Export Messages

OVERVIEW

Export Messages can be used to transfer your SMS/MMS text messages to another application or location. You can select individual or all messages within a single thread, or select messages between different threads. You can also select all messages in all threads for export, which is a great way to archive your messages before deleting from your device.

WAYS TO EXPORT

There are 4 ways you can export your messages:

1. Copy to Clipboard
2. Export as Raw Text
3. Export to Text File
4. Export to Archive File (compressed ZIP file)

The first 3 methods are for text only. If you have media attachments on any selected messages, they will not be part of the exported text. If you want them to be included, then you will need to select Export to Archive File.

Copy to Clipboard will copy the text of selected messages to the clipboard, and you can paste this text in any other application.

The 'Export as Raw Text' will send the raw text of selected messages to another application. For example, use this method to export the text into the body of an email message.

The 'Export to Text File' will send the raw text of selected messages to another application as a text file. For example, this method can be used to add a text file to an email message as a text file attachment (text/plain).

The 'Export to Archive File' will create a compressed ZIP file (application/zip) to send to another application on your device. A text file named messages.txt will be in the archive, which will contain the message text of the selected messages. Other files in the archive will be actual media attachments from the selected messages.

SELECTING MULTIPLE THREADS

Selecting multiple threads is a new feature for version 2.0. When selecting multiple threads, if a textual method is used for export, the text that is created will contain a section for each thread with selected messages.

If an archive file is the desired export method, then the archive file will contain a file for each selected thread, and it will either be a text file (if no selected messages in the thread have media attachments) or an archive file (if at least one selected message in the thread has a media attachment).

SORTING THREADS

You can sort the list of threads by clicking on the sort button at the top. There are 4 ways to sort your messages:

1. By Display Name
2. By Display Name (contacts first)
3. By Last Message Time
4. By Message Count

The first methods will sort by the display name. The second method will also sort by display name, however threads with at least one contact will be ordered first. Sorting by Last Message Time will look at the last message in each thread and sort by the date and time of that last message. Sorting by Message Count will order the threads by the total number of messages in the thread.

For each sort method, you can select which direction you'd like to display the threads, Ascending or Descending.

If you change the sort method on the threads list, that change is only applicable until you leave the threads list to the main screen. If you want to change the sort method every time you enter the threads list, you can change it on the Settings page.

MEDIA ATTACHMENTS

You can also export individual media attachments while on the Messages view. Simply locate a message that has a media attachment, and click and hold the message (a long click) and a popup will display the media attachments on that message. You can then select an attachment to immediately export to another application on your device.

SETTINGS

Currently, there is only one setting that is customizable, which is the default thread sort order. This will be the initial sort order of the threads when entering the threads list. However, this default sort order can be changed on-the-fly at any time.