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Question; how do you backup 3+ years of iMsg conversations? (alien.top)
submitted 2 years ago by [B] to c/datahoarder@selfhosted.forum
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I have Messages turned on in iCloud and so that is covered but what if a technical issue pops up and one of the suggestions was to clear out any old conversations to "see if that solves the problem".

I mean; these conversations with family and groups are memories and I would like to make multiple copies of it.

Asked if anyone here felt the same and found a solution.

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[–] [B] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

You could try using imessage-exporter. I haven't used it myself but have seen it being recommended before in this sub.

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    • [–] [B] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

    As I recall, if you have a MacBook, iMessage syncs your messages and stores them in a file named ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup

    That file or files (my notes don't say number or the names of files) is just a SQL database which can be queried with the sqlite client, or exported into a more friendly format.

    This solution worked for me about 5 years ago; I don't know if Apple still allows this.

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    • [–] [B] 1 point 2 years ago

    IIRC there's some EU regulation that is going to mandate iMessage to be compatible with Android, which means Apple may soon make iMessage more open, and more options should appear in a few years.

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