Save Text Messages from Android to PDF

This guide shows you how to save your Android text message conversations to your PC in a PDF format using the Droid Transfer App.

Droid Transfer for PC works alongside the Android app, Transfer Companion, enabling you to save your Android Messages to your PC in various file formats. You can export text messages from Android to PDF, or save text messages as HTML, CSV or Plain Text formats. Droid Transfer also lets you print text messages directly to your PC connected printer.

Droid Transfer saves all the images, emojis and more with your Android's text messages, when saving as PDF. To save videos from your text messages, you'll need to save as HTML instead.

1. Download and install Droid Transfer on your PC and Transfer Companion on your Android device.
2. Connect your Android to Droid Transfer via USB cable or Wi-Fi.
3. In Droid Transfer, click the "Messages" feature.
4. Select the conversations you wish to save.
5. Click "Save as PDF".
6. Choose the location on your PC where you wish to save your messages.
7. A copy of your selected messages will be exported in a PDF format to your PC.

For more detailed information about any of these steps, watch the video below, or continue reading this guide.

Having trouble saving your messages as PDF? Skip to our troubleshooting steps.

Step 1: Get the software

To use this software, you'll need to get both parts: the Droid Transfer software for PC, and the Transfer Companion app for Android.

You can download each component free below...

Step 2: Setup and Connection

Launch Droid Transfer on your PC and Transfer Companion on your Android phone.

The quickest way to connect your Android to your PC is via Wi-Fi. Tap "Scan Droid Transfer QR code" in Transfer Companion on your Android, then use your Android camera to scan the QR code shown in Droid Transfer on the PC to make the connection.

You can instead connect using a USB cable between the Android device and PC. Check out the full guide on how to connect via USB or Wi-Fi.

Step 3: Save Android text messages to your PC

In Droid Transfer, click the Messages icon to see all the SMS, MMS and RCS message conversations available on your connected Android device.

Note that the messages displayed are those you've sent and received using your default messaging app on your Android device. To access conversations from another app, such as "Textra SMS", please select this as your default messaging app.

How to Change Your Default Messaging App on Android

1. Open the Settings app on your Android device.
2. Go to "Apps" or "Apps & notifications".
3. Tap "Default apps" or "Advanced" > "Default apps".
4. Select "SMS app" and choose your preferred messaging app.

Select the text message conversation you want to save to your PC. Droid Transfer shows all the messages (sent and received) in that conversation, as well as any images and emojis.

Click the "Save as PDF" option in the control bar.

While Droid Transfer allows you to save your conversations in several formats, PDF is often the best choice for sharing, printing, and preserving your messages exactly as they appear.

• PDF is ideal for printing, sharing, and keeping a fixed, professional copy of your messages with dates, times, images and emojis preserved exactly as displayed.
• Plain Text is great if you want a simple copy of your messages, without media like images or videos.
• CSV is recommended for those who wish to view and manage their text message conversations in spreadsheet format.
• HTML is required if you want your export to include dynamic content like embedded videos.

Select where on your PC you would like to save the PDF file containing the text message conversation. Then click 'OK'.

Droid Transfer copies the text messages from your Android phone and converts them to PDF format. The PDF file is then saved to your PC.

Once Droid Transfer has saved your text messages in PDF format to your computer, you can open the PDF document in any PDF document viewer to see all the text messages.

A PDF export includes all the important information you need in your conversation, including: sent/received text messages, dates, times, images, emojis and more. This also makes Droid Transfer an ideal option for printing out Android messages for court.

And that's how to export Android text messages to PDF (and other formats). Now you have all the tools you need. I hope you found this useful!

If you can't save a certain message conversation as PDF in Droid Transfer, it may be that the conversation is too long or contains too much media.

If you attempt to use the "Save as PDF" button on such a conversation, you may save a file which is 0kb in size. This is a sign that the save has failed, and you won't be able to open the PDF to view it, as there is no content.

To resolve this issue, please first ensure that you have the correct permissions to copy the conversation. How to give Transfer Companion app permissions.

If the issue persists, please try the workaround below:

1. Select your desired conversation in Droid Transfer and click "Save as HTML".
2. If this copy is successful, you can then convert your HTML to PDF using your browser.
3. Open your exported HTML file in your browser (e.g. Google Chrome, Firefox, Edge).
4. Then go to print the page (you can right-click, then Print). In the print options, please set the print destination to "Save PDF" or similar. Clicking Print will then save your conversation as PDF, rather than printing it out for you.