Exhibitly: Texts to Court PDF

Turn your iPhone and Mac text messages into a clear, numbered PDF you can hand to your lawyer or the court. Plus an Excel file, and every photo and attachment in its original form.

Download the free preview · Buy Exhibitly · macOS 14 or later

Who it’s for

If you need to show a conversation to someone who has to read it carefully, Exhibitly is for you. Most people who use it are:

• Going through a divorce, custody or co-parenting dispute, and need to show what was said, and when.
• Dealing with harassment or threats, and need a complete, dated record for a protective order or the police.
• In a small claims, landlord, tenant or work dispute, where a few weeks of texts tell the story.
• Helping a client, as a lawyer or paralegal who needs a clean export from a client’s phone.
• Keeping memories, such as years of messages with a parent or partner who has died.

Screenshots crop out context, hide timestamps and show contact names instead of phone numbers. Printing from the Messages app on a Mac only prints what is loaded on screen, and often the Mac doesn’t have your older messages at all. Exhibitly reads the full history from an iPhone backup, so you get the whole conversation, from the first message.

How it works

1. Make a backup of your iPhone on your Mac. In Finder, click your iPhone and choose Back Up Now. Encrypted backups work too: you type your own backup password into Exhibitly. Not sure how? Follow our guide: How to make an iPhone backup on a Mac. You can also skip this step and use the messages already in the Messages app on your Mac.
2. Pick the conversation. Exhibitly lists your conversations with names and phone numbers. Choose one, then the whole thread, a date range, or just the messages that matter, with a few messages of context before and after. The export sheet always says which one you are exporting, and the PDF marks where messages were left out of an excerpt.
3. Check and redact. Look through the preview, and hide anything that shouldn’t be shared, such as another person’s address or a child’s school. Redactions are saved on your Mac, so they are still there if you quit and come back.
4. Export. You get a PDF, an Excel file and a folder of original attachments, ready to email to your lawyer or print.

What the PDF contains

• Every message with its date, time and sender, shown with their phone number (or email address for iMessage) and the contact name you saved. Your own messages show your number too, when your iPhone backup or Mac records it.
• Sent and received clearly marked, in the order they happened.
• Photos shown inline, next to the message they came with.
• Page numbers on every page, as “Page 3 of 41”.
• A folder of original attachments (photos, videos, voice notes, files), each listed with its SHA-256 fingerprint so anyone can check it hasn’t changed.
• An Excel file with one row per message, for sorting, filtering and building a timeline, plus a summary sheet saying what was exported.
• A verification page that lists the sources that were read, the export settings and the SHA-256 fingerprint of every attachment and of the databases that were read.
• SHA256SUMS.txt, a small file in the export folder with the SHA-256 fingerprint of every file in the folder, including the PDF and the Excel file, so anyone can check the files haven’t changed since you exported them.
• Optional: “Messages as text.txt”, a plain text copy of the messages, for searching scripts such as Arabic that some PDF viewers cannot search or copy well.
• Clear file names, such as “Exhibit A - Jordan Smith - 2025-01-01 to 2025-06-30.pdf”, with the dates the messages cover.

With the Evidence Bundle, you also get:

• An exhibit cover page with the exhibit label, the people in the conversation, the date range and the number of messages.
• Bates numbers, a unique number stamped on every page, with your own prefix.
• iPhone and Mac merged into one conversation, when some messages are only on one of them. Personal reads one source per export (the Mac or one iPhone backup), which you choose; Evidence Bundle combines them, also two backups of the same iPhone.

Exhibitly doesn’t decide whether your messages are admissible. Rules differ between courts and countries, so check your court’s rules or ask a lawyer about what to file.

Your messages stay on your Mac

Everything happens on your own Mac. Exhibitly never uploads your messages, photos or backup anywhere, and it contains no tracking or analytics. Your backup password is used only on your Mac, to open the backup, and is never sent anywhere. Exhibitly only reads your backup and your Messages folder; it never changes them. Details are in the privacy policy.

Pricing

• Free preview: every feature, up to 50 messages per export, and the PDF is watermarked “PREVIEW, NOT FOR FILING”. Check the result before you pay.
• Personal, USD 39 one-time: unlimited exports to PDF and Excel with a verification page, attachments, excerpts and redaction, from one source per export.
• Evidence Bundle, USD 69 one-time: everything in Personal, plus Bates numbers, exhibit cover page and merging iPhone and Mac. Already have Personal? Upgrade for USD 30 by emailing support@kayabyte.dev with your licence key.

Both include one year of updates, use on up to 3 Macs, and a 14-day refund. No subscription. See full pricing.

Download the free preview · Buy Exhibitly

Questions

Do I need a Mac? Yes. Exhibitly is a Mac app and needs macOS 14 or later. Your iPhone can be any model that Finder can back up.

Does it work with Android or WhatsApp? Not today. Exhibitly exports iMessage, SMS and RCS messages from an iPhone or a Mac.

My Mac only has a few months of messages. Will I get the older ones? Yes, if they’re still on your iPhone. A backup made in Finder contains the messages stored on the iPhone, which is often years more than the Mac has.

My backup is encrypted. Is that a problem? No. Type the backup password you chose when you turned on encryption. If you’ve forgotten it, our backup guide explains what you can do.

Can it recover deleted messages? No. Exhibitly exports the messages that are in your backup or on your Mac. It doesn’t try to recover deleted ones.

How long a conversation can it handle? Exhibitly is built for long histories with years of messages and many photos. Big exports take longer, so start with the free preview to see how your conversation looks.

Is the PDF accepted by courts? Courts decide what they accept, and most also want you (or another witness) to confirm the messages are genuine. Exhibitly gives you a complete, dated, numbered document that is easy to check. Check your court’s rules or ask a lawyer before you file.

Will the other person know I exported our messages? Exhibitly doesn’t send anything to anyone. If you share an Apple Account or Mac with someone, keep in mind they may see that a backup was made or that the app is installed.

Can I use it for more than one case or person? Yes. One licence is for one person on up to 3 of their Macs, with unlimited exports.

What happens after the year of updates? The app keeps working as it is. Your licence never expires.

Helpful guides

Practical guides that work with or without Exhibitly: all guides.

• How to print text messages from iPhone for court
• Text messages as evidence in family court: a practical checklist
• Custody evidence binder: what to include

Support

Email support@kayabyte.dev. Exhibitly is made by Kayabyte, the trading name of Caner Kaya, Stasjonsveien 64, 0771 Oslo, Norway. See also the terms of service and refund policy.

iPhone, Mac, iMessage and Finder are trademarks of Apple Inc. Exhibitly is not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple Inc. Kayabyte is not a law firm and this site does not give legal advice.