5 Ways to Transfer Messages from iPhone to iPhone [Updated]

I have a brand-new iPhone. How can I transfer messages from my iPhone 11 to iPhone 16, because I don’t want to lose the text messages? Is it possible to transfer only messages instead of the whole backing up and restoring process?” Thanks for sharing.

— A User from Apple Support Communities

When you get a new iPhone, the first thing you need to do is to transfer data from the old iPhone to the new one. And of course, text messages (SMS) or iMessages are always something you don’t want to leave behind. In this tutorial, we will share with you 5 ways how to transfer messages from iPhone to iPhone. And we will also help you to solve the messages not transferring to the new iPhone problem. Now let’s start!

Transfer Messages from iPhone to iPhone without iCloud Directly [Safe]

Messages didn’t transfer to the new iPhone? How to transfer text messages from iPhone to iPhone easily and safely? We highly recommend you try AnyTrans – iPhone Transfer first. As a powerful iOS data management tool, AnyTrans can help you transfer almost all iOS data types, including messages, photos, videos, contacts, call logs, WhatsApp data, and more. It works on both Mac and Windows PC, and it’s compatible with all iPhone models including the latest iPhone 16 with the updated iOS 18. Check some of its main features on iPhone Messages management.

Once free download AnyTrans on your computer, please follow the simple steps below to learn how to transfer messages from iPhone to iPhone, even without any backup.

Step to Transfer Messages from iPhone to iPhone without iCloud in Clicks:

Step 1. Launch AnyTrans > Connect your two iPhones to the computer with USB cables. AnyTrans will detect the two devices automatically > Click the Phone Switcher button on the left panel > Choose Phone to iPhone.

Step 2. Make sure the transfer is correct by checking the source device is on the left and the target device is on the right. And then click the Next button to initiate the transfer process.

Step 3. Choose Message among various types of data, and click Next to transfer all messages to your new iPhone. (Or you need to update backup first.)

Tip: Preview and Export Messages from iPhone to Computer

Despite transferring iMessages to iPhone, you can also transfer messages from iPhone to computer to make a backup for your important messages. How do I transfer messages from iPhone to computer? For those who want to save iPhone text messages to a computer as a backup, iTunes is helpful. You can make an iPhone backup with iTunes on the computer, and it will include messages. However, it’s impossible to open and view those iPhone text messages from your iTunes backup.

You can also give AnyTrans a try, as it helps transfer iPhone messages to PC or Mac, and in a readable format like PDF, HTML, TXT. With the one-click export feature, all iPhone messages with attachments will be exported to the computer in different folders as you need. Here is a step-by-step tutorial that tells you how to Save iPhone Messages to PC/Mac Computer >

How to Transfer Messages from iPhone to iPhone with iCloud

Messages didn’t transfer to new iPhone?  Does iCloud backup messages? The answer is YES. The messages, including text messages and iMessages, are all included. So if you want to know how to transfer iMessages to new iPhone, iCloud is also a good choice. But you should first make sure you have backed up these messages with iCloud. Below is how to transfer messages from iPhone to iPhone via iCloud.

1. Connect both your old iPhone and new iPhone in charge and Wi-Fi connection.
2. On your old iPhone, go to Settings >[Your Name] > Tap iCloud.
3. Turn on iCloud Backup (for iOS 10 & earlier: Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup).
4. Tap on the Back Up Now option to back up your old iPhone including messages.
5. On your new iPhone. If it is a new one and hasn’t been activated, tap Restore from iCloud Backup.
6. If it has already been set up, you need to ease all the content and settings on your iPhone:  Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings > Erase iPhone > Set up and activate your iPhone again > Select Restore from iCloud Backup > Select the back you just created.
7. Wait for the restoring process to finish, and all the messages on your old iPhone will be transferred to the new one.

You should know:

Transfer Text Messages to New iPhone without iCloud or iTunes

Besides, since iOS 11.4 was released, Apple has already brought back the Message in the iCloud feature. This feature enables users to share messages across different devices. So you can also apply this feature to transfer messages to new iPhone with the iCloud syncing feature (for iOS 12 and later). Here are steps on how to transfer messages from iPhone to iPhone without backup:

1. On one iPhone, go to Settings > Click the account name > Choose iCloud.
2. Scroll down to locate Messages > Toggle it on if it is not, then all iMessages on it will be synced to iCloud.
3. Please make sure your iPhone is connected with stable Wi-Fi.
4. On another iPhone, do the same as above. And then both devices will share all the iMessages.

One thing that needs to be mentioned is that iCloud won’t inform you when the sync process is finished, so you need to check the process by yourself.

You should know:

• This method only works for those iPhones that are running iOS 12 or later.
• With this method, only the iMessages can be synced to another iPhone. In other words, the messages sent by other iPhone users can be moved, if some of your friends or family working with Android devices, their messages won’t be moved.

Further Reading: You can also get your messages back even without backup – Retrieve Lost Messages on iPhone without Backup >

How to Transfer Messages from iPhone to iPhone with iTunes

iTunes can also act as a data manager and help you transfer text messages from iPhone to iPhone. Below are detailed steps to back up and transfer text messages to new iPhone with iTunes.

1. Make sure that you have the latest version of iTunes > Connect your old iPhone to your computer via USB cable > Launch iTunes.
2. Select your iPhone when it appears in iTunes > Click on the Back Up Now option to back up your old iPhone.
3. After the process completes, you can see if the backup finished successfully on the Summary screen in iTunes.
4. Open your new iPhone and reach the App & Data screen > Tap on Restore from iTunes Backup. If you already set up your new device, you need to erase it first.
5. Connect your new iPhone to your computer with a USB cable > Open iTunes on your computer and select your device.
6. Click on the Restore Backup option > Choose the backup that contains the messages you want to transfer.

You should know:

• It backs up the whole device and restores the whole backup file to the new iPhone. You can’t restore only messages via iTunes, it will be a full restore.
• Like restoring from iCloud, the files on your target iPhone will be erased first.  All the data on your target iPhone will be replaced with the files in your iTunes backup.
• To transfer messages from iPhone to iPhone 12 with iTunes, you need to back up messages from the old iPhone, and then restore your messages to the target iPhone.

How to Transfer Text Messages to New iPhone in Clicks

PhoneTrans is a phone-to-phone data transfer tool. It provides you with three modes to quickly transfer, clone iPhones, or merge iPhones. You can fully backup or selectively backup iPhone and restore them. What’s more, PhoneTrans allows you to transfer WhatsApp/Line/Viber data and more apps to your new iPhone.

Here is how to transfer messages from iPhone to iPhone with the phone-to-phone app:

Step 1. Back-Up Old iPhone

1. Get PhoneTrans free installed on your computer > Launch it and tap on Phone Backup > Here you can choose to selectively back up messages only or fully back up iPhone, we take full backup as an example to avoid data loss.

2. Confirm the device you need to back up and click Back Up button. Then you can view the types of data that will be backed up on your old iPhone and head to Back Up Now.

3. Then you can view the types of data that will be backed up on your old iPhone and head to Back Up Now.

Step 2. Restore Messages to New iPhone

1. Once the backup is finished, go to Phone Restore > Confirm the backup data and your new iPhone’s name > Click Selective Restore.

2. Now, you can select messages to sync to your new iPhone.

Trouble Shooting: Messages Didn’t Transfer to New iPhone

I am transferring my iPhone 14 to iPhone 15. My messages on the new phone stop about six weeks before today. All of the messages prior to that did transfer. The missing messages are still on my iPhone X and on my iMac. How do I get them back on my new phone?

— A User from Apple Support Communities

Messages didn’t transfer to new iPhone? Some users report that text messages didn’t transfer to new iPhone and ask why are my messages not transferring to new iPhone. There are various reasons for this problem. And accordingly, here are some tips you can try if you need to solve messages not transferring to new iPhone:

• Make sure you have turned on iMessage sync in the iCloud preferences: Go to Settings on iPhone > Tap your Apple ID > iCloud > Turn on Messages.
• Make sure both iPhones are logged in with the same iCloud account.
• Enable Wi-Fi on both iPhones. It may take some time if there are lots of data to sync.
• Try resetting iPhone: Go to Settings app > General > Reset > Reset All Settings.

The Bottom Line

As you can see, that’s all about how to transfer messages from iPhone to iPhone. Among these methods, AnyTrans is the best one, because you can use it to transfer messages and more data to your new iPhone or computer in the easiest and fastest manner. And it supports all iPhone models, so just free download AnyTrans to give it a try. If you have any problems with iPhone transferring, please leave a comment and we are happy to help.