How to Save and Export a Group Text on iPhone
To save a group text on iPhone, first make sure Messages keeps it (Settings > Apps > Messages > Keep Messages > Forever), then make a copy outside the app: screenshots, a PDF from Messages on a Mac, or an export made with an iPhone app. Messages has no export button for group conversations any more than for one-to-one chats. What changes in a group is that every message needs a clear sender, so pick a method that keeps names readable.
Keep the group chat from disappearing
Before anything else, check that your iPhone isn’t set to delete old conversations. Apple says that with any Keep Messages option other than Forever, conversations and their attachments are removed automatically after that period (Apple: Delete messages and attachments).
- Open Settings > Apps > Messages.
- Under Message History, tap Keep Messages and choose Forever.
Give the group a name so it’s easy to find
An unnamed group shows up as a list of people, which is hard to spot in a long conversation list and makes a vague title on any export. To name it:
- Open the group conversation and tap the group icon at the top.
- Tap Edit, then Edit Name & Photo, and type a name.
Everyone in the group who uses iMessage sees the new name and icon (Apple: Group conversations). Apple also notes that if someone in the group isn’t using iMessage, messages appear in green bubbles.
Save the photos people shared in the group
Group chats tend to collect photos from many people. To find them all, tap the group icon at the top of the conversation, swipe left, and tap Photos; you’ll also see Links and Documents there if any were shared. To keep a photo in your library, tap the Save Photo button next to it in the conversation (Apple: Share photos, links and more). Our guide to saving pictures from text messages covers this step by step.
Three ways to export a group text
1. Screenshots
Take a screenshot of each screen as you scroll (side button + volume up, or side button + Home button; Apple). In a group, check that the sender’s name above each bubble is visible in every screenshot, since a cut-off name leaves a message without an author. Screenshots work for a short exchange; a busy group quickly runs to dozens of images.
2. Messages on a Mac
With Messages in iCloud turned on, open the group on your Mac and choose File > Print, or save it as a PDF from the print dialog (Apple, macOS Sequoia guide). It’s free and handles a long history in one go, but needs a Mac signed in to the same Apple Account.
3. An iPhone app
Exportly, which we make, exports a group conversation from the iPhone itself:
- Pick the group. On iOS 26 or later, the free Exportly Shortcut lists your conversations in Apple’s Shortcuts app; choose the group and tap Always Allow when asked. Text and photos come in, with the senders’ names as Messages shows them.
- Check the preview.
- Export. PDF, Word and HTML show the chat with bubbles or as plain text. Excel puts each message on a row with a Sender column, which is the easiest way to follow who said what in a busy group. CSV and Text are there too.
The alternative import, Record & scroll, reads the chat from a screen recording and only reads English and Turkish. Its optional Chat with field takes a single contact name and labels your own messages “You”, so it’s built around a chat with one other person. For a group, the shortcut is the better fit.
Previewing a group in Exportly is free; exporting, sharing or printing it needs Exportly Pro, with the weekly or yearly price shown in the app before you buy.
Which format suits a group chat?
| You need to… | Choose |
|---|---|
| Keep the whole chat as it looked | PDF with chat bubbles |
| See one person’s messages, or count who said what | Excel, then filter the Sender column |
| Quote messages in a document | Word, plain text |
| Keep photos with the conversation | PDF, Word or HTML |
Questions people ask
Can I export a group chat from my iPhone?
Not from Messages itself. Use screenshots, a Mac’s Print or PDF option, or an iPhone app such as Exportly.
How do I name a group chat?
Tap the group icon at the top of the conversation, then Edit > Edit Name & Photo.
Will the export show who sent each message?
Screenshots show whatever the conversation shows on screen. In Exportly’s Excel and CSV files, every row has a Sender column with the name Messages uses for that person.
Is the WhatsApp version different?
Yes. WhatsApp has its own Export Chat for groups; see how to export a WhatsApp group chat.
For the full comparison of export routes, see how to export text messages from iPhone. To analyze a group in a spreadsheet, read how to export text messages to Excel.
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