Guides

How to save text messages from a deceased loved one

What to do first so their messages are not lost, how to back them up and print them, and how to keep them in a book when you are ready.

Joshua Z

Founder, My Forever Books

After someone dies, their texts are often where their voice still feels closest: the jokes, the check-ins, the way they signed off. You do not have to decide anything about those messages yet. A few small steps now make sure they are still there when you are ready.

Preserve their memory in a book (Your messages with loved ones. Printed. Protected. Forever.)

Table of contents

1. First steps: what to do now
2. Back up the messages
3. If the messages are only on their phone or account
4. How to print their text messages
5. Making a memorial book from their texts
6. FAQs

First steps: what to do now

1. Start with your own phone. Your conversation with them is already on your phone. You do not need their phone, or their passwords, to save your side of the chat.
2. Stop old messages from being deleted. On iPhone, open Settings, then Messages, and set Keep Messages to Forever. On Android, check your messaging app's settings for an option that deletes old messages, and turn it off.
3. Leave their phone as it is. Do not reset, trade in, or recycle it until you have saved what you need. If you know the passcode, keep it written down somewhere safe.
4. Back the messages up. One backup, made this week, protects everything else on this list. The next section shows how.

When the love of my life died, I was desperate to preserve our precious text messages... The books turned out perfect and are such high quality: they will be some of my most cherished possessions for the rest of my life.

- Kelley B., verified customer

Back up the messages

• iPhone: make sure iCloud Backup is on, and make a backup to a computer as well. Our guide on how to export text messages from iPhone walks through both, and how to save a conversation as a PDF.
• Android: use the free SMS Backup & Restore app to save your texts as a file. Our Android guide has the steps.
• WhatsApp: open the chat, use Export Chat, and include media so the photos come along. Our WhatsApp guide shows where the option is on each phone.

Keep the backup file somewhere other than the phone, such as a computer or a cloud drive, so a lost or broken phone cannot take the messages with it.

If the messages are only on their phone or account

Conversations they had with other people, such as a group chat you were not in, live only on their phone and in their accounts. If you have the phone and its passcode, you can back it up the same way as your own.

Without the passcode it is harder. Apple and Google cannot unlock a phone for family. If they added you as a Legacy Contact on their iPhone, you can request their iCloud data from Apple, which includes messages stored in iCloud. Google has a process for family to request data from a deceased person's account. Both ask for a death certificate and take time, so it is worth starting early.

How to print their text messages

Once the messages are backed up, you can print them for free or have them made into a book:

• How to print text messages from iPhone
• How to print text messages from Android
• How to print WhatsApp messages

A short printout is fine for one conversation you want to reread. For years of messages, or for copies the whole family can keep, a book holds up much better.

Making a memorial book from their texts

A memorial book from My Forever Books keeps the look of the conversation: their messages and yours, in order, with the dates and the photos they sent. You can open it without unlocking a phone, and give a copy to everyone who loved them.

1. Upload the backup or export you made above.
2. Choose the conversations and dates to include, and remove anything you would rather leave out.
3. Add a dedication, photos, or pages of your own, and design the cover.
4. Preview every page, then order. Delivery usually takes about 1 to 3 weeks.

I cannot express how grateful I am for this product. I was able to create a book of text messages between my kids and their late father, preserving those cherished conversations forever. When we received the book, it was an emotional moment, something we will hold onto forever without the fear of losing those precious messages.

- Cherissa, verified customer

What to include

• Everyday texts that show their personality and humor
• Birthdays, holidays, and big news
• Words of encouragement or love
• The photos they sent just because

There is no wrong way to do this, and no deadline once the messages are backed up. You can read more on our memorial book page, or start a memorial book whenever you are ready.

After losing a loved one, I knew that I wanted to put together all of our texts into a book... I found My Forever Books and it made everything extremely easy.

- Tiffany N., verified customer