How to print text messages from an iPhone

Messages on the iPhone can't print a conversation. You can print screenshots of it, or print it from Messages on a Mac with File › Print, which prints only what Messages has loaded. To print a long conversation in full, export it to a PDF on your Mac with Textbound and print that; in the Record layout every message has its date and time.

Updated November 2, 2026

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Free for the newest 100 messages of any conversation · macOS 14 or later

Print screenshots from the iPhone

Open the conversation and take a screenshot of each screen (side button and volume up together; side button and Home button on an iPhone with a Home button), scrolling a screen at a time.
In Photos, select the screenshots and tap the Share button, then Print.
Choose an AirPrint printer and the number of copies, then tap Print.

This works for a handful of messages. A long thread turns into dozens of pages cut at random, and nothing shows that a screen wasn't skipped.

Print from Messages on a Mac

With Messages in iCloud on, your Mac has the same conversations. Open one in Messages, scroll up until the oldest message you need has loaded, and choose File › Print (⌘P). You get the bubbles as they look on screen, with the time only where Messages shows a time. Messages loads older messages as you scroll, so for months of messages you scroll for a long time first.

Print the whole conversation from a PDF

Make sure the conversation is on your Mac: Messages › Settings › iMessage › Enable Messages in iCloud, then let it sync.
Open Textbound, allow Full Disk Access once, and pick the conversation. The whole thread appears at once.
Choose the dates in the dates menu: All Time, This Year, or Custom Dates… for an exact period.
Press Export (⌘E). Choose Book for bubbles and photos, or, with Pro, Record for one row per message with the date, the time to the second and the sender. Every PDF has page numbers; Record adds a cover listing everyone in the conversation.
When the export finishes, click Open, then press ⌘P to print. Pages are US Letter or A4, whichever your region uses; you can change it in Textbound › Settings.

What each way prints

	Screenshots	File › Print in Messages	PDF from Textbound
A long conversation	One screen per picture	Only what is loaded	All of it, or the dates you choose
Date and time	Where Messages shows it	Where Messages shows it	On every message, to the second (Record)
Phone numbers	No	No	On the cover, for each participant (Record)
Page numbers	No	No	“Page x of y” on every page
Photos	As on screen	As on screen	Inside the PDF where they were sent (Pro)

The free version prints the newest 100 messages of any conversation as a Book. Pro ($19.99 once, no subscription) prints the whole history with photos and adds the Record layout.

Printing for a lawyer or a court

A printout for a case needs every message in order, with times, senders and page numbers, and a way to check it. The Record layout is made for that; see how to print text messages for court for what it shows, row by row. Whether a court accepts a printout is up to the court; ask your lawyer.

Questions

Can you print text messages straight from an iPhone?

Not a conversation: Messages on the iPhone has no Print command. You can print screenshots from Photos with an AirPrint printer, or print the conversation from a Mac.

How do I print a long text conversation?

Export it to a PDF on your Mac and print the PDF. Textbound reads the whole conversation at once from the Messages history on the Mac, so there is nothing to scroll and nothing gets cut between screens.

Can I print text messages with the date and time?

Yes. In the Record layout every message has its date and time to the second, and the cover says which time zone they are in. Screenshots show only the times Messages displays, and only to the minute.

Do my messages get uploaded to print them?

No. Textbound reads the Messages history on your Mac without changing it and writes the PDF on your Mac. There is no account, and your messages never leave the Mac until you decide to send the file.

Can I print text messages from an iPhone on a Windows PC?

Not with Textbound, which needs a Mac. On a PC, people use apps that read an iPhone backup made on that computer.

Print a long conversation from your Mac

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