How to export an iMessage conversation to PDF
By Caner Kaya, Kayabyte · Last updated 16 October 2026
You might want an iMessage conversation as a PDF for many reasons: to send to a lawyer, keep as a record of an agreement, hold on to messages from someone you’ve lost, or just make a copy before you change phones. Apple doesn’t have an “Export conversation” button on the iPhone, but there are a few ways to get there.
This guide covers the free routes first, then where a dedicated app saves time.
Which route is right for you?
| Your situation | Best route |
|---|---|
| A short conversation, a few screens | Screenshots, then combine into a PDF |
| You have a Mac and the conversation is fully there | Print to PDF from Messages on the Mac |
| A long conversation, or the Mac is missing older messages | Export from an iPhone backup with an app |
| It’s for court or a lawyer | An export that shows date, time and number on every message |
Route 1: Screenshots into a PDF (iPhone only)
- Open the conversation in Messages and scroll to the start of the part you need.
- To show the time of each message, swipe left and hold, then take a screenshot (side button plus volume up).
- Scroll down, overlapping a little each time, and keep taking screenshots.
- Open the Photos app, tap Select, and choose all the screenshots in order.
- Tap the Share button, then Print. On the print preview, pinch outwards on the first page (spread two fingers) to open it as a PDF.
- Tap Share again and choose Save to Files or send it by email.
This is fine for a handful of screens. It’s slow and error-prone for long conversations, and the PDF is a set of pictures, so you can’t search its text.
Route 2: Print to PDF from Messages on a Mac
If your Mac is signed in to the same Apple Account and Messages in iCloud is on, your iMessages will appear on the Mac.
- Open Messages on the Mac and click the conversation.
- Scroll up to the oldest message you want. Keep scrolling until the Mac stops loading more. It only prints what’s loaded.
- Choose File, Print.
- In the print window, click the PDF menu at the bottom left and choose Save as PDF.
- Give it a name and save it.
Things to check in the result: Are all the messages there, from the start? Can you see the date and time of the important ones? Is the other person shown by name only, or with a number? Are photos showing? If anything is missing, see How to print iMessages from a Mac for fixes and limits.
Route 3: Export from an iPhone backup
The iPhone usually has the most complete history. If you back up the iPhone to your Mac in Finder, that backup contains your messages, and an export app can read them and build a PDF.
- Make a backup in Finder. Here’s how: How to make an iPhone backup on a Mac (and encrypt it).
- Open the backup in an export app. If it’s encrypted, type the backup password.
- Choose the conversation and the dates.
- Export to PDF, then check it page by page.
There are command-line tools that can do this for free if you’re comfortable using Terminal, though they usually produce text or web pages rather than a finished PDF. For most people, an app with a normal window is easier.
What makes a good PDF of a conversation
Whatever route you take, a PDF is far more useful when it has:
- The date and time on each message, not only at the start of a day.
- Who sent each message, with the phone number or email address, not only a contact name.
- Photos in place, next to the message they came with, rather than blank boxes.
- Page numbers.
- Real text, so you or a lawyer can search for a word.
- The original files, such as photos and voice notes, kept alongside it, since a PDF can’t play audio or video.
Where Exhibitly helps
Exhibitly is a Mac app we make for exactly this. It reads an iPhone backup made in Finder (encrypted backups too, with your password) or the Messages on your Mac, and exports a conversation to:
- A PDF with the date, time and sender on every message, with phone number or email, page numbers and photos inline.
- An Excel file, one row per message.
- A folder of original attachments, each with a SHA-256 fingerprint so anyone can check it hasn’t been changed.
You can export a whole conversation, a date range, or hand-picked messages with a few messages of context around each one, and redact details you don’t want to share. If it’s for court, the Evidence Bundle edition adds an exhibit cover page and Bates numbers. Every edition includes a verification page listing the sources read and the SHA-256 fingerprints of the attachments and databases, a SHA256SUMS.txt file with the fingerprint of every exported file (the PDF and Excel file too), and, if you want it, a plain text copy of the messages (“Messages as text.txt”) for searching.
Everything happens on your Mac, nothing is uploaded, and you pay once (USD 39 or USD 69), with no subscription. The free preview has every feature, limited to 50 messages per export with a watermark on the PDF, so you can see the result first.
Tips
- Don’t edit the PDF afterwards if it’s going to be used as evidence. If something needs hiding, use redaction before exporting, and keep an unredacted copy safe in case you’re asked for it.
- Keep the original conversation on your phone. A PDF is a copy; the phone is the source.
- Name files clearly, for example “Messages with J Smith 2025-01-01 to 2025-06-30.pdf”. Exhibitly names its files this way: the exhibit label, the conversation and the first and last date it covers.
- Store it safely. A PDF of private messages is sensitive. Don’t leave it in a shared folder.
If you need the conversation in a spreadsheet instead, see How to export iPhone messages to Excel.