How-To

How to Save TextNow Messages for Court

Reviewed by Jacob Reed, founder of Verity · Published Nov 3, 2026

A phone with a dark screen on a round marble cafe table beside a deep teal coffee cup on a saucer and a closed notebook

Short answer

TextNow's policies say you are responsible for backing up your own content, messages included, and its help pages describe no way to export or download them. So the record is what you save yourself: screenshots of each conversation in order, with the dates and the other number showing, kept somewhere other than the phone. Keep using the number too: TextNow can take back a free number that goes unused, and says it can't restore a specific number once it is gone.

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TextNow gives a free second number, which is why it turns up in so many co-parenting and harassment cases, on both sides.

What TextNow keeps, and what it gives out

TextNow's privacy policy names no fixed period for keeping message content, and its legal-requests page says it can't guarantee keeping all data. That page describes subpoenas, warrants and court orders from verified law enforcement, asks for a specific date range because numbers get recycled, and TextNow says it doesn't answer individuals asking for subscriber information. In a family case, that makes your own copy the realistic record.

How to save a TextNow conversation

Screenshot the conversation from the top down, keeping the dates and times in view and overlapping each screenshot with the last (see how to screenshot a long conversation).
Include the top of the conversation so the other number shows.
Copy the screenshots off the phone, to a computer or a drive, the same day.
Voicemails and call logs matter too; see how to save voicemails for court.
Write down the number and the first and last dates of the conversation.
Don't delete the app or the account while a case is likely.

Keep the number

TextNow says a newly chosen number expires within 24 hours if it isn't used, that there is no fixed rule for how long a number can sit unused before it is taken back, and that it sends a warning first. Calling or texting from it at least once a day keeps it, and the Ad Free+ subscription locks the number to your account. Once a number is gone, TextNow says it can't assign or restore a specific one.

If your ex texts you from a TextNow number

Save it like any other conversation, and write down the dates exactly: TextNow asks for a date range in legal requests because numbers are reused. If the messages come from a new number every time someone is blocked, see an ex texting from new numbers.

Reading the screenshots

Verity reads chat screenshots in your browser, without uploading them, lets you check and correct every message, and numbers them in date order. Times read from screenshots are marked as approximate. Hundreds of screenshots? See organizing screenshots for your lawyer.

TextNow pages cited

Read on November 3, 2026. TextNow changes these policies; check before you rely on them.

This is general information, not legal advice. Verity is not affiliated with TextNow. Ask your attorney what your case needs. If you are in danger, call 911; the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233.

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