Exporting and printing

How to print Android text messages for court

Last reviewed 2026-10-17 · 4 official sources cited below

Most Android messaging apps (Google Messages, Samsung Messages) let you screenshot a thread but don’t export it as a file. The most common workaround is the free SMS Backup & Restore app by SyncTech, which saves your texts to an XML file.

Step 1: Back up the conversation to a file

1. Install SMS Backup & Restore (developer: SyncTech Pty Ltd; the basic version is free according to the developer’s site).
2. Choose Back up, turn on Messages, and pick Selected conversations if you only need one thread. The app supports backing up MMS media and, on some models, RCS messages.
3. Save the backup to the phone, Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive, or email it to yourself. The file is named like sms-20240314210411.xml.

The XML records each message’s phone number, the date as a precise timestamp in milliseconds, whether it was received or sent, the text, and (optionally) the contact name. SyncTech documents every field in Fields in XML backup files.

Step 2: Turn the XML into a readable PDF

Open the XML in TextExhibits. Your messages stay on your computer. Then:

• choose the conversation (a backup can hold many threads);
• pick the time zone to show. SMS backups record exact instants, so the PDF converts them and prints the UTC offset on every message;
• optionally restrict the date range and turn on phone-number redaction;
• add the case caption and exhibit label, and download.

Pictures sent as MMS are shown inline if “back up MMS” was on.

Step 3: Check it against the phone

Scroll through the phone and the PDF side by side for a few key dates. If something is missing (for example RCS chats, which some phones store differently), say so rather than fill the gap from memory.

Why a full export beats a handful of screenshots

The other side can ask the court to consider the rest of a conversation alongside the part you show (FRE 106 in federal court, and similar rules in many states). A complete, chronological export shows you’re not hiding context and makes authentication easier to explain.

Sources

1. SyncTech — SMS Backup & Restore (features, price)
2. SyncTech — Fields in SMS Backup & Restore XML backup files
3. Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 901 — Authenticating or Identifying Evidence (Cornell LII)
4. Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 106 — Remainder of or Related Writings or Recorded Statements (Cornell LII)

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