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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

Reply
48 replies

Jul 25, 2017 8:00 AM in response to Alvin Lai

@Alvin Lai +1


I can confirm that this works and appears to be the only solution that does. I've been scouring the web for two days for a solution until I came across this thread.


This post (*******) comes close, but the messages do not import cleanly. If you read the comments, you'll see a handful of users having issues with messages being out of order. That is not an issue with the solution in this thread.


It's mind boggling that iTunes (and the whole Apple / iTunes ecosystem), as mature at it is, remains as INFLEXIBLE as it is! Sheesh.


<Link Edited by Host>

Jul 25, 2017 6:34 AM in response to loj1929

loj1929 wrote:


@Alvin Lai +1


I can confirm that this works and appears to be the only solution that does. I've been scouring the web for two days for a solution until I came across this thread.


This post (****) comes close, but the messages do not import cleanly. If you read the comments, you'll see a handful of users having issues with messages being out of order. That is not an issue with the solution in this thread.


It's mind boggling that iTunes (and the whole Apple / iTunes ecosystem), as mature at it is, remains as INFLEXIBLE as it is! Sheesh.

WARNING! DO NOT CLICK THE LINK IN THE ABOVE MESSAGE. IT IS A FORGED ADDRESS.

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/

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.

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.

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/

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.

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?

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!!

Backing up and restoring text messages back to iPhone

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