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faq.md

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Frequently Asked Questions

I cannot connect to the messages database. What do I do?

Ensure your terminal emulator has full disk access if using the default location or ensure that the path to the database file is correct.


Does imessage-exporter export message conversations that are on a user's iPhone/iPad but not on the user's Mac?

No, imessage-exporter only reads data present on the host system.


How does the exporter handle previously exported messages?

All messages are exported every time imessage-exporter runs. imessage-exporter appends to files when writing, so make sure to specify a different location!


Is it possible to export a conversation and re-integrate it back onto another Apple ID?

No, I do not want to be trusted with write access to your iMessage data. This software is read only.


Is there a search function?

No, this software just builds exports. I use ripgrep to search though the exported files.


Will it run on Windows/Linux?

I don't pre-build binaries for Windows or Linux, but it should compile to those targets. As long as you can point it at an iMessage database, it should work.


Are voice messages be saved?

Expired ones cannot because they are deleted. If you kept them then they are included in the exports.


Are messages deleted from the messages app erased from the database?

This software can recover some, but not all, deleted messages.

Messages removed by deleting an entire conversation or by deleting a single message from a conversation are moved to a separate collection for up to 30 days. Messages present in this collection are restored to the conversations they belong to. Apple details this process here.

Messages that have expired from this restoration process are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.