How can I transfer my text messages from one iPhone to another?
June 26, 2010 2:27 AM   Subscribe

How can I transfer my text messages (SMS's), and only these, from my old iPhone to my new iPhone 4?

I've just switched from a first-gen iPhone to an iPhone 4. Awesomeness aside, there's only one thing I can't figure out: how can I get my text message history from my old iPhone to the new one? I know that restoring from a backup would do that, but I don't want to bring over everything else — I want to start as cleanly as possible. I've done this before for a friend, but I had to jailbreak both devices. I don't want to jailbreak my shiny new phone (if this is even possible yet… I'm not sure), but I can jailbreak the old one if necessary.

Is there any software that will do this for me? Failing that, maybe it's possible to jury rig a backup file with just the appropriate files to get the SMS's across? Google has failed me a bit here, unless this is impossible— there seem to be loads of ways to get the texts off, but not to put them back on. It seems a silly thing to want to do, but I have messages going back several years and it'd be a shame not to be able to have them anymore. :)
posted by jaffacakerhubarb to Computers & Internet (6 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Restoring from a backup with iTunes (at least from an iPhone 3G) does not bring over your text-message history. Grar.
posted by DaveP at 4:59 AM on June 26, 2010


This might work.
http://www.iphonebackupextractor.com/
posted by glenno86 at 5:28 AM on June 26, 2010 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: DaveP: That's odd— it should! Maybe give it another go?

glenno86: Ooh! I saw that site while I was searching, but didn't realise it could put the files back on. I'll have to wait until I get home from work, but thankyou for the link!
posted by jaffacakerhubarb at 5:39 AM on June 26, 2010


Restoring from a backup with iTunes (at least from an iPhone 3G) does not bring over your text-message history. Grar.

It sure did for me.
posted by thejoshu at 7:40 AM on June 26, 2010


Count me in as having my messages from my 3G (originally from AT&T, unlocked and used on PAYG with O2 in the UK) move over without issue to my new iPhone 4 after setup using "Restore". Everything came over just like it was in the 3G.

Add to this that I wasn't expecting, or cared if it would, the process to bring over my text messages. Nice surprise.
posted by qwip at 8:14 AM on June 26, 2010


That's what I thought. But the deed is done, the iPhone 4 is up and running, the 3G has been wiped and sold, and I don't want to mess with it any further at this point.

Apparently Apple once again made "a computer for the rest of them" and I probably outsmarted myself somewhere along the way.
posted by DaveP at 9:03 AM on June 26, 2010


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