If you want to keep receipts of your text messages, you can do so by saving a copy to your Gmail account. Luckily, if you end up backing them up, they are easy to search when you need them.
Things You Need to Backup Your Text Messages
Losing your text messages is easy, but sometimes it only takes a software update or switching phones to erase threads accidentally.
If there are text messages that are important, the best thing to do is to back them up so you can pull them up whenever you need them.
Backing up your text messages to your Gmail account is easy to do. You will need to have three things to get started.
First, you need your Android phone, then you need to sign in to your Gmail account, and you need a free copy of SMS Backup+ from the Google Play Store.
Configure Your Gmail for IMAP Access
SMS Backup+ needs IMAP access to your Gmail account to work. First, you need to log in to your Gmail account and navigate to Settings. Next, click on "Forwarding and POP/IMAP."
Then, check "Enable IMAP," scroll down and click "Save Changes" to finish the process.
Go to the Google Security page and set up two-factor authentication, if you are not using it already. Tap on "App Passwords" and provide your login information, as reported by HowtoGeek.
Click the drop-down box and choose "Select Apps." Next, set it to "Custom Name" to change the name to something descriptive. Once you are done, click "Generate."
You will be given a password, so keep the window open, or you can temporarily save the password in another window. You will need it when you configure the SMS backup, according to Android Police.
Install and Configure the SMS Backup+ App
Using your Gmail account IMAP features, you can install SMS Backup+. Go to Google Play Store and download the app on your Android phone. Once it is installed, you can configure it, according to Android Authority.
First, launch the application and tap "Advanced Settings." Next, click "Custom IMAP Server." Once you are done, tap "Authentication" and change it from "XOAuth2" to "Plain Text."
Tap on "Server Address," set the IMAP server address to "imap.gmail.com.933" and tap on "OK." Next, go through the rest of the options and enter your email, the password you just created, and make sure that the "Security" is set to TLS. Also, make sure that the "Trust All Certificates" option is unticked.
Go back to the main menu and tap on "Backup." The backup process will begin, and the run time will depend on how many messages you have. Sometimes it takes only a minute, but if there are many messages, it may take up to 30 minutes to complete.
If you want to see if the process is linked to your Gmail account, you can go to Gmail and check the progress yourself. Just log in to your Gmail account from your web browser, and you will see a new "SMS" label. Click on it so you can see the entire progress.
The SMS Backup+ automatically backs up your text messages, so you can keep your receipts even if you change phones.
You can do so if you wish to backup your Android phone to your computer using Droid Transfer.
In 2020, Google provided iPhone users with more storage for their text messages.
Related Article: How to See My Boyfriend's Text Messages Without His Phone
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Written by Sophie Webster
