Use cases: why export your iPhone text messages?

Phones get lost, break and get replaced. The conversations on them often matter more than the device itself. PhoneScroll copies your iPhone to your computer so you can read every text message, iMessage and WhatsApp chat, then export them to PDF or CSV with the date and time of each message. Here are the situations where our users rely on it.

Disputes, conflicts and court cases

A disagreement with a landlord, a contractor, an employer or an ex: very often, what was said by text is at the heart of the case. A screenshot cuts the conversation into pieces and doesn't always show the time of each message. With PhoneScroll:

• you find the exchange in seconds with search and the date-range filter;
• you export the entire conversation to PDF, in order, with the date, time, direction (sent or received) and contact for each message;
• you can also save the photos and voice messages that were exchanged.

PhoneScroll faithfully reproduces the content of your iPhone backup, but it does not certify the messages. Whether an export can be used as evidence depends on your case and your court: ask your lawyer. If authenticity may be challenged, your lawyer may suggest a sworn statement (affidavit or declaration) about how the export was made, or an examination by a digital forensics expert.

Learn more: Using text messages as evidence in court: how to export them properly.

Insurance claims

Water damage, a package that never arrived, a car accident: your texts with a contractor, a carrier or a seller help reconstruct what happened. Export the conversation and the photos you received into one folder, named by date, and send them to your insurance company.

Switching iPhones without losing your history

Before you trade in, sell or reset an iPhone, make a full copy on your computer. Your conversations stay readable on your Mac even if the new phone doesn't bring them all over. And if you ever need it, PhoneScroll Pro can restore a backup to an iPhone. See How to keep your text messages when switching iPhones.

Keeping a loved one's messages

A parent's voice messages, the first texts of a relationship, photos shared over the years: these conversations are memories. A copy on your computer protects them from a broken or stolen phone, and a PDF export lets you print them or have them bound.

Freelancers and small businesses

Contractors, shop owners, real estate agents, coaches: lots of orders, quotes and agreements happen over text or WhatsApp. Archive important conversations with your clients, find a specific agreement with search, and export it when you need it for your bookkeeping or for a client who disputes it.

What PhoneScroll doesn't do

• It doesn't recover messages that were already deleted from the iPhone: it reads what's in the backup.
• It doesn't read encrypted backups (turn off encryption to explore your messages).
• It's made for your data. Using it on someone else's phone without their consent is illegal.

Have a question? Check the Frequently asked questions about PhoneScroll.