faq.md

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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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Is there a search function?

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

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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.

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Are voice messages be saved?

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

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

Yes, this tool cannot recover deleted messages.