How to export an iMessage chat

Apple’s Messages app can’t export a chat, so this one needs a computer. On a Mac, the free, open-source imessage-exporter saves every chat as a text file. On Windows (or a Mac), iMazing reads your iPhone and exports the messages as a CSV file.

1. 1

   Mac: check the chat is on your Mac

   Open Messages on the Mac and find the chat. imessage-exporter reads only what is on this Mac, not what is only in iCloud.

2. 2

   Mac: install imessage-exporter

   In Terminal, run brew install imessage-exporter (it needs Homebrew), or download it from the releases page of the project on GitHub.

3. 3

   Mac: give Terminal “Full Disk Access”

   Open System Settings, then “Privacy & Security” and “Full Disk Access”, and turn on Terminal. Your messages sit in a protected folder.

4. 4

   Mac: export the chats

   In Terminal, run imessage-exporter -f txt. It saves one .txt file per chat in a folder called imessage_export in your home folder, each named after the group or the people in it.

5. 5

   Mac: upload the chat’s file

   On HeyMarco, pick iMessage and upload that one .txt file. Or zip the whole folder and upload the ZIP: Marco asks which chat to read.

6. 6

   Windows: open Messages in iMazing

   Install iMazing, connect your iPhone and select it, then click “Messages”. Click “Start” and enter the iPhone’s passcode when it asks.

7. 7

   Windows: export to CSV

   Select the chat, click the Export button at the bottom right and choose CSV. Keep “Include header row” on, then save the file.

8. 8

   Windows: upload the .csv file

   On HeyMarco, pick iMessage and upload the .csv file. If it holds several chats, Marco asks which one to read.

• iMazing’s free trial exports at most 25 messages, so a whole chat needs a paid iMazing licence. imessage-exporter is free.
• People show up as phone numbers or emails? Give Terminal Full Disk Access and export again: your contacts are in a protected folder too.
• imessage-exporter can also read an iPhone backup made on the Mac: add -p and the backup’s folder, then -a iOS.
• The HTML export (-f html) works too.