Turn your iMessage history into a PDF worth keeping.
Message to PDF runs on your Mac and nowhere else. No uploads, no subscription. $29 once.
The conversation, not a data dump.
The PDF is laid out the way the thread reads on your phone, so it is something a person can sit down with.
Every message, in order
Sent and received bubbles, in the blue and green you already know.
Photos inline
Image attachments land in the page where they were sent, not in a folder.
Timestamps and read receipts
Date separators between sessions, delivery and read times where Messages had them.
Tapbacks
Reactions stay attached to the message they were a reaction to.
Any date range
Export a whole history, or just the summer you care about.
An ordinary PDF
US Letter, searchable text, opens anywhere. Print it, mail it, archive it.
Your messages are read on your Mac, written to a file on your Mac, and go nowhere else. There is no account, no sync, no server. The app makes no network calls of its own.
You do not have to believe that. It is free software, so the code is public and you can read exactly what it does, or build it yourself. Read the source.
Three steps, about a minute.
Grant Full Disk Access
macOS keeps your Messages database private, even from you. The app walks you through the one switch in System Settings that lets it read the database on your own machine.
Pick a conversation
Choose any one-on-one thread by name or number, and set a date range if you only want part of it.
Export
Pick a destination folder and the PDF is written there. Long threads page-break cleanly, so nothing lands half off the edge.
It is free software. So why $29?
Message to PDF is licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later. You can read every line, change it, or compile it yourself for nothing, and that will always be true.
The $29 buys the finished thing: a universal build, signed and notarized by Apple so it opens with a double click instead of a Gatekeeper warning, kept working across macOS releases, made by someone you can email. It is the same reason people buy software they could technically compile themselves.
Or build it yourself:
git clone https://github.com/NewEarthTech/message-to-pdf
cd message-to-pdf
cargo build --release -p msg2pdfThat gives you the command line exporter. The app is the same engine with a window around it.
$29, once.
One payment, no subscription, no account to make. If it is not for you, email us within 14 days and we will refund it.
Get it for $29Sold through Paddle, our Merchant of Record. Prices shown in your local currency at checkout.
Before you buy
Why does it need Full Disk Access?
macOS treats your Messages database as private, even from you. Full Disk Access is the switch Apple provides to grant permission. The app uses it only to read your messages on your Mac so it can build the PDF, and you can revoke it any time in System Settings.
Do my messages get uploaded anywhere?
No. The app has no account, no analytics, and makes no network calls of its own. Your conversations never leave your computer. Because the source is public, you do not have to take our word for it.
Does it handle group chats?
Not yet. It exports one-on-one conversations, iMessage and SMS both. Group chats are on the list.
Which Macs does it run on?
It is a universal app: Apple Silicon and Intel, on macOS 11 (Big Sur) and later. It is signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens with a double click.
More at the full FAQ, or email sales@newearth.llc.