Messaging is one of the most used forms of communication in the world. In the US, texting through your carrier is the most used form of messaging. Since texting is used for so much communication, you may need to print some text messages from a pleasant conversation you want to remember or if you need to use text messages as evidence in a court case. There isn't a built-in feature to print text messages on your affordable Android phone, but you can use a workaround to print images of your texts.

This guide discusses how to print text messages from an Android phone using the Google Messages app, which is the default texting app on most new Android phones. If you use another app to text, it might have other ways to print text messages that aren't listed here.

How to print text messages from your Android phone

The most natural place to print your Android text messages is from the phone you texted on. Google Messages does not include a way to print texts from within the app. The best workaround is to take screenshots of the messages you want to print and print them from your mobile phone.

  1. Open the Messages app.
  2. Select or search for the conversation you want to print messages from.
  3. Find the messages you would like to print.
    A list of conversations in the Google Messages app on an Android phone
    A conversation in the Google Messages app on an Android phone
  4. Simultaneously press the volume up and power buttons.
  5. If the text messages you want to print don't fit on your screen, tap the Capture More button that pops up at the bottom of your screen. Then, drag the bounds of the capture box to select the content you want to capture. This may not capture all the content you want to print, but it captures more than the default.

  6. Tap the Share button.
    The extend screenshot menu on an Android phone
    A Google Messages conversation on an Android phone with the screenshot menu for a screenshot that was just taken of the conversation
  7. Scroll down and tap the Print icon.
  8. Choose a printer and tap the Print button.
    All the apps you can share to using the share function for a screenshot on an Android phone
    The Android print menu with a screenshot on a conversation being printed

Check your printer. Your texts should be printed and ready to share.

How to print text messages from the Google Messages web app

If printing texts from your phone is too difficult, print them from your computer.

The screenshots in this section follow these steps using a Chromebook. If you use a Windows or Mac device, the steps for printing from Chrome or printing a screenshot may differ slightly.

  1. Set up Google Messages on the web if this is your first time using it on your computer.
  2. Go to messages.google.com on Chrome on your computer.
    The list of all conversations in Google Messages on the web
  3. Find the conversation you'd like to print.
    A selected conversation in Google Messages on the web

You now have two options to print messages:

  • Click the three dots in the upper-right corner of the page. In the menu, tap the Print option. Use the Chrome print menu to choose a printer and printing options and print your messages.
  • Take screenshots of your conversation like you would on your Android device. After you take the screenshot, go to your files, find the screenshot, and print it.

Either method should allow you to print your messages quickly and easily.

You can access your text messages using Microsoft's Phone Link application if you're a Windows PC user.

How to back up and search your Android messages quickly

You can also back up your Android SMS messages at once and save that backup in an easily accessed location. This way, you can revisit old texts reliably, search texts, and print what you want from the comfort of your computer. It's one of the best options if you have a lot of texts to go through and not a lot of time.

  1. Download SMS Backup & Restore. This service is free but has some ads.
  2. Open the app and sign in to set up the service.
  3. Choose Set Up a Backup when you are signed in.
    Set up a Backup option on SMS Backup & Restore.
    Choosing what to back up in SMS Backup and Restore.
  4. Choose the media you want to back up. You need to at least choose Messages. However, you also have the option to choose Selected conversations. One of the advantages of this service is that you can search through backups whenever you want, even if you didn't realize a conversation was important, so we suggest choosing all messages if you aren't sure.
  5. Choose a place to store your message backup. Choose a cloud service you regularly use. You can save text messages in Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive. Toggle your preferred service, and make sure other options are toggled off. You can upload to another device over Wi-Fi if necessary, but it isn't as useful.
    Choose a cloud storage option on SMS Backup and Restore.
  6. Sign in to your cloud account and select Save to complete the process.
  7. If you want, you can now set that backup to update periodically, such as every week. This is one of the benefits of this service. You don't have to manually update your text logs if you don't want to. That can be useful in a professional capacity or if you're an avid texter.
  8. Sign in to your computer and log in to your cloud storage platform, like Google Drive. Find the saved document of your messages and use the Find function to search based on certain words or dates. Use your cloud platform or browser to print the conversations you want.

Printing text messages for legal purposes

Do you need to print text messages for legal purposes, such as court evidence? The above methods should work fine for legal purposes. However, we have a couple of bits of advice for this situation:

  • Always ensure text conversations are carefully dated, even if you must manually add the dates. Don't guess at dates if you don't know for sure.
  • In addition to hard copies, save your text conversations as a PDF file. PDFs are necessary to forward information to court clerks, lawyers, and others.
  • Contact a lawyer if you have any other questions about using texts for legal purposes.

Your texts in print

Printing texts from your computer or your Android phone is easy. If you need to print messages that you deleted, it may be pertinent to know how to find and retrieve deleted texts on an Android phone. You may also want to activate the Rich Communications Services (RCS) protocol on Google Messages to enjoy features similar to what you find on iMessage and WhatsApp.

If you own a shiny new Samsung Galaxy S24 flagship, you have even better texting features at your fingertips, including live translation of messages.