How to back up your iMessages, and keep a copy you can read

Your messages are protected by Messages in iCloud, by an iPhone backup (in iCloud or on a computer) and, on a Mac, by Time Machine. All three can bring messages back to a device, but none gives you a file you can open and read. For that, export the conversations that matter to a PDF or a web page on your Mac and keep it with your other files.

Updated November 2, 2026

The three ways Apple protects your messages

	Messages in iCloud	iPhone backup	Time Machine on the Mac
What it is	The history kept in iCloud, the same on every device	A snapshot of the phone, in iCloud or on a computer	Hourly copies of the Mac, Messages folder included
Lost or broken device	Everything comes back when you sign in	Restore it to a new phone	Restore the Mac
A conversation deleted by mistake	Recoverable for up to 30 days in Recently Deleted, then gone everywhere	Only by restoring the whole phone to an older backup	Only by restoring files from before
Read it as a file	No	No	No

With Messages in iCloud on, your messages are stored there and left out of the iPhone's iCloud Backup; with it off, they are in the iCloud Backup, if that is on. A backup of the iPhone on a computer includes them either way.

A copy you can read: export the conversations

Make sure the messages are on your Mac: Messages › Settings › iMessage › Enable Messages in iCloud, then wait until it has synced.
Open Textbound and allow Full Disk Access once, so it can read the Messages history. It changes nothing.
Pick a conversation, or ⌘-click several (Pro), and choose All Time in the dates menu.
Export: Book PDF for reading, HTML for a page with every photo and voice message that opens in any browser, CSV for a spreadsheet.
Keep the files in two places, for example on the Mac and on an external drive.

The free version exports the newest 100 messages of any conversation as a Book PDF. Pro ($19.99 once) exports whole histories, with photos, in every format.

Download for Mac — free

Settings that can cost you messages

Keep Messages. On the iPhone, Settings › Apps › Messages › Keep Messages; on the Mac, Messages › Settings › General › Keep messages. Anything other than Forever deletes older messages by itself.
Deleting on one device. With Messages in iCloud, a deleted conversation goes to Recently Deleted on every device and disappears after up to 30 days; export it first.
Full iCloud storage stops new messages from syncing and new backups from being made.

An export isn't a backup of the Mac or the iPhone: it doesn't restore anything. Keep Time Machine and iCloud on; the export is the copy you can read, print and hand to someone. Textbound keeps no copy of its own and uploads nothing.

Questions

Does iCloud back up text messages?

With Messages in iCloud on, they are stored in iCloud; with it off, they are in the iPhone's iCloud Backup if iCloud Backup is on. Neither lets you open the messages as a file.

How do I back up iMessages to my Mac?

Turn on Messages in iCloud and the Mac keeps its own copy of the history, which Time Machine backs up. You can also connect the iPhone and back it up in the Finder; that backup can only be restored, not read. To have readable files, export the conversations with Textbound.

Can I back up iMessages to an external drive?

Time Machine can back up the whole Mac to one. For readable copies, export conversations as PDF or HTML and copy those files to the drive.

Can I read an iPhone backup?

Not with Apple's tools: a backup can only be restored to a device. Textbound doesn't read backups; it reads Messages on your Mac.

Will exporting delete messages from my phone?

No. Textbound only reads; it never changes, deletes or sends a message.

Export the conversations you want to keep

Download for Mac — free