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TextMint guide

How to save text messages from an Android phone as a PDF

By Tim Grootes, Bumblly · Last updated

Android phones back up your texts, but a backup is for putting them back on a phone, not for reading or sending. To keep one conversation as a document, you need a file you can open. Here are the ways to get one.

We make TextMint, an app that turns conversations into dated PDFs. The free ways come first.

Built in

What Android backs up

Google's Android Help says your phone backs up SMS and MMS messages to your Google Account, and that you can restore that backup to the same phone or another Android phone (Android Help). It is a way to move or rescue messages. It does not give you a document you can read, print or send.

Free

Screenshots and screen recordings

Press Power and Volume down to take a screenshot. On Android 12 and later, Capture more captures a longer part of a screen that scrolls. Screen record is in Quick Settings (Android Help).

This is fine for a few messages. For a long conversation, see how to turn chat screenshots into one PDF.

Free

An SMS backup file

Backup apps can save your texts as a file. SMS Backup & Restore by SyncTech, for example, backs up text messages in XML format and can keep the file on the phone or upload it to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or email (SyncTech). SyncTech also has a viewer for those files that runs in your web browser; it says the file is never uploaded to a server (SyncTech).

An XML backup holds every conversation in one file. It is complete, but it is not something you can hand to a lawyer or a landlord as it is.

TextMint for Android

Turn one conversation from the backup into a PDF

Google Play restricts which apps may read text messages (Play Console Help). TextMint does not ask for that permission, or for your contacts or photos. It reads the backup file you give it, on your phone, and keeps only the conversation you pick.

  1. Make a backup file. Back up your text messages as an XML file with an SMS backup app, and keep the file on your phone.
  2. Open it in TextMint. Tap Add a conversation, choose SMS backup file and tap Choose backup file. You can also share the file to TextMint.
  3. Pick the conversation. TextMint lists the conversations in the backup with names, dates and the number of messages. Group conversations are marked. Pick one.
  4. Check the document. Tap Options for the title, the paper size and the names.
  5. Save, print or share. Tap Save as PDF, Print or Share PDF.
TextMint for Android: choose one conversation from a text message backup file
TextMint for Android lists the conversations in a backup file.
TextMint for Android: Save as PDF, Print and Share PDF buttons
On Android: Save as PDF, Print or Share PDF.

The PDF has every message as a numbered row with its date, time and sender, and page numbers on every page. You can also use screenshots, a screen recording, a WhatsApp export or pasted text.

TextMint is free to download and to try. Without a purchase, an export holds the first 3 message pages and carries a PREVIEW mark. A full export is a one-time purchase: One Export for one conversation, or TextMint Pro for every conversation. There is no subscription.

FAQ

Questions

Can I open Google's backup of my texts as a file?

Google's help describes restoring that backup to an Android phone. It does not describe opening it as a document. For a file, use a backup app that saves your texts as an XML file.

What is an XML backup file?

A text file in which every message is one entry with its phone number, date and text. Backup apps use it so they can restore your messages later.

Is a scrolling screenshot enough?

For a short exchange, often yes. For a long conversation, a picture of many screens is hard to read and has no page numbers or dates on every message.

Do I need a computer?

No. Every way on this page works on the phone.

Get TextMint

Turn a conversation into a clean, dated PDF

TextMint is free to download and to try. A full export is a one-time purchase, for one conversation or for every conversation. No subscription, no account, and your chats never leave your phone.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

All TextMint guides · Print text messages · Chat screenshots to one PDF · Text messages as evidence

Sources

Sources

We link to the pages behind every statement about another app or platform. They can change after the date we checked them.