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Guided workflow variation

Apple Devices makes the backup.It will not export the texts.

Apple's Windows app copies your phone, Messages history included unless it syncs to iCloud, into a folder under your user profile. It offers no way to open that folder or print a thread from it, which is where BackupPaper comes in.

Apple Devices cannot export text messages. Use it to back up the iPhone, then open that backup in BackupPaper and export the conversation you need.

Pay once. Own it forever.

One-time purchase on the Microsoft Store · No subscription · Instant install

Get it from Microsoft

Buy through the Microsoft Store—instant install, automatic updates, and a Microsoft receipt for easy expensing. No account needed on our site, and no subscription on Store purchases.

Full BackupPaper overview
One-time purchase No telemetry Local-first

windows · read-only · nothing uploaded · 15-day free trial

If this sounds like your week

You looked for an export button in Apple Devices.

Apple Devices is the app Apple now offers for managing an iPhone on Windows, so it feels like the logical place to hunt for a way to keep texts. It shows Encrypt local backup, Back Up Now and a handful of related settings, but nothing mentions Messages, conversations or exporting. Your Messages data travels into every backup unless it syncs with iCloud, yet the app never displays a word of it.

Where tooling usually breaks

Its route to old messages is a full restore.

What Apple Devices offers for an existing backup is a restore, which pours the whole snapshot onto an iPhone and replaces whatever that device has on it today. That suits commissioning a successor device and is heavy-handed when you want just one thread. Afterwards you are scrolling with your thumb, still with no export, and reduced to screenshots if the thread has to turn into a document someone else can see.

Where BackupPaper lands

Keep Apple Devices for backups, add BackupPaper for the export.

Let Apple Devices keep doing its job: making backups on this machine, encrypted if you like. BackupPaper then opens that same folder read-only, lists what it contains and exports the conversation you choose as a PDF or CSV. Apple Devices never has to restore anything, the iPhone need not be connected during the export, and your next backup runs exactly as before because the folder was never modified.

Pay once. Own it forever.

One-time purchase on the Microsoft Store · No subscription · Instant install

Get it from Microsoft

Buy through the Microsoft Store—instant install, automatic updates, and a Microsoft receipt for easy expensing. No account needed on our site, and no subscription on Store purchases.

Learn more about BackupPaper

windows · read-only · nothing uploaded · 15-day free trial

What you get

Feature highlights

Reads the backup you already have

opens iPhone backups that iTunes or Apple Devices saved on your PC, including the default backup folders. The phone does not need to be connected.

Encrypted backups work

type the password you set; it is used on this PC only and is not saved.

Every conversation, in order

lists conversations with message counts and last dates, then shows each message with time, sender, reactions, replies and attachment names.

PDF or CSV

the PDF has a header naming the device, participants, service and date range, and page numbers; the CSV keeps every message and reaction in UTF-8 with UTC and local times.

Checkable files

BackupPaper shows the SHA-256 of each export so you or anyone you send it to can check it with certutil -hashfile.

Local and read-only

makes no network connections, needs no account, opens your backup read-only, and writes every export as a new file that you name.

Especially when

  • Save one iPhone text conversation as a PDF or CSV from the iTunes or Apple Devices backup already on a Windows PC, without uploading it
  • Open an encrypted iPhone backup on Windows and read its messages when you know the backup password
  • Print an iMessage or SMS thread with dates, times and senders without screenshots or a Mac

Who benefits

Real-world scenarios

Switched from iTunes to Apple Devices

iTunes from Apple's website used to manage the iPhone on this PC. Then Apple Devices was installed, and now backups from both apps sit in two different folders.

BackupPaper opens backups made by either app. Look in %APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup for the older iTunes backups and in %USERPROFILE%\Apple\MobileSync\Backup for the ones Apple Devices made.

An encrypted Apple Devices backup

Encrypt local backup is turned on in Apple Devices, and the conversation you want is in the latest encrypted backup on this PC.

Type the password you set in Apple Devices. BackupPaper checks it on this PC, which took about five seconds on our test PC, then lists the conversations. It cannot recover or reset a forgotten password.

Exporting while the phone is away

A phone is about to be erased for a repair, and Apple Devices has just made a fresh backup of it. One conversation also needs to exist as a file of its own.

Open the fresh backup in BackupPaper and export that conversation to PDF while the phone is away. The backup remains ready for Apple Devices to restore later, because BackupPaper opened it read-only.

Deep dive

What Apple Devices does with your messages, and what it leaves to you

What Apple Devices is. Apple Devices is Apple's app for managing an iPhone or iPad on Windows, installed from the Microsoft Store. It is the newer home for the device tasks iTunes used to handle, backups included, and it makes the same kind of local backup iTunes does.

What goes into its backup. When you choose to back up to this computer and select Back Up Now, the app copies the phone's data, including the Messages database, into a folder with a long coded name under %USERPROFILE%\Apple\MobileSync\Backup. Apple says a backup made on a computer leaves out iMessages and texts that already sync to iCloud, so with Messages in iCloud on, that database may hold few or no conversations. With Encrypt local backup on, the backup is protected by the password you set, and Apple says encrypted backups also hold saved passwords, Wi-Fi settings, website history, health data and call history.

What it does not do. Apple Devices has no viewer for backups. It does not list conversations, search messages, or save a thread as a PDF, a spreadsheet or any other file. What it can do with an existing backup is restore it onto an iPhone, which replaces what is on that phone.

Where BackupPaper fits. BackupPaper reads the folder Apple Devices wrote, without changing it. Choose the backup folder, type the password if the backup is encrypted, and the conversations appear with message counts and last dates. Pick one and choose Export PDF or Export CSV; each export is a new file you name, and BackupPaper refuses to save it inside the backup folder. Apple Devices keeps working as before.

A routine that works. Back up in Apple Devices whenever you want a fresh copy of the phone. Then open BackupPaper, which reopens the last backup you used, and export the conversations you want to keep as files. Because those exports live outside the backup folder, they stay put when Apple Devices updates or replaces that backup later.

Limits to keep in mind. BackupPaper reads the Messages app only, iMessage and SMS. It lists attachments by name without saving photos or videos, and it exports one conversation per file. It does not read the phone directly, iCloud backups or Messages in iCloud, and it cannot recover or reset a backup password. It runs on Windows 10 version 2004 or later and on Windows 11.

How it is built

Built to leave your backup exactly as it was.

Read-only by design

The backup folder is opened read-only, and every export is a new file you name in the Windows Save dialog. BackupPaper refuses to save inside the backup folder.

Nothing leaves your PC

BackupPaper makes no network connections. There is no account, no iCloud sign-in, no analytics and no crash reporting, and the iPhone does not need to be connected.

Try it, then pay once

A one-time purchase, sold and updated by the Microsoft Store. The 15-day free trial has every feature, with no watermark and no message limit.

Head-to-head

How BackupPaper compares

Feature BackupPaper Apple Devices app
Backs up the iPhone to this PC — ✓
Restores a backup onto an iPhone — ✓
Lists the conversations in a backup ✓ —
Saves one conversation as PDF or CSV ✓ —
Encrypted backups Opens them with the password you set Sets the password and needs it to restore
iPhone connected Not needed Needed to back up or restore
Changes the backup Never: it opens the backup read-only Updates it with each new backup

FAQ

Straight answers—no glossary dump

Can the Apple Devices app export text messages?

No. Apple Devices backs up and restores an iPhone on Windows, but it has no screen for reading messages and no export. It does copy the Messages history into its backup, unless the texts sync with Messages in iCloud. BackupPaper opens that backup on the PC and saves the conversation you pick as a PDF or CSV file.

Where does Apple Devices save iPhone backups?

In %USERPROFILE%\Apple\MobileSync\Backup, the same place iTunes from the Microsoft Store uses. iTunes downloaded from Apple's website uses %APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup instead. Each phone's backup is its own folder with a long coded name. Press the Windows key + R, type %USERPROFILE%, and open Apple, MobileSync, then Backup to see them.

Will BackupPaper interfere with Apple Devices or my next backup?

No. BackupPaper opens the backup read-only and never writes to the backup folder, so Apple Devices sees the same backup it made and can restore it or replace it with a newer one as usual. BackupPaper installs no driver or Windows service, and it does not connect to the iPhone at all.

Do I need the password for an encrypted Apple Devices backup?

Yes. Use the password you set when you turned on Encrypt local backup. BackupPaper uses it on this PC only and does not save it. If the password is forgotten, BackupPaper cannot recover or reset it, and Apple says a forgotten backup password cannot be recovered either, so older encrypted backups stay closed.

Will my backup have my texts if Messages in iCloud is on?

Possibly not. Apple says a backup made on a computer leaves out iMessages and texts that already sync to iCloud (support.apple.com/en-us/108771). If Messages in iCloud is on, the backup may hold few or no conversations, and BackupPaper will say the backup has no conversations. It does not read iCloud or the phone itself. Use the 15-day free trial to see what your backup holds before you buy.

What is BackupPaper, and what does it need to run?

BackupPaper is a Windows app that saves one conversation from an iPhone backup on your PC as a PDF or CSV file. It runs on Windows 10 version 2004 or later and on Windows 11, and it needs a backup made by iTunes or Apple Devices already on the PC. An encrypted backup also needs the password you set. No driver, Windows service or administrator rights are needed, and the app is in English.

Does BackupPaper upload my messages, and how do I get it?

No. BackupPaper makes no network connections, so nothing is uploaded. There is no account and no iCloud sign-in, and the iPhone does not need to be connected. It opens the backup read-only and writes each export as a new file you name. It is a one-time purchase in the Microsoft Store with a 15-day free trial that has every feature, no watermark and no message limit. The Store installs and updates the app and the receipt comes from Microsoft; use the Microsoft Store button on this page for the current price.

Related pages

From your iPhone to a file on your PC. Read the texts inside an iTunes backup on Windows. An iPhone backup viewer that reads, never restores. Print the whole conversation, not one screen at a time.

The conversation is already on your PC.
Save it as a file you can keep.

BackupPaper opens the iPhone backup that iTunes or Apple Devices made, lists every conversation, and writes the one you pick to a PDF or CSV with a SHA-256 you can check. It opens the backup read-only and makes no network connections. The 15-day free trial in the Microsoft Store has every feature.

Pay once. Own it forever.

One-time purchase on the Microsoft Store · No subscription · Instant install

Get it from Microsoft

Buy through the Microsoft Store—instant install, automatic updates, and a Microsoft receipt for easy expensing. No account needed on our site, and no subscription on Store purchases.

Open full product page

iPhone, iMessage and iTunes are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries and regions. BackupPaper is not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple.

Technical specifications

Technical specifications for procurement

Spec Implementation
Data Sovereignty Reads only the backup folder you pick; decrypted working copies stay in the app’s own local cache while the backup is open and are deleted when it closes; exports are written only to files you name
Telemetry Status None; no account, no analytics, no crash reporting, and no networking code
Core Runtime .NET 10 and WinUI 3 (Windows App SDK), packaged as MSIX
Network Requirements Fully functional offline; the app makes no network connections
Deployment Compatibility Windows 10 version 2004 or later and Windows 11; one-time purchase on the Microsoft Store with a 15-day free trial
Inputs iPhone backups made by iTunes or Apple Devices on Windows, unencrypted or encrypted; Messages app only (iMessage and SMS)
Outputs PDF (US Letter, header with device, participants, service and date range, page numbers) and CSV (UTF-8, one row per message and per reaction, UTC and local times); SHA-256 shown for each file
Backup safety Opens the backup read-only and refuses to save an export inside the backup folder; every export is a new file
Encryption Encrypted backups open with the password you type; the password is not saved and cannot be recovered or bypassed
Limits One conversation per export; attachments listed by name, not embedded; messages that sync with Messages in iCloud are not in a computer backup, per Apple