Back to Top A white circle with a black border surrounding a chevron pointing up. It indicates 'click here to go back to the top of the page.'

How to save an entire text conversation on your iPhone

  • You can luckily save text conversations on your iPhone for those times when your conversations are just too funny, moving, or filled with important information to delete or exist simply on your phone. 
  • While there isn't a feature for automatically exporting a conversation, you can save an entire iPhone text conversations for later review and enjoyment using a workaround in the Messages app.
  • To preserve a text chain with total fidelity to its original appearance, a series of screenshots may be your best option.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Advertisement

It's a bit surprising, really, that it's not easier to export and save entire iPhone text message conversations or at least large portions of a chat. 

With a quick workaround, however, you can indeed save entire text conversations had on your iPhone, and you can then forward them as an iMessage or even email them to yourself.

Advertisement

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Best Buy)

How to save an entire text conversation on your iPhone

1. Open the text chain you wish to preserve and hold a finger down on one of the texts in the conversation.

2. Tap the "More…" option when it appears, then tap the circle to the left of each text and image you want to save.

How to save entire text conversation iPhone
You can send an email from your Messages app to get the written content of a text exchange, though images may not come through. Steven John/Business Insider

3. Tap on the curved arrow at the bottom right corner of the screen, then enter the phone number or email address  that you wish to send the text the conversation to.

How to save entire text conversation iPhone
Select the messages you'd like to export and tap the arrow at the bottom of the screen. Steven John/Business Insider

4. You can also hold a finger down on the new text message and tap "Copy" to copy it for pasting elsewhere on your iPhone, such as into an email or a note.

How to save entire text conversation iPhone
Text message formatting will change during the export process, but all of the content should remain the same. Steven John/Business Insider
Advertisement

Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:

Insider Inc. receives a commission when you buy through our links.

Advertisement

Jump to

  1. Main content
  2. Search
  3. Account