Extracting iMessage Conversations

Hi there,
I'm running Mountain Lion OS X (10.8.2) and recently updated to iTunes v11. Is there any way I can extract an entire iMessage conversation off my iPhone 4 and save it in either iTunes or even in a Word document? The conversation is very long (roughly 2 years).
Any insight or suggestions of third party softwares would be great! Thanks

Thank you Meg St._Clair.
However, the demo version of PhoneView only showed the past three conversations, and the particular conversation I want to save does not appear. Do you know if I will have to purchase the full version of PhoneView to be able to do this?
I haven't checked out TouchCopy, but I'll give it a try.
I only want to extract and save this conversation just once, then delete the whatever software can do that. So whatever demo version will allow me to do this would be perfect.
Thanks again

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Is there a way to extract iMessages from Mac to PDF or .txt format?

I've been searching the net but to no avail. All results point to backing up/extracting iMessages from iDevices other than a Mac. I'm going to change my Apple ID and I want to at least have a copy of the previous convos I had if PDF or .txt format. Thanks in advance!

HI,
If you have the Save on Close option enabled in Messages > Preferences > Messages then all Chats and conversations are saved.
They can be recalled any time.
1) In the Messages app the File Menu > Recent Items will list the last X number of chats.
X is the number set in System Preferences > General pane about the number of Documents, Applications and Servers shown in such lists.
2) old migrated iChat Saved chats are in Your Home Folder/Documents/iChats
3) New Saves are in your Home Folder/Library/Messages/Archive although this Library is Hidden.
In th Finder > Go Menu > Go to Folder and type ~/Library/Messages into the dialogue box that appears.
I have 10 non iMessages accounts as well as my iMessages account logged in when I am on line.
I can call up any of the last Chats shown in Recent Items no matter which account they came from (different Screen Name or Jabber IDs or even Bonjour chats)
I have not actually changed my iMessages ID to check but the app will continue to save to the same Folder and it should be able to retrieve recent ones.
Visiting the folder and double clicking an older chat tends to launch it in a new window separate from the Messages Window itself (no Side bar no, Text field at the bottom, no "To" spot).
8:31 PM Friday; March 29, 2013
 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.3)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Is there a way to hide an iMessage conversation without deleting it?

Is there a way to hide an iMessage conversation without deleting it?
I recently went through a breakup and would like to not see my ex's face and messages every time I pull iMessage up, but I also don't want to delete them. I have the most up to date versions of iMessage on my Macbook Pro and iPhone 5C as of this post (10-5-14)

Hi,
iMessages account on the Mac (in the Messages app) stores the iMessages in a Chat.db item
IF you dismiss a conversation from view (mouse over it and use the x that appears) the chat.db will supply the "History" if and when you contact that person again.
However it is worthwhile also creating a back up of some sort.
As well as Time Machine it can also help to highlight the whole Chat (work from the most recent end to the "top" of the conversation to highlight it all.
You can then Print and Save as PDF.
You can back up your iPhone in iTunes.
These can be used to Restore the iPhone back to that time. (you do lose all new things added since the Backup was made.)
There are various tools out there to extract info from iTunes Backups of iOS devices, which might help.
Of course the Messages app on the Mac also has a Settings for Saving on close. (it will Save if you dismiss the chat/Conversation and when the app is closed/Quit)
Over and extended conversation or chat that lasts days or months each Session on the computer is Saved.
Again you can dismiss the chat/conversation form view as you have saved versions (in parts) of the conversation.
(You cannot Save a chat or conversation in Retrospect.)
8:42 pm Sunday; October 5, 2014
 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad

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So I have an iphone 5 which cost me a lot of money. We have an ipad, 3 ipods (one being the new 5 which costs $279.00 plus tax) and nowhere can I find out how to retrieve an imessage conversation which was cleared in error. Well, I did a google search and found help, yes I saw my conversation, it was all there but to go any further I have to buy the activation to have it, total being $90.00. Pretty sure that I have enough $$$$ invested that surely Apple can resolve this issue for me, obviously it can be retrieved, because this program worked but why should I pay for it? Can apple not help me out? Very frustrated!!!

First, you're not addressing Apple here. This is a user-to-user technical support forum.
Second, if you back up your phone after you received the messages but before you deleted them, you can restore the phone to that back up. You can also try a utiliy such as BackUpExtractor (which is far less than $90) to extract the messages from your back up. I believe this was explained to you in your previous post as well.
Best of luck.

I have Iphone 5 and have an issue with deleting part of the messages in Imessage conversation. The trash button is not displayed to delete part of the imessage. I see only delete all option. Is it a bug?

I have Iphone 5 and have an issue with deleting part of the messages in Imessage conversation. The trash button is not displayed to delete part of the imessage. I see only delete all option. Is it a bug?

Hi An Iphone user,
If you are having issues deleting a specific message from an iMessage conversation (not seeing the Trash icon), you may want to double-check that you are following the steps outlined in the following article:
How do I delete a message?
To delete a message, tap and hold the message bubble, then tap More.
Tap Delete All to delete all the messages. Or tap to select the messages you want to delete, then tap .
After you delete a message, you can recover it only by restoring from a backup.
Send messages with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
Regards,
- Brenden

I believe some how some way my iPhone or appleID has been hacked into. My iPhone sent 3 iMessages out that I did not type or send - 2 while I was sleeping and one while I was in mid imessage conversation. Please help if you know anything about this!

I believe that my iPhone or apple ID has been hacked into. Three imessages were sent from my phone that I did not type or send - two while I was asleep at 1:15am and in the morning during an iMessage conversation. These messages were to my boyfriend about my boss. Apple and AT&T have been somewhat helpful but both are pointing fingers at the others saying they cannot track the message or see if my personal information has been compromised. I feel extremely violated because this hacker knows who my boyfriend is and who my boss is and I just started this job two weeks ago! I am about to go to the police because this person is trying to taint my good reputation and destroy my relationships at work and in my personal life. Does anyone have any incite on how this could be done and is there any way to trace where those three iMessages were generated from??

No I have my own iPhone iPad and MacBook so everything is set up on devices that are mine and as far as I know I never connected to anyone else's device and logged with my apple ID. But are you saying it is possible for someone to have obtained my apple ID and send an iMessage from their device with my contact information so it looks like it came directly from me? It's crazy I looked down at my iPhone and saw this message had just been sent that I did not type or send

How do I stop the iMessage conversation from automatically showing when I go into the I message center? I only want the contacts to show down the left side and nothing on the right until I select a conversation to view.

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IPhone 6 - Printing iMessage Conversations

Hello,
I am interested in printing a conversation in iMessage that was started in October 14, 2014. It is currently on my iPhone 6.
I understand how to print an iMessage conversation via a MacBook Pro, but do not know how to do so from a phone.
If I log into iMessage on my MacBook Pro, how can I retrieve the history of the conversation that is stored on my iPhone. (I'm pretty sure my iMessage might be backed up by iCloud!)
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Thanks,
mladha

Thank you so much! I will definitely check it out later on my Mac!

Saving/Printing iMessage conversations

Hi,
I'm starting the process of applying for a Fiancee visa to the US for my Chinese fiancee, and I'm collecting proof of our relationship. Is there a way for me to download, save, and/or print all of my iMessage conversations with her?
I know I can go into "Messages" on the iPhone, select "Edit", and then select each individual message to forward to an email. But we've got thousands of iMessages over two years. Is there an easier way to do this?
Thanks for your help!

If on a Mac, you can use this:
http://www.ecamm.com/mac/phoneview/
A PC, this:
http://www.wideanglesoftware.com/touchcopy/index.php

I accidentally clear my iMessage conversations in my macbook pro, will it clear also my iPhone and iPad iMessage conversations?

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No.
9:23 pm Wednesday; December 10, 2014
 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
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I have managed to delete a full iMessage conversation that meant a lot to me. Is there any way of recovering this directly back on to my iPhone? I'm not all that clued up with what I have backed-up and how to use recovery etc.

I have done a back up of my phone and luckily it was yesterday afternoon so wont be losing much if I restore it. However this brings me to my next query, I tried to recover the iPhone however it told me there is not enough space on the iPhone to do so. Does this mean I have to clear the iPhone and then recover it?

Sync old iMessage conversations from iPhone to new iPad & Mac?

I have had my iPhone for a couple years now, and have accumulated a fairly large amount of iMessage conversations from various people. A few days ago, I purchased my first iPad and also updated my Mac to Mountain Lion. By doing so, I now have access to iMessage on three devices in total, whereas before I only had one.
I have managed to setup my devices so that all new iMessages I send and receive are being synced between them. However, is it possible to sync my old iMessage conversations from my iPhone back onto my iPad and Mac?
I would like to do so in order to keep a full record of the past conversations I have had with my contacts.
I have done a bit of research before posting, but the only related topics I found werehttps://discussions.apple.com/message/19095937 andhttps://discussions.apple.com/message/17818920. The former was left unresolved, whereas the latter describes a solution which I am unable to reproduce.
Could anyone shed some light on this for me?

Hi,
For me this was very early on in my Mountain Lion days.
I would now say that you cannot sync iMessages from an iOS device that were sent before your linked any Apple ID with the iPhone Number or added the Mac to the use of the Apple ID.
At the point at which and Apple ID is used on both an iPad and the Mac version of Messages becomes it's "Start date"
The same can be said for adding an Apple ID to an iPhone and the Mac.
On the Mac all messages can be saved if you wish.
This are in the .ichat format which you can send to Mac Buddies and then can open them and read them as if they were the chat (i.e they display as "chats').
There appears to be no way in iTunes to access the iMessages (or SMS ones) on the iPhone.
Someone who knows more about the iOS may be able to tell you if they are accessible another way.
8:52 PM Friday; May 24, 2013
 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.3)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

I setup messages on my new macbook and now when I have an imessage conversation from my phone it says my email address. How do I change this?

I setup messages on my new macbook and now when I have an imessage conversation from my phone it says my email address. How do I change this?

Messages Preferences, select iMessage account, Start new conversations from:
Same on iPhone, but in the Settings under Messages.

How do you disable the feature to 'keep iMessage conversations running between two devices'?

I have 2 apple devices- an iPhone 4 and an iPad 2. When I set my iPad up and set iMessage up set it offered me the option to keep iMessage conversations running between the two devices, and i pressed yes. I now cannot stand this feature because every time I recieve an iMessage, I get two alerts, one on each device. How do you disable it?

Hi DeltaNomad,
Welcome to the Support Communities!
You can disable the Substitutions feature completely, or add words you frequently use to the substitutions list. See this information from the Pages User Guide:
Replace text automatically - Pages Help for Mac
http://help.apple.com/pages/mac/5.1/#/tanca15d8a79
When Text Replacement is turned on for the document, a checkmark appears next to Text Replacement in the Substitutions menu. You can deselect Text Replacement to turn it off, but existing text won’t change unless you select the text, and then follow the steps above.
Choose Edit > Substitutions > Show Substitutions (from the Edit menu at the top of your computer screen).
In the Substitutions window, select the Text Replacement checkbox, then click Text Preferences.
Click Text, click the plus sign, then type the text you want to replace (such as “teh”) in the Replace column.
Type the word you want to replace it with (such as “the”) in the With column.
Close the window when you’re done editing substitutions.
Click a button to replace all occurrences of the replacement text in the document, or only in the selected text.
Cheers,
- Judy

Sync old iMessage conversations

Hello there!
Is there a way to sync my old iMessage conversations from my iPad to my iPhone and Mac? Currenty I have lots of chat history in my iMessage app on my iPad and would like to have the same on my other devices aswell. I've searched several forums for an answer in this issue but I've been unable to find a solution. Hopefully someone here can help me.

Congrats On getting an Ipad! If you go into settings and go to Imessage sign in with your apple ID on all of your accounts (ex [email protected]) and pass (1234%%%) all on of your accounts you will get all the message from now on if you want to get past messages you have to select the Persons Message tab and then you got to click on foward and you type in your same ID I hope that this has helped you out!

Extracting iMessage Conversations

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