Can you export SMS green-bubble texts, not just iMessages?
Yes: on the iPhone, green-bubble texts (SMS, MMS and, on iOS 18 and later, RCS) are stored in the same Messages database as blue iMessages, and an iPhone backup contains both. On a Mac they only appear if they were forwarded or synced to it, so the most complete way to export them is from a backup of the iPhone made over a cable.
Blue and green bubbles
Blue bubbles are iMessages, sent over the internet between Apple devices. Green bubbles go through your carrier: SMS for plain text, MMS for pictures and group texts, and RCS on iOS 18 and later with carriers that support it. On the iPhone, all of them land in the same conversations.
Why green texts can be missing on a Mac
- The Mac gets SMS only when Text Message Forwarding is turned on for it on the iPhone (Settings, Messages, Text Message Forwarding; on iOS 18 and later, Settings, Apps, Messages), or through Messages in iCloud.
- Texts from before you turned these on may never have reached the Mac.
- A backup of the iPhone does not have this problem: it holds what is on the phone.
In an export
TextExhibit exports every message in the conversation, whatever the bubble color, and marks the service Apple recorded for each one, such as iMessage or SMS, so it is clear which ones went through the carrier.
What to keep in mind
- Some MMS pictures sent long ago may no longer be on the phone. The export lists missing attachments.
- An export shows what the phone recorded, not your carrier’s records. Carriers keep their own logs, mostly of when messages were sent and to whom, and getting them usually takes a legal request.
Questions
Why is a conversation split in two on my Mac?
Messages can keep iMessage and SMS threads with the same person apart. The backup of the iPhone usually shows them the way the phone does. Export each thread if you need both.
Can I export texts from an Android phone?
Not with TextExhibit. It reads iPhone messages through a Mac.
Does RCS show up?
On iOS 18 and later, RCS messages are stored with the others and come along in the backup. They are marked with the service Apple recorded.
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.