Android phones do not offer a direct button to print text messages. However, that doesn’t mean you cannot print SMS or messages. Whether you want to print text messages from Android for court or for reliving the memories with a person who has passed away, there are other workarounds, thankfully. Let’s check different ways to print SMS messages from Android phones.
Note: These methods will work on all Android phones including Samsung.
Table of Contents
1. By Taking Screenshots
One of the easiest ways to print SMS messages on Android is by taking screenshots of the messages and then printing those screenshots. This method lets you print messages in its original format and includes emojis, images, etc.
The drawback of this method is that if you have many messages to print, this method becomes tedious. On the good side, it doesn’t require any special app or even a computer. Moreover, you can annotate the screenshots as well before printing.
Once you have taken the screenshot, you can print them directly from your Android phone using a wireless printer or transfer them to your PC and then print from your PC.
Take Screenshots of Messages
1. Open the Messages app and go to the message thread that you want to print on your Android phone.
2. Scroll to the message and take a screenshot. The typical method of taking a screenshot on Android phones is by pressing the Power and Volume down button. Similarly, take screenshots of more messages.
3. An easier alternative is to take long screenshots as that will capture more messages. However, please keep in mind that do not take extremely long screenshots as the text will become cramped while printing. To take long screenshots, take a regular screenshot first. You will see a pop-up at the bottom. Tap on Capture More.
Tip: Use the zoom-in and out gesture to change the font size of text messages.
4. Select the area that you want to capture and press the Save button.
Tip: On Samsung Galaxy phones, go to the first message that you want to print. Take a screenshot and press the Capture more icon. Keep pressing till the message that you want to print. Again, remember not to take very long screenshots, otherwise, the text will appear small while printing.
Print Screenshots
After taking screenshots, print them in one of the following ways.
Print Screenshots from Your Phone
1. Launch the Gallery app and open the screenshot.
2. Press the Share icon and select Print from the menu.
3. Select your printer by tapping on the small down arrow and press the Print button to print messages from your Android phone directly.
Print Screenshots from Your PC
If you don’t have a wireless printer, you need to transfer the images to your PC. You can do it by sending over WhatsApp or any other instant messaging app. Or, you can even email the screenshots to yourself. Check out other ways to transfer files from Android to PC. Then, print the screenshot of the messages from your PC just as you would print any other image.
Tip: Learn how to take a scrolling screenshot on Windows 11.
2. Print from Web Browser
If the above method doesn’t seem user-friendly, you should open messages in the web browser and then print from there. This allows you to have more SMS in one screen. This method will also be helpful if you don’t have a wireless printer as you can directly print from a PC.
First, you need to link your PC to the Google Messages app and then print messages. Here are the steps in detail:
Show Messages on PC
1. Install and open the Google Messages app on your phone, in case it isn’t already installed.
2. You will get the pop-up to set it as your default messages app. Select Ok.
3. Open messages.google.com/web in a browser on your PC.
4. In the Google Messages app, tap on the three-bar icon and select Device Pairing.
5. Tap on the QR code scanner.
6. Point your phone’s camera towards the QR code on your PC’s screen.
7. Wait for your PC and phone to link. Once that happens, all your messages will show up on the computer.
Tip: Check out the best tips to use Google Messages on the web.
Print Messages from a Web Browser on a PC
For this tutorial, we will be using the Chrome browser to print messages. But you can use any other browser as well.
1. On the Google Messages web page, open the message thread on your computer and go to the messages that you want to print.
2. Click on the three-dot icon at the top-right corner of the Chrome browser and select Print. Make sure to click on the three-dot icon at the top and not the one inside the Messages app.
3. Select your printer in the Destination drop-down box and click on Print. Similarly, keep more messages in focus on the screen and print them.
Alternatively, you can even take a screenshot of the messages, crop the screenshots on your PC, and then print them.
Tip: Learn how to fix if you are unable to print from Chrome.
3. Using Textra SMS App
Next, you can use the popular third-party SMS client i.e., Textra app to print your Android messages. While this method is user-friendly, all formatting and media are lost while printing as it converts the messages into TXT format. So if you are looking to print messages in basic format i.e., like a text file, this will come in handy.
Follow these steps:
1. Install and open the Textra SMS app on your Android phone.
2. Make it your default messaging app.
3. Long press on the message thread that you want to print. Tap on the three-dot icon and select Share as Email. A TXT file will be generated.
4. Select Gmail or any other email client and send the TXT to yourself.
5. Open the TXT file on your PC and print it like you would print any other document.
If you want to print the txt file from your Android phone itself, save the txt file to Google Drive. Then, open it in Drive on your phone and print it by pressing the Share icon > Print option.
4. Using the SMS Backup App
Finally, if you want to print messages in a tabular format with the date, sender, and message in each column, this method will be helpful. On the contrary, the same feature can be a drawback as the original format of messages is lost.
In this method, first, you need to create a backup of the messages that you want to print and then print the backup file.
Create a Backup
1. Install and open the SMS Backup app from SyncTech developer on your Android phone.
2. Grant the necessary permissions while setting up the app.
3. Tap on the Set up a backup or Back up now button.
4. Uncheck the Call logs option.
5. Then, tap on Advanced options. Choose Selected conversations only and press the Change button.
6. Select the conversation that you want to print and go back. Tap on Next.
7. Enable the toggle next to Your Phone.
8. Select the folder where you want to download SMS messages.
9. Press the Next button and turn off the Recurring backup on the next screen.
10. Tap on Back up now.
Print Messages from Backup
After taking a backup, follow these steps to print out the Android text messages:
1. In the SMS backup app, tap on the three-bar icon in the same app and select View backups.
2. Tap on the available SMS backup.
3. Tap on the three-dot icon next to the conversation that you want to print and select Print conversation.
4. The messages will show in a tabular format. Select your printer and print the messages. Alternatively, select Share and email the file to yourself so that you can print it from a computer.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Will the messages be deleted after you print them?
No, messages will not be removed from your Android phone after printing unless you manually delete them.
2. How can I export SMS messages as PDF?
You need to use third-party apps to save SMS as PDF. Check our guide on how to export messages from Android.
Keep a Record
Hope you were able to print text messages from your Android phone. Before you go, check out the best apps to automate text messages. Also, learn how to record calls on the phone.
