How To Keep Text Messages Forever
Turn off anything that deletes old messages, make a backup that is not on the phone, and keep the conversations that matter as a file or a book. A phone can be lost, broken or wiped, and the messages go with it.
How do I keep text messages forever on an iPhone?
Open Settings, tap Apps, tap Messages, tap Keep Messages, and choose Forever. Then back the iPhone up to a computer. Saving iMessages forever has all three steps.
How do I keep text messages forever on Android?
Check your messaging app's settings for an option that deletes old messages, and turn it off. Then back the texts up to a file: SMS Backup & Restore saves them as an .xml file that read receipts can read. The Android guide has the steps.
How do I keep WhatsApp messages forever?
Turn on Chat Backup, and export the chats you care about. A backup restores WhatsApp on a new phone; an export is a file that is yours. Saving WhatsApp chats covers both.
Is a cloud backup enough?
A cloud backup protects against a lost phone, but it depends on one account staying open and paid for, and it is built for restoring, not reading. Keep at least one copy you can open without the app.
What is the most permanent copy of a conversation?
Paper. A printed book needs no account, no app and no battery. read receipts prints a whole conversation as a book, every message in order with each name, and includes a PDF and an EPUB with every printed copy.
Can deleted messages be brought back?
Not by us: we cannot bring back what a phone has removed. The same conversation is often still on the other person's phone, and their export works as well as yours.
What does a book of texts cost?
The paperback is $49 and the hardcover is $89, at any length up to the 700 pages included, with free US shipping.
Related Guides
- How To Save iMessages ForeverKeep Messages on Forever, a backup on a computer, and one copy outside Apple.
- How To Save WhatsApp ChatsA backup to restore, an export to keep. When to use each.
- How To Stop An iPhone Deleting Old MessagesSettings, Apps, Messages, Keep Messages, Forever.
- How To Save Text Messages From Someone Who Has DiedWhere the messages are kept, and how to save them from each app.
If You Want It As A Book
read receipts prints a whole conversation as a book, every message in order with each name. You look through every page before anything prints. Or start with the free receipt.