Best Tips to Archive Messages on iPhone 15/16

For legal purposes, I must archive specific text messages received from multiple individuals. However, an archiving or “save as” option does not appear to exist on my iPad (or iPhone). Backing up the text messages to icloud, unfortunately is not appropriate for my purposes.

Any assistance or advice on archiving text messages would be appreciated.

“Archive text message on iPhone” means archive the text message, not delete it. The main purpose of archiving text messages is to hide infrequently used messages that need to be retained from the daily messaging interface, making your inbox neater and cleaner without losing those important messages.

You may need to archive iPhone messages for print or other purposes like the above user. However, one of the things you can do when you have finished your task with a message on your iPhone is to delete that message. And this makes you lose the opportunity to ever see that message again on your device. Here in this post, we will discuss some tips to archive messages on iPhone. Also, you may find a way to retrieve archived text messages.

Let us find out what the deal with archiving messages and emails on an iPhone is.

Related Questions: How to Archive Text Messages on Android >

Can You Archive Text Messages on iPhone?

By now, you have probably checked out all the options in the Messages app on your iPhone to see if there is an archive option.

Unfortunately, the iPhone does not offer the option to archive your messages. You can delete your messages, which means your messages will be gone, but you cannot move your messages to an archive section. You may also ask Can I archive iMessages? Since the iMessage service has no text archiving functionality, you cannot move your iMessages to an archive section too.

Although the iPhone does not offer the option to archive your messages directly, you can still archive chats and messages attachments in some possible ways. Keep reading the post and get some ways that you can use to do this task and hide messages on iPhone without deleting them.

Further Reading: How to Find Hidden Messages on iPhone >

How to Archive Text Messages on iPhone

To archive text messages iPhone, we have different ways to suit your needs.  You can try out the below ways.

Method 1. Take a Screenshot of Your Messages

Believe it or not, taking a screenshot of your messages is the easiest way to archive your messages in some sense. You have probably already been capturing screenshots on your iPhone, and you can now use that very same feature for message archiving.

Since this will create new images in the Photos app, make sure your phone has enough storage to store these new files.

1. Open the Messages app on your iPhone > tap the message you want to archive.
2. Take a screenshot of the message. On most iPhones, you can do this by pressing the Home and Power buttons at the same time.

On the iPhones with Face ID, press the Side button and the Volume Up button at the same time.

1. Get back to the main Messages interface > tap Edit in the top-left corner.
2. Select the messages you just took a screenshot of, and tap Delete.

If you ever want to find the archived text messages on your iPhone, simply open the Photos app and you will see the screenshots of your messages.

Method 2. How to Archive Message Chats via AnyTrans-Securely

How to archive text messages on iPhone without deleting them? Since the iPhone does not offer the archive option to archive your messages directly, you can also try to extract and back up iPhone messages with the professional iOS data manager. Here we’d like to recommend AnyTrans to you.

With AnyTrans, you can archive messages/iMessages on your Windows PC or Mac computer. And you can save those chats or print them as your need. The latest iPhone 15/16, iPhone 15/16 Pro, iPhone 15/16 Pro Max are fully supported.

Check the features below to see how can it help you easily:

Now, you can get the latest version of AnyTrans on your PC/Mac, and follow the simple steps below to get how to export and print text conversations on iPhone:

1. Export and Print iPhone Messages to Computer

Step 1. Launch AnyTrans > Connect your iPhone with computer > Tap on Messages from the category box.

Step 2. Here you can preview all your messages on iPhone. Check the messages you want to achieve > Click To PC button. You can choose export messages as TXT, PDF, or HTML format.

Step 3. You can click Print button to print those text conversations on your iPhone directly.

2. How to Save Text Messages from iPhone

Step 1. Save Text Messages on iPhone via Backup Manager

Also, launch AnyTrans and connect your iPhone > Go to Backup Manager > Click Back Up Now. You can enable Backup Encryption here. After that, AnyTrans will back up messages and other data immediately.

Step 2. Find and Open Archival Backups

Click Backup History from Backup Manager > View all archival backups you created for iPhone, you can restore them directly. Or, click Open button to check the detailed data.

Step 3. Export Archived Messages to Computer

Once you opened the backup files, you can view all iPhone data including text messages. You can retrieve messages to the PC, or print them according to your needs.

Also Read: How to Transfer Text Messages from iPhone to Computer >

Method 3. Save Texts Messages in Notes

Since text messages are basically nothing but some blocks of text, you can actually save the text from your messages to the Notes app on your iPhone. Then, you can get rid of those messages from the main app.

This method makes the whole job of archiving messages easier and more organized.

1. Launch Messages app > Access the message you want to archive.
2. Tap and hold on to the message > Select Copy.
3. Launch Notes app > Start a new note.
4. Tap and hold on to the blank area in the new note, and select Paste.
   

   Store a Copy of Messages in Notes

5. Get back to the Messages app and delete your message.

If you ever need to retrieve your archived text messages, launch the Notes app and you will find all your messages there. So, you can recover the notes with messages.

Method 4. Use iTunes to Archive iPhone Messages

As you already know, iTunes lets you create full backups of your iPhone and these backups include your text messages. You can make a backup of your phone with this app, and then head to a specific folder on your computer to find your messages.

1. Connect your iPhone to your computer > Launch iTunes on your computer.
2. Click your iPhone at the top > Then select the Summary tab on the left.
3. On the right pane, click the Back Up Now button to start backing up your iPhone with your computer.
   

   Archive iPhone Messages with iTunes

4. Once the backup is created, launch the Messages app on your iPhone and you can delete all your messages.

To unarchive your text messages on your iPhone, you are going to need to head to the following folder on your specific computer, and then find a file that has your messages saved in it.

On Windows, head to C:\Users[username]\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup and use an SQLite editor to open your text message files.

On macOS, navigate to the Library > Application Support > MobileSync > Backup directory and find files with either mdbackup, mddata, or mdinfo extension. Use an SQLite editor to read these files and access your messages.

Bonus Tip: How to Archive Emails on iPhone

Unlike text messages, your iPhone allows you to archive your emails. This way, you can get your emails out of your sight without deleting them in the Mail app on your phone. You can always view your archived emails by tapping an option in the Mail app.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap Mail.
2. Select Swipe Options followed by Swipe Right. This lets you assign a task to the swipe actions.
3. You will see a few actions on your screen. Tap the one that says Archive.
   

   Archive Emails on iPhone

4. Open the Mail app on your iPhone, find the email you want to archive, and swipe right on that email. Your email will instantly be archived.

How to Find Archived Emails on iPhone

1. Back to Mailboxes menu > Click All Mail. Here you can find and see all the archived emails.
2. If you want to move archived messages to your inbox, select the email > Click Move and choose Inbox to receive.

Therefore, if you archived emails, they will be saved in All Mail. And if you choose to move to Inbox again or some other options, archived emails will go to where you put them into.

The Bottom Line

If you want to remove messages without deleting them on your iPhone, archiving your messages is how you do that. The guide above should teach you various ways to archive text messages as well as emails. You can choose to take a screenshot and save screenshot photos. And you can copy the entire text conversations to save in your notes.

What’s more, AnyTrans can help you easily export iPhone messages to PDF, TXT, or HTML. And you can print messages directly with AnyTrans. Why not give AnyTrans a try here?