TouchCopy is not displaying my iPhone messages, Contacts, Calendars or Notes

Last Updated :  |  Wide Angle Software

To display your iPhone messages, follow these steps...

1. Ensure you're using the latest TouchCopy version, by going to Options -> Updates from within the software.
2. Connect your iPhone to your computer via the USB cable.
3. In TouchCopy, click on the "Messages" tab.
4. Select the conversations you wish to save to your computer and click "Copy Messages" in TouchCopy.

If you have a valid TouchCopy 16 licence, you can download the latest TouchCopy update for free here:

Update TouchCopy Now

If TouchCopy is not displaying your iPhone messages, contacts, notes and calendars...

If you followed the steps above and your messages are still not displayed, please check our trouble-shooting suggestions. These suggestions are also valid if you're trying to load your iPhone contacts, calendars and call logs in TouchCopy.

Please note that in most cases, Suggestion 1 will resolve your issue; if this fails please proceed with our further suggestions as below:

• Suggestion 1: Check your permissions
• Suggestion 2: Download iCloud messages to iPhone
• Suggestion 3: Remove old backups of your iPhone
  • Delete backups from iTunes (PC and macOS Mojave and lower)
  • Delete backups from Finder (macOS Catalina and Big Sur)
  • Delete backups from TouchCopy (macOS Catalina and Big Sur)
• Suggestion 4: Create a new iPhone backup

Suggestion 1: Check your permissions

First of all, you'll need to make sure that TouchCopy has the correct permissions to interact with your connected device on your computer. Follow our guide to set permissions for TouchCopy.

Suggestion 2: Download iCloud messages to iPhone

TouchCopy can only display messages that have been download to your device. If your messages have offloaded to iCloud, you will need to download them to your device first. To do so, follow the steps below:

1. Open the 'Settings' app on your iPhone.
2. Tap your account that is displayed at the top of the settings list.
3. Tap 'iCloud' and then scroll down to 'Messages'.
4. Disable iCloud backup of Messages by toggling this setting off.

You should be asked to download the full messages to your device after completing these steps. Please note that this will require space on your device and will result in the conversation no longer being in iCloud. Please try accessing and copying your messages again with TouchCopy.

Suggestion 3: Remove old backups of your iPhone (PC and Mac versions)

It is possible that TouchCopy is attempting to read an incomplete or corrupted backup of your iPhone data. The solution of this is to delete any iTunes backups made of your device and then try again.

How to delete old iPhone backups from iTunes...

1. In iTunes, go to Edit > Preferences (on PC); or iTunes > Preferences (on Mac).
2. Click the Devices tab
3. Choose the Backup you wish to remove and click on Delete Backup, as shown on the screenshot below.
4. Repeat the process for any other listed backups of your iPhone.
5. Click OK.

How to delete old iPhone backups in Finder on macOS Catalina and newer...

In macOS Catalina and Big Sur, iTunes has been replaced. So now, backups of your iPhone are made using the Finder app instead.

To delete these backups, open Finder on your Mac and connect your iPhone. When it has been detected, click your iPhone from the list on the left of your Finder window.

Click "Manage Backups...". Select your backups and click "Delete Backup" to delete them from your Mac. You won't be able to recover deleted backups, so make sure you don't need them before you choose to delete them.

How to delete old iPhone backups from TouchCopy on macOS Catalina and newer...

TouchCopy running on these version of macOS will save a backup of your iPhone to your Mac in a different location than before.

To delete such a backup, please navigate to the following location on your Mac through Finder:
~/Library/Application Support/Wide Angle Software/MobileSync/Backup/

You can navigate to this folder by opening Finder on your Mac. Open your user folder, then click through the folders: Library > Application Support > Wide Angle Software > MobileSync > Backup. Inside this "Backup" folder, you'll see one or more folders entitled with long strings of random letters and numbers. These are backup files.

Please remove any such folders in the aforementioned location. Once done, please then relaunch TouchCopy and re-attempt to access your messages. Relaunching TouchCopy will prompt the program to create a new backup of your device. Does TouchCopy now successfully display your messages as expected?

If you still receive an error that TouchCopy cannot find any messages on your device, please try creating a new iPhone backup >

Suggestion 4: Create a new iPhone backup (PC and Mac versions)

If you're using Windows PC, or macOS 10.14 or lower, follow the instructions here...

Please ensure that you have enough space on your computer to create a backup of your iPhone. Then, create a fresh backup in iTunes:

1. Connect your iPhone to iTunes on your computer.
2. Click your device icon next to the Music drop-down in iTunes.
3. Under the Backups section, ensure that "This Computer" is checked, rather than "iCloud".
4. (Optional): If you tick the option to "Encrypt local backup", you can protect your backup with a password. Keep this password safe, as you'll need to enter it in TouchCopy so that it can access your device's messages.
5. Click "Back Up Now". Please ensure that your computer has enough space to complete a backup of your iOS device.
6. When the backup is complete, close iTunes.
7. Now when you open TouchCopy, it will read from your new backup and display your messages as expected.

Create a new iPhone backup in Finder on macOS Catalina (10.15) or newer.

Please ensure that you have enough space on your computer to create a backup of your iPhone. Then, create a fresh backup in Finder:

1. Launch Finder on your Mac.
2. Connect your iPhone.
3. Select your device from the list.
4. (Optional): If you tick the option to "Encrypt local backup", you can protect your backup with a password. Keep this password safe, as you'll need to enter it in TouchCopy so that it can access your device's messages.
5. Choose "Back up all the data on your iPhone to this Mac".
6. Click "Back Up Now".
   
7. When the backup is complete, close Finder and open TouchCopy.
8. Go to "TouchCopy" > "Preferences" and then "Backups". Here, change your backup location to be the "System" backup location rather than TouchCopy. As you have already set TouchCopy to have full disk access, you can click confirm on the message that is displayed.
9. Once set, please connect your iPhone at attempt to access your Messages using TouchCopy.

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Publisher: Wide Angle Software

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