Text message evidence guides

27 guides on capturing a conversation on your phone, keeping the dates visible, redacting safely, and exporting one numbered PDF. Formatting and organisation guidance only, never legal advice.

Walkthrough

How the export works, end to end

1. Add your screenshots

Pick the screenshots from your photos. They stay on this device.

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Scene 1 of 6: Add your screenshots. Pick the screenshots from your photos. They stay on this device.

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Start here

The core method: capture, order, number, redact, export.

  • How to print text messages for court

    How to print text messages for court in 2026: screenshot the thread on your phone, keep dates visible, and build one numbered PDF exhibit. Nothing is uploaded.

    Updated 2026-09-01

  • Text message evidence PDF: what belongs in the file

    What a text message evidence PDF should contain: a cover page, ordered screenshots, continuous page numbers, a redaction log, and a hash appendix. Built on your phone.

    Updated 2026-09-01

  • How to present text messages in court

    How to present text messages in court: bring one numbered PDF exhibit per conversation, copies for everyone, and a short index so any message can be found by page number.

    Updated 2026-09-01

  • How to export text messages to PDF without a computer

    Export text messages to a PDF using only your phone: screenshot the thread, arrange and redact in the browser, and download a numbered exhibit. Nothing is uploaded.

    Updated 2026-09-01

By phone and app

Capture steps for the device or app the conversation lives on.

By situation

What to capture and what to cover for a specific kind of dispute.

Document craft

Cover pages, numbering, redaction, hashes, and declarations.

  • What is an exhibit cover page?

    An exhibit cover page names the document before anyone reads it: matter, parties, platform, date range, page count, and exhibit label. Here is the full checklist.

    Updated 2026-09-01

  • What is Bates numbering?

    Bates numbering is a fixed identifier stamped on every page of a document set, such as SMITH-000123, so any page can be referenced exactly. Here is how it works.

    Updated 2026-09-01

  • How to redact names in screenshots

    Redact names in screenshots the safe way: use a solid black box, never blur or pixelation, and log every redaction with its page number and reason.

    Updated 2026-09-01

  • How to show a screenshot has not been edited

    Hashes, original files, and capture practice: how to give someone a concrete way to check that a screenshot in your exhibit matches the file you captured.

    Updated 2026-09-01

  • How to write a declaration describing text message evidence

    A declaration describing text message screenshots covers who you are, whose phone it is, how and when you captured it, and what you redacted. Template language included.

    Updated 2026-09-01

Organising and sending

How much to include, in what order, and how to hand it over.

Comparisons

Honest looks at the alternatives, including doing nothing.

  • ThreadProof vs Decipher TextMessage

    An honest comparison: ThreadProof builds a numbered PDF from phone screenshots in your browser; Decipher TextMessage reads a desktop backup. When each one fits.

    Updated 2026-09-01

  • ThreadProof vs screenshots in a folder

    A folder of screenshots is free and has no order, numbering, or redaction log. Here is exactly what a structured PDF adds, and when the folder is genuinely enough.

    Updated 2026-09-01

Terms used in these guides

Short definitions of exhibit, declaration, Bates numbering, redaction, hash, and more.

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