. I never thought there was a reason to keep them. But recently my girlfriend moved to Germany and I found myself going back though our endless thread of conversations (I know, sappy and whatnot). Although we still keep in touch through other online forms of communication, SMS just feels more personal. Now I understand the want people may have for keeping them.
"iPhone text message backup software"
Download and install above software onto your pc...connect your iphone and transfer sms.....!
I use the decipher text message program to save my messages to my pc. http://www.deciphertools.com My husband uses it at his law firm and seems to also like it. A couple of lawyers in his office have to document their sms stuff so they archive things each month.
Well my friend died last week and I would like to save some of the conversations we had over the last year.
I don't get why when people ask for help, we get useless posts like yours belittling things. Thanks!
I'm not belittling, just stating why I don't think it's necessary.
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i actually hate the fact that when i restore they are all backed up via the cloud!
Girlfriends say the darnedest things. Sometimes it's nice to reflect.. All I'm sayin
Several folks at my firm use decipher text message to save all our texts to our computers. Works good. Easy to run. www.deciphertools.com
www.deciphertools.com- Status