Text messages often contain important information as well as personal memories, from everyday conversations to business discussions and records you may need to keep.
There are many situations where having a printed copy of your messages is useful, such as preserving a meaningful exchange, documenting work-related communication, or providing evidence for legal or administrative purposes.
Unfortunately, Android does not provide a native way to print text message conversations. Relying on screenshots is time-consuming, looks unprofessional, and creates a messy pile of countless images for even a single conversation.
This guide will show you an easier and more efficient way to print your Android Text messages, using Droid Transfer.
What is Droid Transfer?
Droid Transfer is a Windows app created by Wide Angle Software. It allows Android users to access content from their phone on their PC, and save or print whatever is needed.
Not only does this mean that you can view, export and print SMS and MMS messages, but also save your call logs, sync music, back up photos and more. We’ll expand on these other features later.
What You’ll Need to Get Started
To start printing your Android messages, you’ll need:
- A PC or laptop running Windows 10 or 11.
- Droid Transfer app for PC – available from the developer Wide Angle Software, or from the Microsoft Store.
- Your Android phone (Android 5 or higher).
- Transfer Companion app for Android – available free from the Google Play Store.
Watch the video below to see how to quickly get started with Droid Transfer:
Printing Text Messages from your Android
After just a couple of clicks in Droid Transfer, you’ll have a professional-looking printout of your Android conversation in your hands.
Printouts contain all the important information about your messages, from text, image attachments, emojis, links, date/time stamps, contact names and numbers… In fact, the only thing that’s not included in a printout is video, for obvious reasons!
How to Print Android Text Messages using Droid Transfer
- Launch Droid Transfer on your PC.
2. Open the Transfer Companion app on your Android and tap “Scan Droid Transfer App QR Code”.
3. Use the phone’s camera to scan the QR code shown in Droid Transfer on your PC to connect via Wi-Fi.
4. Click “Messages” in Droid Transfer to see all your conversations.
5. Select the conversation you want to print to view it on your PC.
6. Optional: Set a date range if you don’t need the whole conversation.
Click “Filter Dates” to view and print only messages sent and received in a certain period of time.
7. Click “Print” in Droid Transfer to confirm your printer settings and begin printing.
If your Wi-Fi connection is shaky, you can connect via USB instead. You’ll need to enable “Developer Options” and “USB Debugging” in your Android’s settings to allow this type of connection. Then, simply hook up your Android to your PC with a USB cable.
What does the printout look like?
A printed document will emulate what you see when viewing the conversation on your phone – ordered chronologically, with incoming messages on the left and outgoing messages on the right, with coloured bubbles for each message. As mentioned, the printout will also show extra information like the time stamp, image attachments, emojis and contact details for each message.
The image below shows an example of what a conversation printed by Droid Transfer looks like:
If you have specific requirements, you can easily tweak the print output. Simply access Droid Transfer’s Settings to: reverse the order of the messages in the conversation, show or hide details like contact images and phone numbers, modify the font size of the document, and use a “Compact Mode” to reduce whitespace and save paper!
What else can Droid Transfer do?
Aside from printing messages, you can access and copy many other forms of content between your Android phone and your PC with Droid Transfer:
- Export messages and call history: Save text messages and call logs to your PC in PDF, HTML, CSV, or plain text formats.
- Play and copy music: Transfer music between your phone and PC, or sync with iTunes to keep your music library consistent across devices.
- Manage photos and video: Transfer media to and from your Android device and leverage intelligent backups to ensure that you always have your newest photos backed up on your PC.
- Backup and restore contacts: Save contacts to your PC, transfer them to another Android phone, or export your address book for use in spreadsheet applications.
- Save calendar events: Export calendar data as iCal or CSV files, ready for import into other calendar managers or spreadsheet software.
- Manage files: Access your Android device’s file system to move files between devices, create folders, and remove unwanted files.
- Clipboard: Share clipboard content between your Android phone and your PC.
All content viewed or saved with Droid Transfer is local on your computer. No information is shared online or with Wide Angle Software.
Droid Transfer is available as a free trial, allowing you to explore the app’s features before purchasing a licence. With the trial version, you can view your messages, save the first five messages from each conversation, copy up to 100 songs and photos, and even save as many calendars as you like.
Licences start from $28.50 and unlock unlimited transfers for an unlimited number of Android devices, as well as full access to the all-important message printing feature.
Final Thoughts
If you need to print text messages from an Android device, relying on screenshots is rarely an efficient or presentable solution. A desktop tool such as Droid Transfer offers a more structured way to export and print conversations when clarity and organisation are important.
