Export iPhone text messages and iMessages from your Mac to one PDF, with the exact time of every message, who sent it and the photos in place. No screenshots. Free to preview, $24.99 once to export.
See a sample pageTextExhibit runs on a Mac.Reading this on your phone? Send yourself the link and open it on the Mac where you will export.
Send the link to my Mac$24.99
once, with no subscription
3Macs
on one license
14days
to ask for a refund
0
messages uploaded anywhere
TextExhibit, for iPhone texts on your Mac
The layout people ask for when texts become evidence: a cover page, then every message in order, one per line, with the details a screenshot leaves off.
Exhibit A · Text messagesAlex Rivera
IMG_4471.HEIC · 2.1 MB · SHA-256 9f2c 41ab e07d …SAMPLE000003Page 3 of 12
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Open TextExhibit and choose where your messages are: the Messages app on this Mac, your iPhone over a cable, or a backup already on the Mac.
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Search by name, number or words. Choose a date range if you only need part of it, and check the preview, page by page.
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Add a case name, an exhibit label or Bates numbers if you need them. You get the PDF, the original attachments and a hash list in one folder, ready to send.
TextExhibit reads the messages database Apple keeps, so it gets the real times and numbers instead of reading pictures of your screen.
Your iPhone over a cable: TextExhibit makes a fresh backup of it on your Mac and reads the messages from that. Green-bubble SMS texts are included, and it works whether or not your messages sync to iCloud.
The Messages app on this Mac, when your iPhone syncs messages to it with Messages in iCloud. macOS asks you to allow Full Disk Access first, and TextExhibit shows you where.
A backup already on your Mac, made with Finder, including encrypted backups (you type the backup password). Useful when the phone is lost, broken or already reset.
Screenshots are how most people start, and sometimes they are enough. When someone needs to rely on the messages, these are the gaps they tend to ask about.
ScreenshotsOnly what the screen showed: “Yesterday”, a weekday, or a time header every so often.
ExportDate and time to the second on every message, with the time zone printed.
ScreenshotsA contact name, or nothing at all in a one-to-one chat.
ExportEach sender’s name and phone number or email address.
ScreenshotsHard to tell. Screens overlap, skip, or stop where you stopped scrolling.
ExportEvery message in the date range you chose, in order, with the count on the cover page.
ScreenshotsCropped into the bubble, or sent separately and hard to match up.
ExportShown where they were sent, with the original files in the same folder.
ScreenshotsDozens or hundreds of separate images.
ExportOne PDF with page numbers, and Bates numbers if your lawyer asks for them.
ScreenshotsNothing on the image says.
ExportA cover page with the source, the export time and the software, and a SHA-256 hash for every file.
General information, not legal advice. Whether a court accepts evidence, and in what form, depends on the court, the judge and the rules where you are. Ask your lawyer or the court clerk what they want. Are screenshots of texts admissible?
Messages are private, often more than anything else on the phone. TextExhibit reads and exports them on your Mac and nowhere else.
Exports made without a license carry a watermark on every page, so you can see exactly what you will get before you pay. Pay once, only if it is what you need.
For finding the messages and checking the result.
Exports carry a watermark.
For sending the PDF to your lawyer, the other side or the court.
No subscription. Export as often as you like.
Price in USD. Buying opens a secure checkout, and your license key arrives by email. Requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Pricing details
What it reads, what the PDF shows, and what we cannot promise.
All questions Text message guidesIt reads the text messages and iMessages from your iPhone, through your Mac, and turns one conversation into a PDF: every message in order with the date and time to the second, the sender's name and number, photos where they were sent, page numbers, and a cover page that says how the export was made. It can also write a CSV spreadsheet and an HTML page, and it puts the original attachments and a SHA-256 hash list in the same folder.
We cannot promise that, and nobody honestly can. Whether text messages are admitted, and in what form, is decided by the court under the rules where you are, and it usually turns on testimony about who sent them, not on the file format. TextExhibit makes the export complete, readable and easy to check, with exact times, numbers and a cover page. Ask your lawyer or the court clerk what format they want. This is general information, not legal advice.
No. If your iPhone syncs messages to this Mac with Messages in iCloud, TextExhibit can read them from the Messages app. If not, connect the iPhone with a cable and TextExhibit makes a fresh backup on your Mac and reads the messages from it. It can also open a backup you already made with Finder.
Yes. Green-bubble SMS and MMS texts are in the same database as iMessages, so they come along when the source has them. Group chats export with every participant's name and number. Photos are shown in the PDF where they were sent, and every attachment is copied into the export folder. If a file is not on the device or in the backup, the PDF says so instead of skipping it.
No. TextExhibit reads and exports on your Mac. Messages, contacts and attachments are never sent to us or to anyone else, there is no account, and nothing is installed on your iPhone. The app goes online only to check a license key and to look for updates.
Reading your messages, searching them and previewing the full export are free. Exports made without a license carry a watermark on every page. A license is $24.99 once, with no subscription, works on 3 Macs and comes with a 14-day refund.
No. TextExhibit is a Mac app and needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later. An iPhone app cannot read the messages database, which is why phone apps ask for screenshots instead. If you only have a Windows PC, see our guide on exporting iPhone texts on Windows for the options we know of.
Download TextExhibit and preview your export for free. Pay $24.99 once when you are ready to send it.
