3 Best Ways to Backup your iPhone Messages

How to Backup iPhone Text Messages, iMessages, LINE and WhatsApp Chats

Text messaging is a vital communication tool, often holding important business information, cherished memories, and stunning images. Losing your iPhone without a backup means losing these messages forever.

This article guides you on how to save your text messages, iMessages, WhatsApp, and LINE conversations by backing up your iPhone. We'll explore the top three methods to ensure your important information is always at your fingertips, regardless of what happens to your phone.

Method 1: Selectively Backup iPhone Messages Using TouchCopy

If you want full access to your saved messages, you'll need to use a trusted third-party app like TouchCopy. This is the perfect way to save text messages on iPhone without iCloud or iTunes.

Unlike iTunes/iCloud locked backups, TouchCopy allows you to select exactly what you want to backup and ensures that you can access and view them on your computer once they are saved!

Selecting messages in TouchCopy:

• You can back up your SMS, MMS, iMessage, LINE and WhatsApp conversations.
• TouchCopy gives you the choice to backup all your iPhone messages, or only the conversation that you select. You can even narrow it down even further and choose to export only messages sent/received between two dates.

How to save text messages on iPhone to PC/Mac

1. Download and install TouchCopy on your computer.
2. Launch TouchCopy and connect your iPhone using your USB cable.
3. Click 'Messages' to view all the messages stored on the connected device.
4. Select the conversations you want to back up (you can select multiple conversations by holding ctrl(PC) or cmd(Mac)). You can scroll down or search through the conversations in TouchCopy to find the text message, WhatsApp, LINE or iMessage conversation that you need.
5. Choose a backup format to save the conversation as:
   • HTML: Clicking "Save as HTML" will save your messages as HTML. You can choose to save all your attached media (images, videos, audio, etc.) as part of the HTML, or in a separate folder linked to the HTML file. HTML files can be viewed in your internet browser (e.g. Google Chrome, Safari...).
   • PDF: Using "Save as PDF" will export your conversation in Portable Document Format (PDF). These files are easy for sharing and include any attached images. Video is not supported in this format.
   • Text: Saving as Plain Text will save your conversation as a .txt file. This format does not include any visual formatting or media like images and videos.
6. Choose where to save the conversation and click "OK" (or "Continue" on a Mac).

Download TouchCopy Now

What is backed-up?

TouchCopy will display and save your messages in a format similar to the one you are used to on your iPhone, with different coloured text bubbles for messages from each participant.

This includes all message data like the contact's name/number, dates/times messages were sent/received, and any emojis, videos or images in the message. As such, all information needed will be saved with your messages.

Watch our video to learn how to back up messages with TouchCopy

For more information about searching, copying and printing messages, check out TouchCopy's user guide >

As well as being able to export your text messages in different formats, you can also transfer other media from iPhone to computer (Contacts, Music, Photos, Call Logs and more).

Method 2: Backup iPhone Messages using iCloud

iCloud is a great solution if you want to keep your information backed up on the go. As it uses Wi-Fi to backup data, it's a convenient way to backup.

Note that you can't access messages backed up to iCloud - this form of backup comes into use if you need to restore messages to a device. If you need full access to your messages, try Method 1: TouchCopy.

Now, the process of backing up your messages to iCloud will vary, depending on the version of iOS that your iPhone is using. To backup iPhone messages to iCloud, you'll first need to enable Messages syncing.

How to sync iPhone messages with iCloud:

1. Launch Settings on your iPhone.

2. Tap your username, then tap "iCloud".

3. Turn on iCloud Messages:

   • Tap "Messages in iCloud" and then turn on "Use on this iPhone".
   • On older iPhones, simply tap "Messages" to turn on iCloud Messages.

Your iPhone will begin syncing your messages with iCloud.

To sync conversations from other apps with iCloud, scroll down to the relevant app items (e.g. WhatsApp) and tap to toggle them ON.

With Messages syncing enabled, you can now access your messages on any device which is logged into your AppleID. Also, any time you make a backup to iCloud, your messages will be saved as part of that backup.

How to backup iPhone Messages to iCloud

Now that you've chosen which messaging apps you want to be included in your iCloud backup, you can go ahead and initiate a backup.

Before you begin, make sure that your iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi and is plugged into a power source.

1. Open Settings on your iPhone.

2. Tap [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup.

3. Turn on "Back Up This iPhone" and tap "Back Up Now" to manually start backing up your iPhone to iCloud.

Method 3: Backup your iPhone messages via iTunes / Finder

Using this method, you'll be able to perform a full backup of your iPhone and store it locally on your computer. Note that this backup includes your text messages, iMessages and WhatsApp messages, however, LINE messages are not included.

We recommend this method if you're switching to a new phone, or you don't have enough iCloud storage available. If you wish to selectively backup your iPhone files on your computer, check out the TouchCopy method.

You can use this type of backup to restore an iPhone.

For this method, you'll need to use iTunes on Windows PCs and Macs running 10.14 and lower; or Finder on Macs running macOS Catalina (10.15) and higher.

How to back up iPhone messages with iTunes

1. Launch iTunes on your PC or Mac.
2. Connect your iPhone to your computer using your USB cable.
3. Select your device and view the Summary tab.
4. Ensure that "This Computer" is checked (and check "Encrypt Local Backup" if you want to back up Passwords, Health and Homekit data).
5. Click "Back up Now" and keep your iPhone connected while the backup is in progress.

When the backup is complete, you'll see a notification saying that the last backup of your iPhone was today.

How to back up iPhone messages with Finder

1. Launch Finder on your Mac.
2. Connect your iPhone to your computer using your USB cable.
3. Select your device and view the General tab.
4. Ensure that "Back up all the data on your iPhone to this Mac" is checked (and check "Encrypt local backup" if you want to backup passwords and sensitive personal data).
5. Click "Back up Now" and keep your iPhone connected while the backup is in progress.

Takeaways

There you have it! Now you know the best ways to back up your iPhone messages.

Let's compare the 3 methods by breaking down the features that they offer...

We hope you now have all the knowledge you need to make an informed decision about which method is best for you.

If you are still unsure, here's a little summary:

• Use TouchCopy if you want to be in control of what you back up. You can access your exported conversations locally on your computer, share them and even print them out.
• Use iCloud if you want to make regular backups over Wi-Fi. You can't access your backed-up messages, but you can restore them to an iPhone if something should go wrong.
• Use iTunes or Finder if you want to make local backups of your iPhone (rather than using iCloud storage space). As with iCloud, you can't access your backed-up messages, but you can restore them to an iPhone if something should go wrong.

Thanks for reading!