How to make a memory book from text messages

By Caner Kaya, Kayabyte · Last updated 16 October 2026

Years of messages with someone can hold a whole relationship: good mornings, inside jokes, photos, the ordinary days. People turn them into printed books for many reasons. A gift for a partner on an anniversary. A keepsake for a child going off to university. And very often, a way to hold on to the words of a parent, a friend or a partner who has died.

If you’re doing this after a loss, I’m sorry. Take your time. The messages aren’t going anywhere if you keep them safe, and there’s no need to finish this in one sitting.

This guide covers how to keep the messages safe first, then three ways to make the book.

First, keep the messages safe

Before anything else, make sure the conversation can’t be lost.

1. Keep messages forever. On iPhone, go to Settings, Messages (on newer iOS, Settings, Apps, Messages), Keep Messages, and choose Forever.
2. Don’t delete the conversation, even if it’s painful to see it in your list. You can mute or hide it instead.
3. Make a backup on a computer. A backup of your iPhone made on a Mac keeps a full copy, even if your phone is lost or broken. Here’s how: How to make an iPhone backup on a Mac (and encrypt it).
4. Save the photos and voice messages. Touch and hold a photo, tap Save. For audio messages, touch and hold and choose Save if you see it, so they go into your files. Voice notes from someone you’ve lost are precious and can’t go in a printed book, so keep them separately.
5. If the phone belonged to the person who died, don’t reset it or cancel their phone number until you’ve made a backup and know how to unlock it. Apple has a process for Legacy Contacts and for requesting access to a deceased person’s account, if you need it.

Option 1: Screenshots into a photo book

This is the simplest route and works with any photo book service.

1. Open the conversation. Scroll to the messages you want.
2. Take screenshots (side button plus volume up). Swipe left and hold first if you want the times to show.
3. In the Photos app, put the screenshots in an album, in order.
4. Upload the album to any photo book service, or make a book in an app you already use, and arrange one or two screenshots per page.
5. Add photos you shared, and short captions with dates or memories.

Good for: a selection of favourite moments. Harder for: a whole conversation over years, which would be thousands of screenshots.

Option 2: Print from a Mac and take it to a print shop

If your messages sync to a Mac:

1. Open the conversation in Messages on the Mac and scroll up to the start, so it all loads.
2. Choose File, Print, then PDF, Save as PDF.
3. Open the PDF and check it. Take it to a local print shop or upload it to an online book printing service that accepts PDFs, and choose a binding.

This gives you the full conversation in one go. The look is plain, photos sometimes don’t come through, and very long conversations can be slow to print. See How to print iMessages from a Mac for tips. If the Mac only has recent messages, the older ones may only be on the iPhone.

Option 3: Export from your iPhone backup

Your iPhone has the full history. With a backup made in Finder, an app can read the whole conversation from the very first message, including photos, and produce a PDF you can print as a book.

1. Back up your iPhone to your Mac in Finder.
2. Open the backup in an export app, choose the conversation and the dates.
3. Export to PDF, look through it, then print it as a book.

Where Exhibitly helps

Exhibitly is a Mac app we make. It’s built mainly for people who need their texts for court, but the same features make a good memory book:

• It reads the whole conversation from your iPhone backup, encrypted ones too, so you get years of messages, not only what’s on your Mac.
• The PDF shows every message with its date and time, and photos inline, where they were sent.
• You get a folder of all the original photos, videos and voice notes, so nothing is lost in printing.
• You can pick a date range, or choose favourite messages, for a shorter book.
• You can redact anything private you’d rather not print.

Everything happens on your Mac; your messages are never uploaded. The Personal edition (USD 39, one-time) is all you need for a memory book. Try the free preview first to see how your conversation looks.

Exhibitly’s PDF is designed to be clear and readable rather than decorative. If you want a designed book with colours and special layouts, you can take the exported PDF and photos into a book design tool, or use them as the base for option 1.

Ideas for the book

• Start with the first message you ever exchanged, if you can find it.
• Choose a range: one year, a special trip, the months before a wedding or a birth.
• Add context: a short note at the start of each section about what was happening in your lives.
• Mix in photos you took together, not only those sent in messages.
• Leave space for handwritten notes, or for other family members to add their memories.
• Print a few copies. Siblings, children and friends often want one too.

A gentle note

Reading back through old messages can bring up a lot. It’s OK to stop and come back another day. Some people find it easier to ask a friend to help with the technical part, so they can focus on choosing what matters.