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Need to print a copy of messages on my Android phone as an evidence submitted to court. How can I export the messages to plain text?

Court? I'm no lawyer but the evidence of a plain text file would be pretty week. Ask your cell phone provider. Better yet ask a lawyer to submit a request to the cell phone provider. Depending on how much you care, just ask a lawyer because none of us are going to be qualified to give legal advice.

Yeah, what he said. I don't think a plain text file would be acceptable as evidence in a court of law, since it would be trivial to fake it. You need to talk to a lawyer with experience in this area.

Just print out a screenshot?

If you want it to be viable in court you need to have an eDiscovery firm do it. A text file of SMS/MMS means nothing. You should talk to a lawyer and see who/what they suggest. Could also possibly get a copy from your carrier, but that almost surely requires a court order (and a waiting period) too.

edit: not sure this user will be back (read: that it's not a bot)

https://discourse.processing.org/t/can- ... s-app/2526 - created account same day/time period as this one and made one post.

and another - https://forums.unrealengine.com/member/ ... -alexanoin

If you really need it exported into a text file, the fastest way is to just open notepad and start typing. Be sure to type it exactly as it is in the SMS (it can't be that long). The output of this will be the same as if it was done by some app/tool which shows that it is not really proof of anything.

demolition wrote:

If you really need it exported into a text file, the fastest way is to just open notepad and start typing. Be sure to type it exactly as it is in the SMS (it can't be that long). The output of this will be the same as if it was done by some app/tool which shows that it is not really proof of anything. You can also use third-party app to do this.

No, this is unacceptable.

alexanoin wrote:

demolition wrote:

If you really need it exported into a text file, the fastest way is to just open notepad and start typing. Be sure to type it exactly as it is in the SMS (it can't be that long). The output of this will be the same as if it was done by some app/tool which shows that it is not really proof of anything.

No, this is unacceptable.

If that's not acceptable, I don't see how a plain text file produced by an export tool would be either. Plain text is plain text. The file will be identical either way.

As already explained, a plain text file is very unlikely to be acceptable as evidence, no matter how it was produced. It is too easy to fake.

Have you spoken to a lawyer yet?

just brew it! wrote:

As already explained, a plain text file is very unlikely to be acceptable as evidence, no matter how it was produced. It is too easy to fake.

Have you spoken to a lawyer yet?

Speaking to a lawyer is absolutely the starting point.

That said, I'm not convinced that plain text is going to have no value as evidence... It's essentially just like a witness statement and we allow witnesses to give evidence in court. If it comes down to "I say you said this, you say you said that" then I presume the network operators would get called in rather than relying on anything on anyone's phone. IANAL but authenticating evidence is only important if it's disputed and you've got to be pretty stupid to dispute something you know you sent in a text message because the network operator will be able to authenticate it so you're perjuring yourself for no gain.

All that said I'd just go to messages.android.com on your computer and copy and paste the conversation into a text editor. This assumes you use the google "messages" sms app)

Alternatively I'd consider using airdroid to access your sms in your computer's browser and again just copy and pasting. That should work with any standard sms app but won't work with things like signal or facebook messenger.

alexanoin wrote:

demolition wrote:

If you really need it exported into a text file, the fastest way is to just open notepad and start typing. Be sure to type it exactly as it is in the SMS (it can't be that long). The output of this will be the same as if it was done by some app/tool which shows that it is not really proof of anything.

No, this is unacceptable.

That's the point. A text file can say anything. It's not proof of your conversation history. What you're asking for is very obviously of no value for this very reason.

You guys, I worked for an E-Discovery company, dealt with lawyers every single day (multiple times a day). You can't just bring in plain text of SMS/MMS to court and say "here it is your honor." You have to have it memorialized by a third-party, or have the actual device in evidence or the like.

I know this is expensive and time-consuming, but that's court (and lawyers). If there is a judge that would just accept a piece of paper with plain text SMS on it typed out by a defendant, I want to meet that judge.

alexanoin wrote:

Need to print a copy of messages on my Android phone as an evidence submitted to court. How can I export the messages to plain text?

well, going to tech details, without legal mambo jumbo, which does depend on the idiot in the robe mainly. You have two options, either forward messages to the computer with something like "text now" installed, or copy-paste and send 'em to your e-mail. It will have whole date-time stamp and who sent it to you.

lol it's like people aren't even reading this thread and then posting into the ether. goodness gracious.

DancinJack wrote:

I know this is expensive and time-consuming, but that's court (and lawyers). If there is a judge that would just accept a piece of paper with plain text SMS on it typed out by a defendant, I want to meet that judge.

You betcha. I want to show him all those text messages you sent me with promise to repay that $230,000 I loaned you last year.