Print text messages from Android
2doc prints a whole text conversation from your Android phone, with no screenshots and no computer. It makes a PDF of the thread for the days you pick, every message dated and timed, and hands it to your printer through Android's own print dialog.
What the printout shows
A printed thread reads like a document, not a pile of screenshots:
- The conversation under the name your phone has for the contact.
- Each day starts with its date, and each message carries its time.
- Your messages and theirs on their own sides, so the reader sees who said what.
- MMS photos and attachments printed where they were sent, if you include them.
- A page number on every page, so a missing one shows. The free version prints a small "Created with 2doc" line at the foot of each page.
A screenshot shows one screen, and most of its messages carry no date. The printout covers every message in the period you choose, because 2doc reads the phone's own message store, not the screen. If the pages are for a court or an official body, the guide to a complete record covers what to add and what to check first.
Print a text conversation, step by step
- Get 2doc from Google Play. Open it and tap Create Document.
- Tap Messages. Android asks you to let 2doc read your texts; they stay on the phone.
- Choose the thread. If one you expected is not in the list, Missing texts? tells you why.
- Set the period: Today, 7 days, 30 days, or a Custom start and end date.
- Tap Generate Document. 2doc writes the PDF on the phone.
- Open the finished document and tap Print.
Every screen of steps 1 to 5, with the options for photos and links, is in the text messages to PDF guide.
In the print dialog
Print opens Android's own print dialog, the one other apps use too. At the top, pick your printer, or Save as PDF to get a file instead of paper. Below that are the number of copies, the paper size and the pages to print.
For a long thread, print a page range if only part is wanted, and keep the full document in the app. 2doc hands the file only to the print service you pick; it does not pass through a server of ours.
If the phone finds no printer
Android prints through print services. Many phones come with one that finds printers on the same Wi-Fi network. If your printer is not in the list, install your printer maker's print app from Google Play; it adds itself as a print service.
Some phones cannot print at all, and on those 2doc says "Printing is not available". The conversation can still reach paper, because the document is a regular PDF:
- Share it to your email and print it from a computer.
- Save it to Google Drive and print it from any device signed in to that account.
- Send it to a print shop or a library that prints from email.
Print only some days
The period decides what goes on paper. Under the period, each selected conversation shows how many of its messages fall inside it, so you know how much will print before you generate. Today and 7 days are free. 30 days and Custom are Pro, even a short Custom range.
To print another stretch of the same thread, change the section's period and generate again. You do not start over.
What is free
Printing costs nothing, and so does the rest of this page apart from the two longer periods: Today and 7 days are free, 30 days and Custom need Pro. Pro is a single purchase, not a subscription, and neither version shows ads. The text messages to PDF guide lists everything Pro unlocks.
What can be missing
Paper shows only what the phone lets 2doc read, and an app that is not your default SMS app is not shown everything. Four cases to know before you print:
- RCS chats are internet messages, not SMS, so they may print only partly or not at all. Texts sent as plain SMS always print.
- A text you wrote that never went out, one that failed, is still sending or stayed a draft, is shown only to your SMS app, so it cannot print.
- A text you deleted in your messaging app is gone for every app, auto-deleted verification codes included.
- Blocked or spam-filtered senders, and threads that newer Android versions flag, can be kept from any app that is not the default SMS app.
The Missing texts? button on the phone explains each case, and the text messages to PDF guide has the full list and what 2doc can do about each one.
Questions
Can I print the whole conversation at once?
Yes, for the period you pick. Every message of the thread in that period goes into one document, which prints as one job. Today and 7 days are free. 30 days and Custom are Pro, even a short Custom range.
Does it print my replies too?
Yes. Sent and received messages both print, each on its own side of the page.
Do I need a computer?
No. The messages are read on the phone, the document is made on the phone, and the phone sends it to the printer you pick. A computer only helps when the phone cannot reach a printer.
Will a court accept the printout?
That is for the court or body and your adviser to decide, and it differs by country. 2doc gives you a complete, dated record of what is on your phone; it does not certify anything. The guide to a complete record covers what to add and what to check.