How to export your messages

WhatsApp - the easiest way, regardless of your phone Easy

WhatsApp has a built-in export on both iPhone and Android, and many people have the relevant conversation there anyway. The export is a .txt file that ExhibitKit reads directly.

On iPhone

1. Open the chat you need.
2. Tap the contact's name at the top of the chat.
3. Scroll down and tap Export Chat.
4. Choose Without Media (the text is what matters, and the file stays small).
5. In the share sheet, choose Save to Files and pick a folder you'll remember.
6. Upload that .txt file in the builder.

On Android

1. Open the chat you need.
2. Tap the ⋮ menu (top right) → More → Export chat.
3. Choose Without media.
4. Save or share the file somewhere you can find it (e.g. your Downloads folder or email it to yourself), then upload the .txt file in the builder.

Tip: if the dates in your export look swapped (day and month reversed), the builder has a "Dates are Day/Month" toggle - your original timestamps are always printed exactly as exported either way.

Android text messages (SMS) Easy

For regular text messages on Android, the free SMS Backup & Restore app (by SyncTech) is the standard tool. No computer needed - the file it creates works directly with ExhibitKit.

1. Install SMS Backup & Restore from the Play Store (free).
2. Open it and tap Set up a backup (or Back up now).
3. Back up Messages - make sure the format is XML (the default).
4. Choose where to save it (phone storage is fine; you can also let it copy to Google Drive and download from there).
5. Find the .xml file in your phone's storage (usually a folder named SMSBackupRestore) and upload it in the builder.

The backup contains all conversations; in Step 2 of the builder you can filter by sender and date to keep only the conversation you need.

Documenting texts from a scammer or an unknown number? The same XML backup captures those too - see the scam evidence guide for what to do with them, and ScamKit.com (our companion site) to check suspicious links and numbers.

Facebook Messenger & Instagram DMs Free, but not instant

Meta lets you download your message history on any phone or computer through its official export tool. It works well - but Meta prepares the file and notifies you when it's ready, which can take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of days. Request it well before any court deadline.

Meta moves these buttons around and renames them. If a label below doesn't match, look for the closest wording - the steps are the same. As of 2026 the entry point is called Export your information (it used to be Download your information).

1. Open Settings → Accounts Center (in Facebook, Messenger or Instagram).
2. Tap Your information and permissions.
3. Tap Export your information - the first option, with the little box-and-arrow icon. (Older app versions call this Download your information.)
4. Tap Create export (or + Create export), then pick the profile you want - Messenger, Instagram or Facebook.
5. Tap Customize information (older versions: Some of your information) and select only Messages. Tap done/save.
6. For the destination, choose Download to device (not "Transfer to a destination").
7. Critical: set Format to JSON. The HTML format will NOT work with ExhibitKit.
8. Set Date range to cover what you need - a narrower range keeps the file small.
9. Tap Create export / Start export. Meta will notify you when the file is ready to download.
10. Download the .zip file and unzip it (on a phone, your Files app can usually do this; on a computer, double-click it).
11. Inside, find your conversation's folder - the path looks like your_facebook_activity/messages/inbox/jane_abc123/message_1.json (Instagram is similar under messages/inbox/).
12. Upload the message_1.json file in the builder. Long conversations are split into message_2.json, message_3.json, etc. - select them all at once and ExhibitKit merges them in order, listing each file's hash on the certification page.

End-to-end encrypted Messenger chats are downloaded through the secure storage flow inside the same Export Your Information tool.

iPhone text messages (iMessage/SMS) The hard one

Apple does not include an export feature for text messages. We won't pretend otherwise - there is no free, built-in way to get iMessage history off an iPhone. If your conversation is in iMessage rather than WhatsApp, you will need a computer and one of these:

Paid, easiest: iMazing

1. iMazing (Mac or PC - a paid third-party product, by subscription from roughly $30/year; we have no affiliation) connects to your iPhone by USB.
2. Select Messages in iMazing, pick the conversation, and export it as CSV (it also offers PDF and Excel).
3. Upload the CSV in the builder - a column-mapping step lets you point ExhibitKit at the timestamp, sender and message columns.

Free, requires a Mac: imessage-exporter

For comfortable computer users: the open-source imessage-exporter command-line tool exports messages synced to your Mac's Messages app as TXT or HTML. It's free and well maintained, but two caveats: it's a command-line tool (if "Terminal" sounds unfamiliar, iMazing will be far less frustrating), and ExhibitKit doesn't read its TXT or HTML output directly - you'd convert it into a CSV (one row per message: timestamp, sender, text) first, then use the CSV uploader below. For most people, iMazing's direct CSV export is the simpler route.

Fallback: any tool that makes a CSV

The most reliable iPhone path into ExhibitKit is a CSV. Any export tool that can produce a CSV with one row per message - containing a timestamp, a sender and the message text - will work with ExhibitKit's CSV column mapper. (Plain TXT and HTML exports are not read directly; convert them to CSV first.)

One practical note: if both people are reachable on WhatsApp, moving the conversation there for the future is the simplest long-term fix - but for existing iMessage history, the options above are what exist.