?: Can I save iPhone messages and then delete them from my iPhone?

[greyhound rick]

Hello everyone,

Hope you folks are doing great!

I am running out of space on my iPhone 5s and I would like to save my iMessages (to somewhere) and then delete them from my iPhone. Is there a way to do this so I can go back and view them at a later date?

If so, what would you recommend for this? Ive heard of "Any Trans" but wasn't sure if you would recommend that for what Im trying to accomplish.

From what I understand, when you back up to iCloud you can only get a messages(s) when you use iCloud to restore an iPhone which isn't what Id like to do. Id like to be able to just pick a message and be able to view it at a later date but not have it on my iPhone in order to save space.

Thanks very much for helping me and have a great day!

best,

Rick

 

[ferrarr]

I'm curious, how do you know how much space your messages are taking up? Why not get rid of items that take up more space?

 

[IWT]

Hi Rick

Knowing how much space these messages are taking up is a moot point as Bob has mentioned.

However, to be specific as to your question, there are a number of pay-for apps which will copy all your messages from your iPhone to your Mac. Indeed, all of them copy just about anything from the iPhone including photos, music, voicemail messages etc.

I use PhoneView.

Two others which are widely recommended here are iExplorer and iMazing.

A quick Google will take you to their websites. NB They are all quite expensive if all you want is to copy messages.

Ian

 

[greyhound rick]

I'm curious, how do you know how much space your messages are taking up? Why not get rid of items that take up more space?

Thank you for your input Bob. I looked in my storage and saw that my messages are taking up 12.5GB of space, Snapchat 1.3GB and the rest less than 1GB, so I figured getting my messages off my iPhone and into storage would be a good idea.

Ive only got 751MB left on my iPhone and I want to install the new iOS.

thanks!

 

[greyhound rick]

Hi Rick

Knowing how much space these messages are taking up is a moot point as Bob has mentioned.

However, to be specific as to your question, there are a number of pay-for apps which will copy all your messages from your iPhone to your Mac. Indeed, all of them copy just about anything from the iPhone including photos, music, voicemail messages etc.

I use PhoneView.

Two others which are widely recommended here are iExplorer and iMazing.

A quick Google will take you to their websites. NB They are all quite expensive if all you want is to copy messages.

Ian

Thanks very much Ian, really appreciate your expertise!

If I only have about 1 GB of space left on my iPhone will I be able to install the new iOS?

thanks again,

Rick

 

[ferrarr]

You can plug your iPhone into your computer and use iTunes to upgrade. Make sure you back up first.

 

[chscag]

If I only have about 1 GB of space left on my iPhone will I be able to install the new iOS?

Not unless you trim down space. The iOS 10 download is larger than 1 GB and even if you use iTunes, you'll run out of space. As you been advised, invest in something like iExplorer or iMazing and copy your messages to your Mac and keep them there.

 

[Slydude]

As part of the installation process IOS 10 offered me the option of temporarily removing a few apps free up the necessary amount of space. It then puts these apps back late assuming there is room. With that small amount of space available I'd be looking at freeing up some space on a more permanent basis. Are there any apps you can do without?