How to View iPhone Messages on PC or Mac

Part 1: 3 method to extract and view iPhone messages in Windows or Mac OS

In order to view iPhone messages on computer, we need a tool to scan and export the messages from our device to a computer. And here I recommend you Dr.Fone - Data Recovery (iOS) to do it for you. This software provide three way for you to extract and export your data from your device, iTunes backup and iCloud backup to computer, which will be very flexible and convenient for us to view iPhone messages on PC or Mac. Actually, expcept messages, the program can also extract and export iPhone notes, photos, contacts, videos, music, call log and more.

From the above introduction we can know that Dr.Fone - Data Recovery (iOS) allows us to extract our messages from iPhone, iTunes backup and iCloud backup and export a readable file to our computer. Now, let's check the 3 method:

1.1 Scan from iPhone to read text messages in Windows/Mac OS for free

Step 1. Run the program and connect your iPhone

Run the program on your computer after downloading and installing it, and then connect your iPhone to the computer. When your device is recognized, just click on "Recover" the main window of the program. Click on "Recover from iOS Device"

To view messages on your iPhone, you can check "Messages & Attachments". This will save you time for scanning. If you want to check all contents on your iPhone at the same time, you can choose to check the items all. Then click "Start Scan" to begin.

Step 2. Scan and view iPhone messages on PC for free

When the scan finishes, a scan result as follows will appear. You can preview all data in it. Choose messages and you can view the items one by one. Check the items you want and click "Recover to Computer". You can save them on your computer. The saved file is a kind of HTML file, which allows you to view effortlessly on your Windows computer or Mac.

If you're a Mac user, please download the Mac version of Dr.Fone toolkit, and take the similar steps as above. You can also view iPhone messages on Mac, in a file of HTML.

1.2 Free to view iPhone messages from iCloud Backup on your computer

Here let's look how to view iPhone messages from iCloud backup files.

Step 1. Sign in your iCloud account

Switch to "Recover from iCloud Backup File" on the left side menu and then you'll be at the entrance of iCloud. Enter your iCloud account and get into it. Your account is 100% safe here. Wondershare never keep any record of your account or leak it to others.

Step 2. Download and extract your iCloud backup file

Once you're in, you will see a list of all your backup files in the account. Choose the one for your iPhone and click to download it. It will take you some time. When the downloading is complete, you can begin the extracting, and then wait for a second.

Step 3. View your iPhone messages in iCloud backup for free

In the scanning result, you can choose anything you want to view. Click on the "Messages" and view the content in detail on the right. After viewing, you can choose to save it to your computer or device by clicking on "Recover to Computer" if you have a need.

1.3 Free to view iPhone SMS from iTunes Backup on your computer

As we all know, iTunes backup are not readable on computer. That is to say, we can't directly view iTunes backup. In this case, we can use Dr.Fone - Data Recovery (iOS) to extract and view iPhone messages in iTunes backup on your computer. Here let's see how it works:

Step 1. Choose to extract your iTunes backup file

Switch to "Recover from iTunes Backup File" for viewing iPhone messages in iTunes backup files. Choose the iTunes backup file for your iPhone and click "Start Scan". Then the program will start extracting your iTunes backup files automatically.

Step 2. Free to view iPhone messages one by one

You can start viewing the content since the scanning begins. Choose "Messages" and you can view the whole content for free. Clicking on the "Recover to Computer" button, you can save the messages to your iPhone or to your computer as an HTML file for better reading or printing.

Part 2: Back up & Export iPhone Messages to view them on computer

Dr.Fone - Backup&Restore (iOS) allows you to selectively back up your iPhone messages and export them to your Windows or Mac as as HTML, CSV or vCard files. Namely, you can view your iPhone messages directly on your computer. So if you want to view iPhone messages on PC or Mac, then we can try Dr.Fone - Backup&Restore (iOS) to backup and selectively transfer iPhone messages to computer and view them directly.

Steps to backup & export iPhone messages to your computer

Step 1. Download and intstall Dr.Fone on your computer. Launch it and connect your device to the computer. The program will detect your device automatically. Then select "Backup & Restore".

Step 2. In order to back up iPhone messages, you can tick "Messages & Attachments" and click button "Backup".

Step 3. When the backing up process is finished, you can view them directly for FREE on the below. If you want to export some of them to your computer, just choose the checkbox "Messages", and tick the particular messages as you want. Finally, click the button "Export to PC" to export the selected messages to your computer. They can be saved as .csv, .html, or vcard document.

Note: You can also click the "Printer" icon on the top right of the window to print your iPhone text messages.

That's it! It is easy to view iPhone messages on computer, isn't it?