Don’t Lose Your Text Messages! Here’s How to Backup and Restore Them

Losing text messages from your phone can be devastating. Whether it’s a conversation with a loved one or business contacts, you’ll want a backup plan.

There are several options available to iPhone and Android users. Choose the best method for you and ensure your messages are always safe.

Why should you back up your text messages?

Your text messages are important. They’re a record of your conversations with friends, family, and co-workers.

You may not think you need to back them up, but what would you do if you lost them? If you don’t have a backup plan, you could lose years of text messages with no way to recover them.

How to Back Up your Text Messages

There are a few different ways to back up your text messages. You can use iCloud, iTunes, or a third-party app. Each method has its own set of pros and cons.

iCloud

iCloud is a cloud-based storage service from Apple. It’s built into every iOS device and Mac. iCloud is a good option for backing up your text messages because it’s easy to use and you can access your messages on any Apple device with your Apple ID.

Just note, that when you delete a message or conversation from one device, it disappears from your account and can’t be restored.

To back up your text messages with iCloud:

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

2. Tap on your name at the top of the screen to go to your Apple ID account.

3. On the Apple ID page tap iCloud. 

4. Scroll down to the ‘Apps Using iCloud’ section, then tap on Messages.
Tap on the switch to turn it from grey to green. 

Your text messages will now be backed up to your iCloud account. Just make sure you have enough iCloud storage space, and consider upgrading account if you need it. 

To view your messages on iCloud, you can always log in to the iCloud website with your Apple ID, or follow the steps below to sync your messages to your Mac using iCloud. 

Mac

You can sync your iPhone to your Mac using iCloud so that both devices can send and receive text messages from your phone number. This will make sure you will still have a copy of your messages even if your iPhone gets lost or damaged. Your Mac will keep an updated copy of your sent and received messages.

To back up your text messages with Mac:

1. On your Mac, open the Messages app.

2. In the toolbar at the very top of your screen, click Messages and select Preferences… in the drop-down. 

3. In the pop-up window, click the iMessage tab at the top. On older Macs, it may be called Accounts instead. 

4. If you haven’t connected your messages before, you’ll need to sign in using your Apple ID and password. 

5. Once signed in, click the checkbox next to Enable this account and the checkbox next to Enable Messages in iCloud. 

6. Go to the General tab, and click the drop-down next to Keep Messages. You can choose to keep messages for 30 days, one year, or forever. 

7. Then, open the Settings app on your iPhone. On the main Settings page, scroll down and tap Messages.

8. On the Messages page of your iPhone’s Settings app, tap Text Message Forwarding.

9. The next page should show you a list of devices your iCloud account is connected to. Tap the toggle button next to your Mac, turning it from grey to green. 

10. If your messages don’t automatically sync, you can go back to the Preferences page of your Mac computer’s Messages app and on the iMessage tab, click Sync Now. 

iTunes

You can also use iTunes to create a backup of your text messages. This method is good if you want to keep a local copy of your messages on your computer. iTunes backs up all data on iPhone iPad which includes photos, music, videos, ringtones, application data, text messages, iMessage, etc.

The downside to this method is that it doesn’t work with Apple’s Messages in the iCloud feature, so you won’t be able to sync your messages across devices. You will need to constantly back up to iTunes.

This is useful for older iPhone models and if you do not have Mac. iTunes is also available for Windows.

To back up your text messages with iTunes:

Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes.

Click on the Summary tab and then the Backups section.

Check the box next to Back up messages.

Third-party apps

There are also several third-party apps that will back up your text messages. These apps are a good option if you want to back up your messages to a cloud service other than iCloud or keep a local copy on your computer.

Some popular third-party apps include iMazing, AnyTrans, and PhoneView.

How to Restore your Text Messages

If you lose your text messages, you can restore them from an iCloud or iTunes backup. If you use a third-party app, you can restore your messages from the app’s interface.

iCloud

To restore your text messages from iCloud:

1. Check to see if you have a backup and when it was created by going to  Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups. NOTE: Only proceed if you have backed up your device recently.

2. Reset your iPhone. Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone.

3. Tap on Erase All Content and Settings option.

4. Follow the onscreen setup steps to reach the Apps & Data screen.

5. Tap on the “Restore from iCloud Backup” option.

6. Sign in to iCloud with your Apple ID.

7. Choose the latest backup version.

8. Click Restore to start restoring the backup to your iPhone.

9. Now you can check the restored files on your iPhone.

It is highly recommended to turn on Automatic Backup on your iCloud. To do this, go to Settings > Your Name > iCloud > iCloud Backup > Turn on.

Mac

As long as you back up Mac data regularly with Time Machine, follow these steps to easily recover deleted messages from the Time Machine backup:

1. Sign out all iMessage accounts and quit Messages.

2. Press and hold down the Option key and select ‘Go’ > ‘Library’ from the Finder menu bar.

3. Locate the Library section and click on Messages

4. When the messages folder comes up, locate a file with the ‘chat.db’ name and a date that is before the date the files you are looking for were deleted. 

5. Select the file and click Restore.

Note: This method restores the whole iMessage database and will replace the current database with an earlier version.

iTunes

To restore your text messages from iTunes:

1. Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes.
2. Click on the device icon at the upper left corner when iPhone is detected by iTunes.
3. On the summary page select Restore Backup… under Backups section.

Important Note: Please be careful when restoring backups. It is highly recommended to frequently backup your devices to avoid losing valuable data. This way, even if you lose your device, or it gets damaged, you still have access to your data.

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