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Documenting Text Messages for Trial or Legal Matters

By: Jay Walsh
September 17, 2024 at 11:20 AM

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Attorneys and clients often find themselves needing to accurately document and print text messages for court, mediation, or legal proceedings. Each year there are millions more legal cases where text messages are being used as evidence in a trial and also by lawyers for discovery.

Statista estimates estimates that by 2025 approximately 3.51 billion users will use messaging apps to communicate. That’s a tremendous amount of messages sent via mobile devices! This includes iOS, Android, and also popular messaging apps like WhatsApp Messenger, Viber, Line, and WeChat. With text messaging and messaging apps now solidified as one of the world’s most popular forms of daily communication, the need to document and preserve text / sms messages for evidence in court has increased dramatically.

What is the best way to document and print out my messages for a court case or legal proceeding?

No matter how you preserve text messages for evidence, you'll want to make sure that the records have all of the information necessary for them to be admissible in court. Consult a lawyer for the specifics in your region about what information is required. For most legal matters the following details should be visible in your text message documentation:

The date and time of the messages.
The real contact information for the other party or parties in the text message conversation. For SMS this is a phone number. For MMS or iMessages, this is either a phone number or an email address.

Whether you are a lawyer, law enforcement official, or simply someone who has a pending court case or legal matter, there are several solutions for saving and printing text messages so that you can preserve evidence from your mobile phone's sms message history.

iPhone

For iPhone / iPad, we recommend using Decipher TextMessage to save and print out your text messages for court. Decipher TextMessage is already a trusted and widely used program by lawyers and law enforcement officials for preserving any messaging data in a format that will hold up in a legal environment. Features include:

The software has a free trial so you can try it out without spending any money.
Text messages are saved with a time / date stamp and by contact ensuring that your documentation will be upheld in a legal setting.
Depending on the formatting your jurisdiction requires for text message transcripts, you may need to show the iPhone contact information on every individual message. Decipher TextMessage allows you to print your text messages with the contact information on each message, or to turn that option off if you prefer.
Decipher TextMessage presents your iPhone text messages and iMessages in a similar format as seen on the iPhone. (Here are links to specific instructions about printing iPhone text messages and exporting iPhone text messages to a PDF file.)
The software saves your text messages locally on your computer. None of your data is accessible by anyone but yourself and nothing is stored in the cloud.
Decipher TextMessage will also show you if there are any deleted iPhone text messages or iMessages accessible in a backup.This feature that is useful for attorneys, police officers, or governmental agencies for evidence. (Click here for our guide about recovering deleted text messages.)
Decipher TextMessage is compatible with any iPhone running iOS 18 and iOS 18.1 beta all the way back to iOS 4.
The program also supports Windows 7 and above including Windows 10 and 11. Decipher TextMessage works for macOS Sierra and above including Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura, Sonoma, and Sequoia.
You don't always need the iPhone to save your data with Decipher TextMessage. The software will automatically access and read in data from existing iTunes backups on any Windows or Mac computer.
Decipher TextMessage allows for combining text message conversations from more than one contact/group as well as selecting only a certain span of days or period of time depending on your needs.

Save text messages for court

Follow these steps to print and save text messages for court

Backup an iPhone on your computer.
Launch Decipher TextMessage.
Choose a contact whose text messages you want to save for court.
Select Export to save the text messages.
Open the saved PDF and choose Print to print the text messages for court, trial, or your lawyer.

All your text messages for court will be read into the software and displayed in chat bubble format with the contact and time/date stamp on each message. Here's an example of what you will see in the program:

iPhone Screenshots

Another way to print out your iPhone text messages is by taking screenshots of each text message screen on your device. To take a screenshot you press the "Home" and "Sleep/Wake" button to capture what is on your iPhone screen. There are various pros and cons of using the screenshot method. Some of these include:

Screenshots are quick and easy (and free!) if you only have a few text messages.
One drawback of using the screenshot method is that it is time consuming. If you have lots of messages you will need to screenshot each individual screen and organize the images into a text message transcript manually.
If you're required to show the time on every message, you'll need to slide left on the Messages app screen to reveal each message time. It's hard to do that and press the screenshot buttons, and cuts off some of the message text.
If you don't have the iPhone in your possession, there would be no way to use the screenshot method.

Video Instructions - Documenting text messages for trial or legal matters

We have step-by-step instructions outlined in our helpful YouTube video which will walk any iPhone user through the exact steps and directions so that you can immediately save your text messages for court, trial, or your attorney.

Android

There are several popular programs available for saving text messages from an Android device to your computer Some are free and some can be purchased for a fee in the Google Play Store. One popular app is SMS Backup +. The program stores texts in your Gmail account and lets you access them from any web browser.

The app is free so you can try it out without spending any money.
Printing out the text messages from any web browser is convenient and easy.
It requires that you have a Gmail account. If you don't, you can simply register for one and then be up and running with the application within minutes.

Android Screenshots

To take a screenshot of any Android device is fairly simple, however the commands are different depending on your specific device.

The first thing to try is pressing down the "sleep / wake" button and also the "volume down" button at the same time. If you see your screen "flash" then you have successfully taken a screenshot.
For Galaxy devices and other Android phones that have a "home" button, try holding down the home button and the power button simultaneously until you see the screen flash.
After taking a screenshot the image will then appear in the photo gallery app on your device. Simply look for the screenshot photo album and locate the image you just captured. You can then send, save, or share the screenshot depending on what is best for your needs.

Whether your device is an iPhone or an Android, we hope these tips for preserving and saving your text messages for court or a legal issue have been helpful. Remember to back up your mobile data to your computer on a regular basis so that all your important information is safe and secure.

Feature Phones

We've seen a few questions in the comments section of this article asking about documenting text messages for non-smart phones. Contact us via our support page if you're interested in this and we'll be happy follow up with you! Please be sure to mention the specific kind of feature phone from which you want to document sms/mms messages; the techniques and details vary depending on the phone manufacturer/operating system.

Write A Comment

Sapphire Bear
November 11, 2024
Good evening, SMS Backup + is no longer an option from the Google Play store for printing SMS messages, really for any purpose, let alone for Court. Are you at all contemplating a version of Decipher Tools for Android? Is there some kind of work-around? Do you have other suggestions? We simply have not been able to find a tool we feel is adequate and professional enough for our office to submit Android SMS to court. We have a filing deadline coming up soon and I'm a bit desperate at this point. Thank ou kindly for any suggestions.
Anna Hansen
August 8, 2022
SMS Backup+ no longer works. It is not up to date with google's security policies and the developers apparently abandoned it last year.
Questions
July 7, 2021
My backups seem to only go back about 3 years, however, on iCloud, I think the timespan is longer. How can I backup data for more years of data?
MeSha Prejean
July 7, 2021
I see all my messages but it the actual messages are in another language How do I fix this?
- Kelly HW
  July 7, 2021
  Hi MeSha,
  I see we replied to your email about this question already, but I want to make sure I answer here as well, just in case!
  Generally when this happens, it's caused by a glitch from a recent Microsoft Edge update. Restarting your PC almost always resolves the issue. If you're still seeing weird characters for the messages after a restart, please definitely contact us directly so we can troubleshoot for your specific PC configuration.
Kimberly Goodson
June 6, 2021
I was able to download a conversation but am at a loss on how to remove large portions I don't need. I need to provide a document to my lawyer with text that pertain only to the legal matter at hand. Is there an easy way to remove large portions? I tried using Word, but the formatting quickly gets weird and it doesn'l look clean. Thank you for any help!
- Decipher Tools Software
  June 6, 2021
  Thanks for the great question, Kim! We also just replied to your email. There is a Export / Current Conversation / PDF (Date Range) option that should work well for you. That way you can export only the range of messages that you need instead of trying to remove portions afterwards.
david
May 5, 2021
does this software also do the same job with WhatsApp messages or messenger messages?
- Decipher Tools Software
  May 5, 2021
  Hi David, Decipher TextMessage lets you save and print iPhone text messages to your computer as a PDF. If you need to save and print WhatsApp messages as a PDF, our software Decipher Chat would be the program you need. If you need to save and print Facebook Messenger Messages, our other program Decipher Messenger Export will let you accomplish that task. You can find all the different programs on our website. https://deciphertools.com/
John Link
May 5, 2021
What a great application!
- Decipher Tools Software
  May 5, 2021
  Thanks, John! We're really glad that Decipher TextMessage was helpful! We appreciate you letting us know. ;-)
Milov
May 5, 2021
Is it possible to do
(a) searches of all texts with particular terms (say, "Toyota") as opposed to searches for all texts to/from particular contacts; or
(b) searches for for all texts to or from a given contact that contain a particular term (say, texts to/from Sarah containing "Toyota"), or
(c) searches of texts with in a given date range that are to or from a particular contact and have a particular term (say, texts to/from Sarah containing "Toyota" between 3/1/20 and 9/1/20)?
boothby171
February 2, 2021
My client threw away her phone. It was a Trac-Phone, and we think it was an Android phone (they're so cheap these days!). And we need to be able to access her messages.
It's my understanding that the service provider stores the SMS messages on their servers (basically, "in the cloud"); does your program allow me to access the messages sorted that way? Does ANY program allow me to do that (given the carrier, and the phone's phone number)
- Decipher Tools Software
  February 2, 2021
  Decipher TextMessage lets you save text messages from any iOS device, not Android. We recommend that you check with whatever service provider or carrier that supports that specific device to see if they retain messages on their servers.
  - boothby171
    February 2, 2021
    Thank you. That is going to be my next step...
Limian1520
November 11, 2020
How does the program handle spoofed phone numbers or Burner app numbers? will it show the actual, originating number or will it show the spoofed/fake/burner number?
- Decipher Tools Software
  November 11, 2020
  Decipher TextMessage presents the data just as you see it displayed in the Messages app on the device. Whatever number is shown on the phone in the Messages app is what you will see in the program when you save / export your text messages as a PDF.
Laura Bee
June 6, 2020
I found text messages on my daughter's phone between her and her dad. Her dad was doing an amazing job alienating me from my daughter. I went on her iCloud and saved the text messages as a PDF. Her father has since deleted the messages from her iCloud. Is that PDF admissible? Is there any way to retrieve these texts?
- Decipher Tools Software
  June 6, 2020
  Hi Laura, we do our Decipher TextMessage product support via email. Happy to help that way though! ;-) Drop us a support email and we'll be happy to reply. The link is: https://deciphertools.com/s...
Keith Romich
January 1, 2020
Day-old (1-7-20) review of the SMS Backuip+ app states that it is no longer effective and support is nonexistent for this dead app.
- Kelly HW
  January 1, 2020
  Hi Keith,
  Thank you for the comment. We're working on a Decipher TextMessage for Android due to the issues with SMS Backup+. Depending on your timeline for needing your messages documented, you can send us a note via our contact form https://deciphertools.com/s... if you're interested in beta testing our new Android Decipher TextMessage!
  - Laurie Goodwyne
    February 2, 2020
    Hi Kelly - I would love to be a beta tester for your new Android Decipher TextMessage! I'm a Realtor and being able to save conversations is invaluable! You can either call me at 941-628-6505 or email me at laurie.goodwyne@gmail.com
James Campbell
September 9, 2019
Decipher Text Message shows photo attachments, for iPhone. Wish the same program was written for Android. My issue with SMS backup for Android, are the commentary regarding "bugs" and no real information for, whether or not, it shows photo attachments ... like Decipher Text Message does for iPhone. The photos are integral to my court case, with hundreds sent, and literally thousands of text messages. SO NO, screenshotting them ALL is not desirable.
Sasha hedges
September 9, 2019
I want to be able to print a whole thread of conversation had on Messenger on my IPad. How do I do this other than screenshot each section and then print all off individually? I need the info for court evidence etc.
- Decipher Tools Software
  September 9, 2019
  Hi Sasha, Decipher TextMessage lets you save and print your iPhone text messages. It does not interact with Facebook Messenger. If you have text messages on your iPhone or iPad then the software will be helpful. ;-)
Martha L.
September 9, 2019
Can this program retrieve texts from 18 months ago? It would be a thread between me and another phone number. But I got a new phone about 6 months ago (same number/apple ID). My question is are the retrieved messages only from the current device? Or from the life of the phone number account?
- Kelly HW
  September 9, 2019
  Hi Martha,
  Thanks for the great question. For most people, older messages will be available in a backup of their current device because of a few different reasons:
  1) You set up your new phone from an iCloud backup of the old iPhone.
  2) You set up your new phone from an iTunes backup of the old iPhone.
  3) You use Messages on iCloud to sync the history between iPhones/Macs.
  I would recommend scrolling up in the conversation you have on your phone to see if the older messages are available before you make the new backup of your current iPhone. To scroll much faster through the conversation history, open the Messages app to your conversation, then tap the status bar repeatedly (the bar at the top of the screen showing clock, battery, wifi etc) which will "jump" scroll up each time you tap it.
- 3dsoul27
  October 10, 2019
  Hello Martha. Maybe late but I recently had a similar problem. Then I realized that the texts could be backed up on the cloud (I got the idea from a science fiction show, go figure). So anyway I called Samsung and sure enough, we got into my cloud account and there were 29,453 text messages going back deep into 2018. She showed me how to restore it and now I have all those text messages back on my phone. It took about 15 minutes and I was worried it was frozen. But eventually it finished. maybe you can try that.
Slavi Traykov
June 6, 2019
Hi, does this program let's you export a Viber conversation?
Thanks
- Kelly HW
  July 7, 2019
  Hi Slavi,
  Thank you for the comment. Decipher TextMessage does not export Viber conversations, but it is a good feature that we should explore for our Decipher Chat software. If you're still interested in this, can you send us an email via our support page https://deciphertools.com/s... - that way we can find out what operating system you're on, and see if we're able to get the feature added within your necessary timeframe.
Kris TEN Gunsch
June 6, 2019
Getting frustrated by how many of these "helpful" blogs and youtube vids fail to mention that it's going to cost you $20 - $30 to gain the access needed in these software downloads in order to print one string of text messages. So annoyed.
- Decipher Tools Software
  June 6, 2019
  HI Kris, thanks for leaving a comment. The free trial of Decipher TextMessage will let you see, save, and print a few messages from each contact and give you a good feel if the program is right for your needs. If you want to save or print all your messages from a contact you would indeed need to upgrade to the paid version of Decipher TextMessage. If you have any other questions just drop us a note via our support page and we'll be happy to reply! ;-) https://deciphertools.com/s...
Soul Parent
February 2, 2019
hi you guys - I cannot believe I screenshot two years of texts before I found this software. ugh. though i can't seem to get the SMS messages to print out with the photos in place like the example in this thread. is there a setting I'm missing? thank you!
- Kelly HW
  February 2, 2019
  Hi Soul Parent!
  Are the photos showing up within the Decipher TextMessage program itself? It may help to troubleshoot this via email - can you contact us through our web form here? https://deciphertools.com/s...
Lisa Spatafora
December 12, 2018
How can I save group messages from an S9 for court?
- Decipher Tools Software
  December 12, 2018
  For a Samsung phone you might want to check out the SMS Backup + recommendation that we mention in the blog. Hopefully that might help!
Christina Baker
June 6, 2018
I want to download the text messages between my client and a third party as opposed to having screenshots. However, when I try to use this software it is asking me to use my iCloud and I do not want my client's phone added to my iCloud. Is there a different way to go about this?
- Decipher Tools Software
  June 6, 2018
  Hi Christina, Decipher TextMessage never requires that you use iCloud. To use the software you only need to make a local iTunes backup of your iPhone on your computer. If you have any further questions, just contact us via our support page and we'll be happy to help! ;-)
  - Christina Baker
    June 6, 2018
    I also do not want to connect it to my iTunes. Do I need to do that? It is not my phone.
    Decipher Tools Software
    June 6, 2018
    iTunes is required. You would need to make a one time backup of the device on a computer.
Melissa Miller-Perez
December 12, 2017
can select messages from a contact be selected to print, or does the entire message thread have to be printed and exported?
- Decipher Tools Software
  December 12, 2017
  You can do either. You can export the entire message thread for that contact or if you want to narrow it down, you can choose the "export by date" option which lets narrow down the export of messages to just one day if you prefer. ;-)
Heather Mitchell
November 11, 2017
so this is a one time purchase, but i can use it repeatedly? I mean, sure I can grab all the mesages from the past... but how about once a new thread is started? can i also grab those each week/month etc? thanks
- Kelly HW
  November 11, 2017
  Hi Heather,
  As you run Decipher TextMessage later and it reads new information for the same iPhone from new backups, it will append those new messages to a running history for the device. I hope that answers your question!
  - C'est Moi
    November 11, 2017
    excellent... can the data be modified, such as font size? I have a couple years of texts that I want documented and i'd like to know if i can copy/past the content into word and divide with 3-4 columns to take less paper. Is this possible?
    Kelly HW
    November 11, 2017
    Hi C'est - you can definitely adjust the font size within DTM, or export the conversation and adjust the zoom level in the print settings! For the columns... send us an email: https://deciphertools.com/s... I am actually adding a 2-column option (and we can discuss 3 columns) for the next update and we can send you a version to preview.
Tony
September 9, 2017
What if I back up my iPhone on my iCloud account. Can Decipher recover texts from an iCloud back-up?
- Kelly HW
  September 9, 2017
  We're working on support for reading messages from iCloud backups, but Decipher TextMessage currently doesn't support it. However, you can back up your iPhone in iTunes manually and it won't affect your iCloud backup settings. https://deciphertools.com/s...
Divinus Luciferase
September 9, 2017
The device I want to print messages from aren't on the list. How do I add my iPhone 6S Plus?
- Decipher Tools Software
  September 9, 2017
  We replied to your email with help. You would need to back up your iPhone as we recommend in our FAQ. ;-)
pictone
July 7, 2017
Hi, I have a flip phone and need to print out text messages for a possible court case.
- Decipher Tools Software
  July 7, 2017
  Our guide is for smartphones only. ;-)
Tania
July 7, 2017
What about large Facebook messenger app discussions? Can we save those including pictures and timestamps?
- Kelly HW
  July 7, 2017
  I am looking into this Tania! If you want to send us an email so we can followup with you if we have something to test, you can do so here: https://deciphertools.com/s... Or I will try to remember to comment here also. Thanks for the suggestion!
Bradley L. Hamilton
June 6, 2017
These methods are not court-admissible or otherwise forensically sound.
- Decipher Tools Software
  June 6, 2017
  Hi Bradley, we've had many users of Decipher TextMessage write us after their court appearances expressing gratitude since the messages they exported and printed with the software were admissible for their case. However, it's definitely up to the specific court and states as to what documentation is acceptable or not. Usually someone's lawyer can give them more detailed guidance on that front regarding their state or county. One feature of the software that many users seem to appreciate for court related matters is the Decipher TextMessage preference that displays the contact info on every single text message, sent and received. This is a feature which many lawyers ask their clients for and one that is not offered by the iPhone messages app itself.
briana
May 5, 2017
hey all so how do I print off my message records? I have walmart mobile and they only show the numbers not the full text messages
- Kelly HW
  May 5, 2017
  Hi Briana,
  What kind of phone do you have (Android, iPhone, Feature/Flip phone)? Printing the text messages is different for all of the different kind of devices, and I know Walmart has a few different plans including bring your own device. :) Let us know and we'll try to help as best we can.
Summer Beshore
April 4, 2017
Every app I use for this purpose, including SMS backup, only allows you to see texts received...my responses don't show up. I need the whole conversation - Can anyone help?
Ronni
September 9, 2016
What about non-smart phones?
- ultracalicokittycat
  October 10, 2016
  right! that's what I'm wondering.....
- bobby slay
  January 1, 2017
  Get on your horse and go to UPS and send a fax. LMFAO Cmon man....
- Libby
  July 7, 2017
  you will have to take a photo of the message and then put it on your computer.

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