How to export iMessages to PDF on a Mac
If your iPhone syncs to your Mac with Messages in iCloud, open the conversation in Messages, scroll up until every message you need has loaded, then choose File, Print and Save as PDF. That PDF follows the screen, with times only as occasional headers and no phone numbers, so for a record you can rely on, use an export app that writes the date, time and sender’s number on every message.
Save a conversation as PDF with Print
- On the Mac, open Messages. If the conversation is not there, turn on Messages in iCloud in Messages, Settings, iMessage, and on the iPhone, then wait for the history to download.
- Open the conversation and scroll to the oldest message you need. Older messages load as you scroll.
- Choose File, Print. In the print window, open the PDF menu in the lower left and choose Save as PDF.
What that PDF includes
- The messages roughly as they look on screen, in bubbles.
- Time headers only where Messages shows them, usually after a gap in the conversation, not next to each message.
- The other person’s contact name instead of their number, if they are in your contacts.
- Photos as they appear in the bubbles, not the original files.
With TextExhibit
TextExhibit reads the same Messages database on your Mac, with your permission, and writes the conversation as a document instead of a picture of the screen: one message per line with the date and time to the second and the time zone, the sender’s name and number or email address, photos in place, page numbers and a cover page. It can read from an iPhone backup too, so it also works when Messages in iCloud is off.
What to keep in mind
- Messages on the Mac only has what has synced to it. If Messages in iCloud was turned on recently, older messages may still be downloading or may never have reached the Mac.
- TextExhibit needs Full Disk Access to read the Messages database. See why an app needs Full Disk Access.
- Neither method changes or deletes your messages.
Questions
Can I select several conversations and save them all as PDF?
Not in Messages; Print works on the conversation that is open. An export app can do one conversation at a time, each as its own PDF, much faster than scrolling.
Why are some of my older messages missing on the Mac?
The Mac only has messages that synced to it. If Messages in iCloud was off for a while, or the history has not finished downloading, those messages are only on the iPhone. A backup of the iPhone has them.
Does Save as PDF include the time zone?
No. The times are shown in your Mac’s time zone without saying which one. TextExhibit prints the time zone next to every time.
Export the whole conversation
TextExhibit turns a conversation into one PDF with exact times, names and numbers, photos in place and page numbers, on your Mac. Free to preview; $24.99 once to export.