Exporting and printing

How to print text messages for court

Last reviewed 2026-10-17 · 5 official sources cited below

Courts see a lot of text-message evidence, and much of it arrives as a stack of cropped screenshots in random order. A clear, complete, chronological printout is easier for the judge to follow and harder for the other side to pick apart. This guide covers the method that works for most phones and apps.

1. Keep the original conversation on the phone

Don’t delete the thread, and don’t “clean up” messages you don’t like. Under the U.S. Federal Rules of Evidence, whoever offers an item must produce “evidence sufficient to support a finding that the item is what the proponent claims it is” (FRE 901(a)). In practice that often means you, or someone else who saw the messages, testifying about them, and sometimes showing the phone. Many state rules are worded the same way. If you get a new phone, back up the old one first.

2. Export the conversation instead of only taking screenshots

Exports have the full text, the sender names and the timestamps in one file, and no page is missing between two screenshots.

3. Make one document per conversation

A good printout has:

• A cover page saying what the document is: the case caption, an exhibit label, the source file, the date range and the people in the conversation.
• Every message in time order, each with the sender, date, time and time zone.
• Page numbers on every page, ideally “Page X of Y” so nobody can quietly remove a page. Some courts expect bundles to be paginated consecutively. In England and Wales, for example, Practice Direction 32 says the pages of a multi-document exhibit “should be numbered consecutively at bottom centre” (PD 32 para 15.1).
• Nothing silently left out. If you filter to a date range, say so on the cover page. Under FRE 106 the other side can ask for the rest of a conversation that “in fairness ought to be considered at the same time”, so cherry-picking tends to backfire.

TextExhibits builds exactly this layout from the export file, in your browser.

4. Redact only what you must, and say that you did

Personal data such as account numbers, or a minor’s name, may need to be redacted under your court’s privacy rules (see redacting phone numbers). Mark redactions visibly, for example “[phone redacted]”, and list them on the cover page. Never change the wording of a message.

5. Make enough copies

Small-claims self-help pages commonly tell you to bring the original plus copies. The California courts’ guide says: “Have the original paperwork for yourself, a copy for the judge, and a copy for the other side.” Check your own court’s instructions for how many copies to bring and whether to file exhibits in advance.

6. Be ready to explain how you made it

Write down when you exported the chat, from which phone, and what tool you used. Keep the export file unchanged. TextExhibits prints the file’s SHA-256 hash on the cover page so anyone can confirm later that the PDF came from that exact file (what a hash proves).

Quick answers

Sources

1. Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 901 — Authenticating or Identifying Evidence (Cornell LII)
2. Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 1001 — Definitions (“original” of electronically stored information) (Cornell LII)
3. Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 106 — Remainder of or Related Writings or Recorded Statements (Cornell LII)
4. California Courts Self-Help Guide — Small claims: prepare for your trial
5. Civil Procedure Rules, Practice Direction 32 — Evidence (exhibits, paras 11–15) (Ministry of Justice)

Sources were opened and checked on 2026-10-17. Laws and rules change; always read the current version.