Text Messages to PDF
Text messages to PDF, with the photos, audio messages and call log
Back up your Android texts with the free SMS Backup & Restore app, upload the file, and get one PDF of a conversation: every text numbered with its date and time, MMS photos where they were sent, audio messages written out, and the calls with that number listed at the end. The first messages are free, with no sign-up. The whole conversation costs $5: one payment, no subscription.
- Reads the XML backup made by SMS Backup & Restore, the app most custody and divorce guides recommend
- SMS and MMS in one timeline, with the photos people sent shown in place
- MMS audio recordings transcribed word for word, with an optional translation into English or 38 other languages
- Group texts with the right sender on every message
- Call log with that number (incoming, outgoing, missed, length) added as an index at the end
- SHA-256 fingerprint of your backup file on the first page · PDF, TXT and CSV downloads
- One flat $5 per conversation, up to 10,000 messages · chats of up to 150 messages free in full, first messages of longer ones free
Mon, Jan 9 · 10:35 AM
NOTE FROM SCHOOL
Emma Reed, Grade 3
Picked up late: 3:55 PM
This is what the school gave me. I was 40 minutes late, sorry.
Delivered
Text message (SMS/MMS) conversation record
Daniel Reed
Participants: Daniel Reed, Me · Period: 2023-01-09 08:42:42 to 2024-04-20 02:37:36 · 5,000 messages · 12 calls
Voice message · 0:09 · MMS/2023-01-09_103519_Audio….amr · English
Hey, it is Daniel. I am stuck at work and I cannot get Emma from school today at 3:00. Can you pick her up? I will take her this weekend instead.
Voice message · 0:06 · English
Hi Daniel, I picked Emma up, she is fine, we are home. Please call me tonight about the weekend.
This is what the school gave me. I was 40 minutes late, sorry.
[photo: MMS/2023-01-09_115000_IMG_….jpg] shown in place
Call log index at the end · Source SHA-256 on the coverPage 1
Android is a trademark of Google LLC. SMS Backup & Restore is an app by SyncTech Pty Ltd. NoCutoff is an independent tool and is not affiliated with either. The conversation above is a made-up demo; the PDF excerpt is real output from that demo backup.
What you get back
One PDF of one conversation, laid out to be read, printed or handed to a lawyer. A cover page names the contact and phone number, the period it covers, how many messages, photos and audio messages it holds, and the backup file it was made from. Then come the messages, in order, grouped by day.
- Each message with its number, sender, date and time. Messages sent from the phone that made the backup are marked "Me"; the other person appears by the contact name saved on that phone, or by number.
- Photos and pictures from MMS shown at the point they were sent, with the text that came with them.
- Audio messages sent by MMS written out word for word in a box, with their length and detected language.
- Drafts and messages that failed to send are labelled as such, so nobody mistakes them for delivered texts.
- If you add the calls backup, an index of every call with that number: date, time, incoming, outgoing or missed, and how long it lasted.
- The same messages as plain text (TXT) and as a spreadsheet (CSV), one row per message.
Other ways to print a long text thread
Screenshots work for ten messages. For a conversation that runs to thousands, the usual options each fall short somewhere.
| What you need | Phone print or a chatbot | This tool |
|---|---|---|
| A thread of 5,000 messages | Printing from the phone often freezes or stops partway; a chatbot cannot open a 300 MB backup | Reads the whole backup and keeps every message in order, up to 10,000 per conversation |
| Pictures sent by MMS | Often left out of a printout of the backup | Decoded from the backup and shown where they were sent |
| Audio messages | Cannot be printed at all | Transcribed word for word, with an optional translation |
| Calls with the same person | A separate screen on the phone | Listed with dates and lengths at the end of the same PDF |
| Times a reader can trust | Depends on the viewer | Every message with date and time, the time zone named on the cover |
| Proof of which file it came from | None | SHA-256 fingerprint of the backup file on the cover |
How to turn Android text messages into a PDF
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1
Back up the texts with SMS Backup & Restore
Install SMS Backup & Restore (by SyncTech) from Google Play, tap Set up a backup, keep Messages and Phone calls switched on, and choose where to save it: the phone, Google Drive or another cloud folder. It writes a file named sms-<date>.xml, and calls-<date>.xml for the call log.
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2
Upload the backup
Drop the sms-….xml file here, together with calls-….xml if you want the call log. You can do this from the phone's browser, or from a computer after copying the files over. Type the contact name or number under "Which conversation", or leave it empty for the longest one.
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3
Check the first messages free
The first part of the conversation appears in a few seconds with its pictures and audio messages. Read it before you pay.
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4
Unlock the whole conversation and download
Unlock it for $5 and download the PDF, the text file or the spreadsheet.
Why a long text conversation is hard to print
Android has no "export conversation" button. The messages app keeps texts in its own database, and printing means screenshots or scrolling forever. SMS Backup & Restore solves the first half: it copies every SMS and MMS on the phone into one XML file, with each picture and recording stored inside the file as encoded data. The second half is turning that file into something a person can read. Opened in a browser it is either raw data or, with the app's style sheet, one enormous page that is slow to print and leaves out the pictures.
This tool reads the backup the way it is built. It goes through it message by message, sorts the texts into conversations by phone number, decodes every MMS picture and recording, and lays out the conversation you choose. Message 5,000 gets the same treatment as message 5.
What people use it for
- Custody and co-parenting: pick-ups, missed visits, schedule changes and payments, in order
- Divorce or separation, where a lawyer asks for "all the messages" rather than screenshots
- Harassment or threats, with the dates and the number they came from
- Landlord, employer or contractor disputes that were settled by text
- Keeping the texts and voice recordings of someone who has died
Accuracy, evidence and what this is not
The text of each message is copied from the backup exactly as stored. Audio messages are transcribed by an AI speech model, word for word in the language spoken; unclear words are marked [inaudible]. Translations are machine translations. For anything that matters, check the passage against the original recording, which stays inside your backup file.
The PDF is a readable record of the backup, not a forensic extraction of the phone, and it does not prove on its own who held the phone or that nothing was deleted before the backup was made. Courts set their own rules for text-message evidence. The SHA-256 fingerprint on the cover lets anyone confirm which backup file the PDF was made from; keep that file unchanged. NoCutoff does not give legal advice.
Getting a complete backup
Make the backup on the phone that holds the conversation, after the last message you need. Pictures and recordings are only in the PDF if the backup contains them; if they show as "not in the backup", run the backup again with MMS media included. The backup stores each time as an exact moment, so the PDF shows it in the time zone of the browser you upload from and names that zone on the cover.
Contact names come from the phone's address book at the time of the backup; numbers without a saved name appear as numbers. Messages from apps such as WhatsApp or Signal are not in an SMS backup. For an iPhone, use the iMessage tool instead. Uploads can be up to 2 GB.
By language and situation
What it costs
Small chats, first messages
Free
A conversation of up to 150 messages, with up to 5 minutes of audio messages, is free in full, downloads included. No account. The first part of the conversation, with its pictures and audio messages, to check the result.
Whole conversation
$5
One payment for one conversation, up to 10,000 messages, with the call log. PDF, TXT and CSV. No subscription, never expires.
Unlimited
$19 / week
Every tool on the site, conversations up to 30,000 messages, and every other conversation in the same backup as its own job.
Questions and answers
How do I print text messages from an Android phone for court?
Back up the texts with the free SMS Backup & Restore app, upload the sms-….xml file here, and download the PDF of the conversation. Every message is numbered with its date and time, pictures are in place and the cover carries a fingerprint of the backup file. The first messages are free; the whole conversation is $5, paid once.
Are the pictures from MMS included?
Yes, when the backup contains them. SMS Backup & Restore stores each MMS picture inside the XML file; the tool decodes it and shows it in the PDF where it was sent, with the text that came with it.
What happens to audio messages?
Audio recordings sent by MMS are transcribed word for word in the language spoken and printed in a box at the point they were sent, with their length. You can add a translation in the same pass.
Can it include the phone calls with that person?
Yes. Upload calls-….xml from the same app together with the messages and the PDF ends with a call log for that number: date, time, incoming, outgoing or missed, and length. The call log shows that a call happened, not what was said.
My backup has hundreds of conversations. Which one do I get?
The one you name. Type the contact name or the phone number under "Which conversation"; any format works (+1 555 010 0101, 5550100101). Leave it empty and the longest conversation is used. The price is $5 for that one conversation.
Does it work with group texts?
Yes. Group MMS conversations are kept together, and every message shows who sent it, by contact name or number. Type one of the members' names and the group appears as "Group: …" in the choice.
What times are shown?
The backup records every message as an exact moment. The PDF converts it to the time zone of the browser you upload from and names that zone on the cover, so a reader always knows what "14:05" means.
Is the PDF accepted as evidence?
That is for the court or your lawyer to decide. The PDF is a readable record with exact senders, dates and times and a SHA-256 fingerprint of the backup file, but it is not a forensic report or a certified transcript. Ask your lawyer what they need.
What about iPhone texts?
iPhones do not use SMS Backup & Restore. Use the iMessage to PDF tool, which reads the Messages database from a Mac or from an unencrypted iPhone backup.
Is my backup private?
Only you can open your job. The file you upload is deleted as soon as it has been read. Audio messages and text are sent to an AI model provider only to transcribe and translate them, through routes that do not use your data for training. Jobs uploaded without an account are deleted after 7 days, and you can delete a job at any time.
How much does it cost?
The first messages are free without an account. One whole conversation is $5, paid once, for up to 10,000 messages, with PDF, TXT and CSV downloads. Unlimited costs $19 a week (it renews weekly, cancel any time) and covers every tool on the site. Small jobs are the exception: a conversation of up to 150 messages, with up to 5 minutes of audio messages, is free in full, downloads included.
Updated October 23, 2026 · APPFACT STUDIO LTD