Saving an Entire Body of Texts?

I am about to switch over from one phone line to another and a new phone. I have a series of about 200 texts over the course of 1-2 years from one person. I may need to refer back to these texts in one way, shape or form in the future. Is there a way to download or even print out the all the texts from that person? TIA

Years ago I did it by using a series of screenshots. It was not perfect but it worked.

Now I use Textra as my texting app on my Android. It allows you to select a text (or all of them in the thread) and forward it or email it to another person.

Maybe switch to a Texting app that will let you do the same before you switch phones.

If you use a Mac and texts are on iPhones (iMessage or a compatible messaging service), the Messages app for Mac syncs with iMessage, and pulls many months or years of texts into its history.

I do not use a Mac nor do I have any texting app. So, basically screenshots are my only option?

Downloading a free app is also an option.

oh, I misunderstood. I thought I had to have been using the app all along. What iPhone app would let me do this?

http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/iphone/how-to-transfer-text-messages-from-one-iphone-another-3525410/

Okay. I don't necessarily need them on the phone- just wanted to keep a record of them but this may be a backup plan.

This is one reason I steer people off text and onto email whenever possible.

Not precisely what you asked for, but his tool enables you to save your messages to a computer in various text formats, so that they are archived and searchable:

https://deciphertools.com/decipher-textmessage.html

Tom_Reingold said:

This is one reason I steer people off text and onto email whenever possible.

Similarly I tend to use Facebook messaging rather than SMS texting because I can go to the messages on my computer and copy/paste messages I want to keep into a document and save it.

sac said:

Similarly I tend to use Facebook messaging rather than SMS texting because I can go to the messages on my computer and copy/paste messages I want to keep into a document and save it.

That doesn't work so well for me. I may want to find something someone said months or even years ago. Finding it is the trick.

Since a recent update in Mac OS, all my texts, whether iphone or not, go to my computer, so that helps a lot. It also means if my phone dies, I can continue to send and receive texts to my number.

Tom_Reingold said:

sac said:

Similarly I tend to use Facebook messaging rather than SMS texting because I can go to the messages on my computer and copy/paste messages I want to keep into a document and save it.

That doesn't work so well from me. I may want to find something someone said months or even years ago. Finding it is the trick.

Since a recent update in Mac OS, all my texts, whether iphone or not, go to my computer, so that helps a lot. It also means if my phone dies, I can continue to send and receive texts to my number.

True. But there are some "conversations" that just aren't going to happen by email so if the choice is between Facebook and SMS, the Facebook messages are a little easier to preserve. I save conversations with my kids for example.

Facebook is the worst messaging system in the world. Horrible. And, there's no way certain conversations or certain people are going to use email so it is what it is. I never use texting for work, ever. This is a personal thing where I just want to have a record of some things said/promised between me and BIL in case of any future "confusion"

Sending me a Facebook message is only marginally more effective than floating me a message in a bottle. It's not at all unusual for me to go a week or more without checking Facebook.

BrickPig said:

Sending me a Facebook message is only marginally more effective than floating me a message in a bottle. It's not at all unusual for me to go a week or more without checking Facebook.

Most of us know the best way to communicate with our various friends, family members and associates. There are some people who will see texts or Facebook messages immediately but rarely check email. And some vice versa. And some you just have to pick up the phone and call. I try to use whatever works best with each person.

In electronic address books, there ought to be a place to put, in each contact entry, the preferred mode(s) for contacting the person. It's fine to have a person's work email, home email, home phone, cell phone, work phone, facebook name (and a friend connection to it) and so on, but when I look at an entry, how am I supposed to know how to initiate a message?