How to Print Text Messages From an Android Phone for Court
Reviewed by Jacob Reed, founder of Verity ·
Short answer
Android has no button that prints a whole conversation. For a short exchange, take scrolling screenshots that show the name and dates, then save them as one PDF with Print → Save as PDF. For a long one, back the messages up with the free SMS Backup & Restore app and turn that file into a dated list you can print.
Most people searching for this have an attorney or a court date asking for “printouts of the texts.” What they actually need is a copy that shows who sent each message and when, in order, with nothing missing. Which route gets you there depends mostly on how long the conversation is.
Which way should you use?
A few messages to a few days' worth: screenshots saved as a PDF. It takes minutes and needs nothing installed.
Weeks or months of messages: an export. Hundreds of screenshots are slow to make, easy to get out of order, and hard for anyone to read. An export captures the whole conversation in one file with the exact date and time of every message.
How do you print a short exchange?
1.Open the conversation and show the details
Open the thread in your texting app so the contact name or number is at the top of the screen. Dates appear as headers between days; for the exact time of one message, tap it (or long-press it and choose details), depending on the app.
2.Take scrolling screenshots
Take a screenshot, then use the scrolling option that appears with it (called "Capture more" on Pixel phones and "Scroll capture" on Samsung) to grab a long stretch in one image. If your phone has no scrolling option, take ordinary screenshots and let each one overlap the last by a message or two, so nothing falls between them.
3.Put them in date order
In your gallery or Google Photos, check the screenshots run from oldest to newest and delete duplicates. Don't crop out the name, the date headers or the times.
4.Save them as one PDF
Select the screenshots, tap Share or the three-dot menu, choose Print, and pick "Save as PDF" as the printer. You get one file you can email to your attorney or print on paper.
How do you print a long conversation?
1.Install SMS Backup & Restore
It is a free app from the Play Store, made by SyncTech (not by Google). It reads the phone's text messages directly, so it works whichever texting app you use: Google Messages, Samsung Messages or another.
2.Back up your messages
Open the app, choose to set up a backup, turn on Messages, and pick where the file goes (the phone itself, Google Drive or another cloud folder). Run the backup once.
3.Find the XML file
The backup is saved as an XML file whose name starts with "sms-" and the date. It holds every conversation on the phone, with each message's date, time and direction. Picture messages are stored inside it, which is why the file can be large.
4.Keep the original untouched
Make a copy to work from and leave the original as it came out of the app. Don't open and re-save it in another program. Then turn the one conversation you need into a readable, printable list (see below).
How do you turn the backup into something printable?
The XML file is complete but not meant to be read by people, and it holds every conversation on the phone, not just the one you need. You can drop it into Verity: it lists the contacts in the backup, you pick the one conversation, and it is read in your browser without being uploaded. The free preview shows the conversation's patterns, and the paid reports include a PDF with every message in that conversation numbered in date order, ready to print or hand to an attorney. Our guide to opening an SMS Backup & Restore file covers other ways to read it.
What should every printed page show?
Whichever route you use, check that the copy shows:
- who the conversation is with (the name or phone number)
- the date of every message, and the time where it matters
- who sent each message
- the messages before and after the ones that matter, so nothing reads as cut out of context
Keep the phone and the original messages, too. If the other side questions a printout, the original is what it gets checked against.
What about Samsung Messages or Google Messages?
Neither app has a print or export button for a whole conversation. Screenshots work in both, and SMS Backup & Restore works with both because it reads the messages from the phone rather than from the app. Google Messages users also have a Google Takeout route. If the texts went through WhatsApp or Messenger instead, those apps have their own export, covered in our export guides.
Can the phone company print them for you?
Usually not. Carriers generally keep records that a text was sent, between which numbers and when, but not what it said, and they release records only in response to a subpoena. See what a carrier subpoena returns. The words themselves are on the phones.
This is general information, not legal advice. Verity is not a law firm, and what a court accepts as a record of text messages varies. Ask your attorney or the court clerk what your case needs.
Already have your backup file?
Upload the SMS Backup & Restore XML and get a free preview in minutes. The file is read in your browser and is not uploaded.
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