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Export text messages from an Android phone

Back up SMS and MMS to an XML file with a free app, then upload it — from the phone itself if you prefer.

What you need
  • The Android phone, unlocked
  • A few minutes on the phone
  • No computer required
How long
About 10 minutes, plus the backup itself
What you end up with
One .xml file containing the messages, and the pictures if you include them
What we accept for this source
FileExtensionKey required
SMS Backup & Restore XML.xmlNo key

Back up SMS and MMS

Android has no built-in way to export messages as a file, so this uses SMS Backup & Restore by SyncTech — a free app that has been the standard tool for this for years. It writes a single .xml file.

  1. Install SMS Backup & Restore from the Google Play Store, and open it.
  2. Tap Set up a backup.
  3. Turn on Messages. Also turn on MMS / attachments if picture messages matter — without it you get the text only, and the images cannot be recovered later from that file.
  4. For the destination choose local storage / this phone. Cloud destinations work too, but local is one less account to sign into.
  5. Tap Back up now and let it finish. You get a file named like sms-20260619143708.xml, usually in Download or SMSBackupRestore.

Including pictures roughly doubles the time and the file size

It is still the right choice when the images are part of the evidence. A text-only backup cannot be upgraded afterwards — you would have to run the backup again.

Upload it

From the phone, with no computer

This is the shortest route and nothing is lost by taking it.

  1. Open any browser on the phone and go to yourlegalaitools.com.
  2. Sign in and open the SMS/MMS Extractor.
  3. Choose Android as the source, then tap to choose a backup file.
  4. In the file picker, go to Downloads (or SMSBackupRestore) and pick the .xml.
  5. It uploads directly to secure storage. Carry on with number selection.

Or move it to a computer first

  1. By cable: connect the phone, tap the Charging this device notification, and choose File transfer. On the computer, open the phone’s storage and copy the .xml out of Download.
  2. Or by cloud: share the .xml to Google Drive or email it to yourself, then download it on the computer.

WhatsApp on the same phone

WhatsApp keeps its messages in its own storage, separate from SMS, so it needs its own export — the backup above does not include it. See the WhatsApp guide, which covers both exporting a single chat and uploading the full database.

If something goes wrong

The extractor found no numbers in my file
Check the source you selected matches the file. An Android SMS backup must be uploaded as Android, not as WhatsApp. If the file is only a few kilobytes, the backup probably ran with Messages switched off.
The reports have no pictures in them
The backup was made without MMS / attachments. The images are not in the file at all, so re-run the backup with that option on.
I cannot find the .xml on the phone
Open the app and look at View backups — it shows the exact path. Some phones put it under Internal storage/SMSBackupRestore rather than Download.
The file is very large and the upload is slow
That is expected with attachments included; the upload goes straight to secure storage in parts and shows a percentage. Keep the tab open — leaving the page mid-upload will prompt you before anything is lost.
Open the extractor

Other guides: iPhone · WhatsApp

Only upload data you have the legal right to process. Phone backups are permanently deleted from our storage 24 hours after creation; the integrity record of what was produced is kept. See our Terms and Privacy Policy.