Do UK Mobile Networks Let Me Export or Save Text Messages on iPhone?

As of March 2018, Apple had 52% of the mobile phone market share in the UK. That's a lot of iPhone users! Every year here at Decipher Tools headquarters, iPhone users from both the UK and also Ireland contact us inquiring whether their mobile carrier saves copies of their text messages on company servers. The answer is unfortunately no, they don’t!

Whether you use BT Mobile, Vodafone, O2, EE, Virgin Media, Sky Mobile, or Three Mobile as your UK phone network, mobile carriers do not typically provide UK iPhone customers with ability to access or save text message communications. This is a good thing from a privacy standpoint, since your personal text messages are not being stored in the cloud or elsewhere without your consent. However, it also means that all UK and Irish iPhone users need an alternative solution to save iPhone text messages to their computer.

There are very rare cases where U.K. carriers like Vodafone, BT Mobile, might provide call logs to authorities or solicitors for legal matters or police investigations, however most of the UK’s cell providers choose to never store customer’s personal text message history. This leaves it up to the customer to find their own solution should they need to suddenly save or capture text messages for personal, business, or legal reasons. As a result, iPhone users sometimes resort to taking screenshots of messages, a process which can be both time consuming and laborious.

How can iPhone users save / transfer iPhone text messages and iMessages to computer?

For U.K. or Irish iPhone users that want the ability to export iPhone text messages, one widely used solution is Decipher TextMessage. The software gives any iPhone user the ability to save their text messages to computer as well as print and email their SMS and iMessages to colleagues, friends, or family.

Decipher TextMessage runs on any Windows and Mac computer and the program exports text messages in PDF format. The software also retains the iPhone "chat bubble" display formatting and includes any photo or video attachments as part of the text message export!

Steps for iPhone users to save text messages - UK and Ireland

1. Run Decipher TextMessage on a Mac or Windows computer.

2. Open the program and select your iPhone or iPad.

3. Choose a contact and all the text messages with that person will be displayed.

4. Select "Export as PDF" from the menu and save the PDF containing your text messages to your PC.

Here's an example of how your iPhone text messages are displayed in the program:

After exporting your text messages you can immediately open the exported PDF and print or email the entire conversation.

Download Decipher Text Message

Conclusion

If you have questions about best practices for saving your iPhone text messages regardless of what UK mobile network you currently use, simply drop us a support email here at Decipher Tools headquarters and we’ll get back to you with help. Be proactive and get your iPhone text messages backed up and saved on your PC or Mac. That way, should you ever suddenly be in a situation where you need to capture and print your text messages, all your important SMS and text conversations will be immediately at your disposal.