How to Export Messages Chat History on macOS 13

Exporting your chat history from the Messages app on macOS 13 (Ventura) allows you to archive important conversations, share transcripts, or create local backups. This guide explains how to export individual chats as readable PDF documents and how to locate the raw SQLite database files and attachments stored on your Mac.

Method 1: Export Conversations as a PDF

The simplest way to export a readable transcript of an iMessage or SMS thread is to use the macOS print function.

  1. Open the Messages app on your Mac.
  2. Select the conversation you want to export from the left sidebar.
  3. Scroll up in the chat window to load the entire history you wish to export. Messages only exports the portion of the conversation that has been loaded into memory.
  4. Click File in the top menu bar and select Print, or press Command + P.
  5. In the print dialog window, look for the dropdown menu at the bottom (or select the destination) and choose Save as PDF.
  6. Name your file, select a destination folder, and click Save.

Method 2: Access the Raw Messages Database

macOS 13 stores all message logs, metadata, and attachments in hidden library folders. You can copy these files directly to preserve a complete technical backup.

Step 1: Grant Full Disk Access

Because macOS restricts access to personal data, you must give Finder or your extraction tool permission to read the files.

  1. Click the Apple menu and select System Settings.
  2. Click Privacy & Security in the sidebar.
  3. Select Full Disk Access.
  4. Ensure your preferred file management tool or Terminal has access enabled.

Step 2: Locate the Files

  1. Open Finder.
  2. Click Go in the top menu bar, then click Go to Folder… (or press Command + Shift + G).
  3. Paste the following path into the search bar and press Return: ~/Library/Messages
  4. In this folder, you will find:
    • chat.db: An SQLite database containing your complete text message history.
    • chat.db-shm and chat.db-wal: Temporary database support files.
    • Attachments: A folder containing all photos, videos, audio notes, and files sent and received.
  5. Copy the chat.db file and the Attachments folder to an external drive or another folder to back them up.

To read the chat.db file, you can open it with any SQLite viewer application, such as DB Browser for SQLite, or use command-line scripts to query specific threads.

Method 3: Manual Text Copy

For brief segments of a conversation:

  1. Open the conversation in Messages.
  2. Click and drag your cursor over the text bubbles you want to save, or press Command + A while clicked inside the transcript window to select loaded text.
  3. Press Command + C to copy.
  4. Open TextEdit, Notes, or Pages, and press Command + V to paste the text.