golfnut1982

Q: Backing up and restoring text messages back to iPhone

All,
Does anybody know of a reliable way to this? Any good programs come to mind that does this?

Thanks

Dell Studio XPS 8000, Windows 7

Posted on Nov 7, 2010 6:53 PM

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Q: Backing up and restoring text messages back to iPhone

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  • by rbrylawski,

    rbrylawski rbrylawski Nov 7, 2010 7:12 PM in response to golfnut1982
    Level 6 (11,941 points)
    Nov 7, 2010 7:12 PM in response to golfnut1982
    Maybe I don't understand your question, but that's what synching through iTunes does. You connect your phone through iTunes, you synch your contacts, music, text message, photos, apps, etc., and you can restore from backup at anytime.

    Did I not understand what you're trying to do? You do have iTunes loaded on your home computer?
  • by vinzSG,

    vinzSG vinzSG Nov 8, 2010 6:45 AM in response to rbrylawski
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 8, 2010 6:45 AM in response to rbrylawski
    I think he is asking about saving or backing up SMS messages into itunes or whatever software that can do that, i too would like to know how to also save a backup of your SMS messages into your pc or is it possible or not....

    TIA
  • by Allan Sampson,

    Allan Sampson Allan Sampson Nov 8, 2010 6:51 AM in response to vinzSG
    Level 10 (123,464 points)
    Nov 8, 2010 6:51 AM in response to vinzSG
    SMS/MMS are not synced with an application on your computer or included with the iTunes sync process in any way except for being included with your iPhone's backup which is updated by iTunes as the first step during the iTunes sync process. The data included with the iPhone's backup is not stored in your iTunes library. This link provides the data on your iPhone that is included with your iPhone's backup.

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1766

    There are a number of 3rd party utilities that provide for extracting select data from your iPhone's backup on your computer for access to the data on your computer for archiving or printing, etc. Here is one of them.

    http://mobilesyncbrowser.com/
  • by golfnut1982,

    golfnut1982 golfnut1982 Nov 8, 2010 10:06 AM in response to rbrylawski
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Nov 8, 2010 10:06 AM in response to rbrylawski
    I wanted to get to the sms data in the backup and restore it back to my phone more or less selectively instead of a mass restore of all my data thru iTunes if I accidently deleted any of them. Does that make sense?
  • by golfnut1982,

    golfnut1982 golfnut1982 Nov 8, 2010 10:07 AM in response to Allan Sampson
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Nov 8, 2010 10:07 AM in response to Allan Sampson
    That program looks promising, thanks.
  • by JIDembicki,

    JIDembicki JIDembicki Nov 9, 2010 11:27 AM in response to golfnut1982
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 9, 2010 11:27 AM in response to golfnut1982
    I too need to find out how to backup my SMS/MMS data in way that allows me to restore it to the phone. The problem is that I have corrupted software on my phone. I need to wipe the phone and sync with iTunes as a new phone, without restoring from a previous backup. If I restored the phone from a previous backup, the phone would inherit the corrupted software of the previous backup as well. I have to do a fresh install and sync. MobileMe will take care of restoring my contacts, notes, bookmarks, calendars and mail. MobileMe does not back up SMS/MMS data. What I am looking for is a way to back up the current SMS/MMS data to the computer and then sync it to my freshly wiped iPhone that is synced with iTunes as a new phone. Third party software is fine, as are lengthy, intricate, complicated processes. The goal is simply to get the SMS/MMS data off of my phone and then back onto my phone after it is wiped.
  • by conneen,

    conneen conneen Nov 10, 2010 11:11 AM in response to JIDembicki
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 10, 2010 11:11 AM in response to JIDembicki
    I have the same problem... my iPhone 4 is having some issues. The Genius at the Apple Store said that I need to do a complete iOS Restore (Without restoring a backup). The Genius told me that the corrupt data/settings are stored in the backup, so I can't restore from it. This is fine for Music, Pictures, etc, because I can re-sync them.

    But I will lose all of my SMS/MMS messages. And that's unacceptable. I have 3+ years worth of SMS messages on my phone, all the way back the the original iPhone.
  • by Allan Sampson,

    Allan Sampson Allan Sampson Nov 10, 2010 11:21 AM in response to conneen
    Level 10 (123,464 points)
    Nov 10, 2010 11:21 AM in response to conneen
    You won't lose the messages, but you won't have access the messages on your iPhone.

    Copied from my previous post.

    There are a number of 3rd party utilities that provide for extracting select data from your iPhone's backup on your computer for access to the data on your computer for archiving or printing, etc. Here is one of them.

    http://mobilesyncbrowser.com/
  • by conneen,

    conneen conneen Nov 10, 2010 11:43 AM in response to Allan Sampson
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 10, 2010 11:43 AM in response to Allan Sampson
    Thanks for the response....

    Yes I've found a number of applications like mobilesyncbrowser.com that will allow me to back these up to my computer for later viewing. But this is my wife's phone, and she is very determined to keep her Text Message history, on the phone.

    So if anyone ever finds or creates a third party utility that can backup and restore SMS/MMS from/to iPhone, I would love to hear about it.
  • by Allan Sampson,

    Allan Sampson Allan Sampson Nov 10, 2010 11:46 AM in response to conneen
    Level 10 (123,464 points)
    Nov 10, 2010 11:46 AM in response to conneen
    If you mean restoring this data only from the iPhone's backup when restoring the iPhone with iTunes? If so, this won't happen with a 3rd party app or utility. Something like this must come from Apple and Apple only and right now a restore from the iPhone's backup is all or none.
  • by An Moonen,

    An Moonen An Moonen Feb 3, 2011 3:34 PM in response to Allan Sampson
    Level 3 (500 points)
    Feb 3, 2011 3:34 PM in response to Allan Sampson
    Allan, it looks like MobileSyncBrowser is now capable of restoring specific data back to the phone from backups. I'm in the same boat, Genius says my data is bad and I need to set up the phone as a new phone. I don't want to lose game data/achievements etc. and would prefer to restore text messages to the phone too if possible, not just save them on the mac for later viewing. Do you have any hands-on experience with this?
  • by HappySwitcher,

    HappySwitcher HappySwitcher May 10, 2011 3:11 PM in response to An Moonen
    Level 1 (15 points)
    May 10, 2011 3:11 PM in response to An Moonen

    I've been poking aroung the MobileSyncBrowser site bc I'm in the same situation.

    Can you point me to where it says I can get my text messages back on my iphone 3G after a complete restore as a new phone?

     

    Thanks.

  • by da-1-n-only,

    da-1-n-only da-1-n-only Oct 25, 2011 12:05 AM in response to golfnut1982
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 25, 2011 12:05 AM in response to golfnut1982

    I've also been trying to figure out this problem and haven't found the "cure" to this anywhere!

    I've tried finding the actual file and doing all that restoring thing (it was a bit complicated) but it didn't seem to work.

     

    The main reason I'm not just restoring from iTunes is because like conneen, "Genius told me that the corrupt data/settings are stored in the backup, so I can't restore from it."  Yes, that totally blows.

     

    Conneen, my major problem is that my iMessage doesn't work and also my notifications aren't working properly.  Is your also that way?

     

    If anybody can help, that would be so much appreciated!

    Thanks!!

  • by Scott from Pennsylvania,

    Scott from Pennsylvania Scott from Pennsylvania Nov 25, 2011 6:37 AM in response to golfnut1982
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 25, 2011 6:37 AM in response to golfnut1982

    I have a similar problem that has been discussed above.  Accidentally deleted all SMS's while phone was on and in pocket.  I plugged in to iTunes, and it started auto syncing.  From what some have said above (I think Allan mentioned it), it appears that the phone auto-syncing backed up the phone without the deleted messages.  I saw a discussion that if it didn't auto sync, you could back up and immediately restore and bring the deleted SMS's "back to life."  I do have back-ups from the past month or two, and I'm wondering if I can restore the deleted SMS's by restoring from a back-up point prior to accidentally deleting - or are those back-up points obsolete now?  Some people on this or another discussion recommended a program to download that seemed to allow you to go back to those prior back-up points and see what SMS's are in them?

     

    Any help would be appreciated!

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