Can You Import Old Texts Into OurFamilyWizard or TalkingParents?

The Short Answer: The Record Starts at Day Zero

If you just created an OurFamilyWizard or TalkingParents account — or a court just ordered you onto one — and you're looking for the button that pulls in the last two years of texts, there isn't one. OurFamilyWizard, TalkingParents, and AppClose record communication that happens on their platforms, beginning when both parents have accounts and are actually using them. Messages sent by iMessage, SMS, or WhatsApp before that date, and every phone call you made or missed, never enter the app. Neither does anything sent outside the app afterward.

That isn't a missing feature so much as the design: the platforms' pitch in court is that their record is complete and unalterable becauseit was created on the platform, and a message pasted in from elsewhere wouldn't carry that guarantee. The practical consequence is what brought you here. The hearing is about the months or years before you signed up, and the app has nothing to say about them.

The good news is that the history isn't gone. Your messages are on your iPhone and in any backup of it; your call history is on the phone, inside an encrypted backup of it, and, if you have one, on a Mac that syncs with it. Below: what each app does let you add, where the old history actually lives, and how to turn it into one dated document. (For how the apps compare more broadly, see our OurFamilyWizard, TalkingParents, and AppClose comparison.)

What Each App Lets You Attach Instead

All three apps have somewhere to put files or notes. None is an import; each is a container for something you create and upload yourself. Features and plan tiers change often, so treat this as a starting point and check each app's current help pages.

• OurFamilyWizard: you can attach a file to a message, or upload files to the MyFiles area. OFW's help pages say a file attached to a message is permanent and cannot be removed, while a file uploaded directly to MyFiles can be deleted — so where you put it decides whether you can take it back. Check OFW's current help pages before uploading.
• TalkingParents: has a Vault for storing files and a Journal for dated notes. Availability depends on plan, so check what your tier includes.
• AppClose: offers a journal for dated entries and notes alongside its messaging.

Assume anything you send as a message attachment is permanent. These platforms are built so that neither parent can quietly delete what was communicated, so a file you attach to a message — a screenshot with your own commentary, a half-finished export, the wrong date range — stays on the record, visible to the other parent and usually to their attorney. Send the finished, complete version once, not drafts.

Beyond the big three, a couple of smaller tools — Truece and CustodyComms come up in searches — advertise importing conversations from other messengers; CustodyComms says its processing happens on your own computer. Check each tool's current claims about where your data goes before uploading a custody dispute's message history anywhere, and check their current pricing (checked September 2026).

Where Your Old Messages and Calls Actually Live

Everything you're trying to bring into the app already exists in up to three places, and you almost certainly have at least one:

• On the iPhone itself. Texts and iMessages stay in the Messages app unless you delete them or auto-delete removes them (Settings, then Messages, then Keep Messages — if it's set to 30 days or 1 year, older messages are already gone). Call history is different: the Phone app shows only roughly the last 100 calls, though the phone stores more — see how long an iPhone keeps call history.
• In an iPhone backup. A local backup made with iTunes or the Apple Devices app on Windows, or with Finder on a Mac, contains the phone's full message database — the complete thread, not just what the screen shows. Call history is the exception: Apple's support page on encrypted backups lists call history among the data only an encrypted backup includes, so an unencrypted backup carries messages but no call log. Make the backup encrypted and it carries both — our browser app asks for the backup password and decrypts it on your own computer. An old backup on a previous computer or an external drive is a snapshot of the phone's messages as of that date.
• On a synced Mac. If a Mac is signed into the same Apple ID with Messages and iCloud syncing on, it keeps its own copy of your iMessage threads, and its call-history database typically retains around 18 months of calls, including FaceTime and missed calls that never appear on a carrier bill.

Step by Step: Turn the Pre-App History Into One Dated PDF

The goal is a single document covering the period before the app: every message in order — and the calls too, where your source has them — each with its date and time, readable by someone who has never seen your phone. This is the one section about our own tool.

On Windows (or any computer):

1. Back up the iPhone. Install iTunes or the Apple Devices app (both free from Apple), plug in the phone, and choose to back up to this computer. Decide about the encryption box before you start: Apple's support page lists call history among the categories only an encrypted backup contains, so tick "Encrypt local backup" and set a password you'll remember if you want the call log alongside the messages. Either kind gives you the complete message record. Wait for the backup to finish.
2. Find the backup folder. The Apple Devices app and Microsoft Store iTunes use %userprofile%\Apple\MobileSync\Backup; iTunes downloaded from apple.com uses %appdata%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup. If you used iTunes from apple.com, Chrome will refuse to open that folder — copy the whole Backup folder to your Desktop and choose the copy instead. It's just a copy, and nothing is uploaded.
3. Open getexhibita.com/app in Chrome or Microsoft Edge and choose that folder. Exhibit A reads the databases out of the backup right there on your PC, asking for the backup password first if the backup is encrypted. Nothing is uploaded, there's no account, and it runs on Windows or any computer — in Chrome or Edge, since Safari and Firefox don't support the folder-access API it uses. If the app reports that an unencrypted backup contains no call history, that's Apple's rule above rather than a failed backup — redo the backup encrypted and enter the password when the app asks.
4. Pick the contact and date range, then export. The PDF is a color-coded calendar of message frequency by day, followed by a per-day log of every message, each timestamped. The calendar and log include calls only when the source has call data — the Mac app reading a synced Mac. The free tier exports the full exhibit with a watermark, so you can confirm everything is there before paying.

The full Windows walkthrough — the encryption checkbox, and what to do when Messages in iCloud is holding older messages off the phone — is in our guide to exporting iPhone text messages to PDF on Windows.

On a Mac: the free Mac app (macOS 12 and later — download it here) reads the Mac's own synced Messages and call-history databases directly, with no backup step; the output is the same PDF, and there is no backup password to keep track of. Hearing Prep, a practice-testimony feature, is Mac-app only for now.

Removing the watermark costs $39 one-time for a 90-day Case Pass, $14 a month for Pro, or $149 for Lifetime, each with a 30-day money-back guarantee. That's the whole product pitch; the rest of this post is about what to do with the document.

Attach It Inside the App, or Hand It to Your Attorney?

Once you have the PDF, there are two reasonable options, and they aren't exclusive.

Attaching it inside the appputs the pre-app history alongside the platform's own record, stamped with the date you uploaded it. That helps if the other parent later disputes what happened before, and some attorneys like having everything in one place. The downsides are the ones above: it's permanent, the other side sees it immediately, and you're showing your evidence early — which may or may not be what your attorney wants.

Handing it to your attorney as its own exhibit keeps control over timing and presentation. Attorneys typically introduce a document like this through the testimony of the person who made it, with the original phone and backup available if anyone questions where it came from — but whether that works, and whether it's the better move in your case, is your attorney's call, not ours. Ask which they prefer before uploading anything; the answer depends on your case, your state, and your judge.

If Your Co-Parent Refuses to Join, the App Records Nothing

The platforms' communication record only fills up once both parents are active — the calendar, journal, and expense tools still work solo, but they record you, not them. If the other parent won't sign up, signs up and never logs in, or keeps texting you instead, the app's record of them is silence — which is why, for many parents, the first real record is the one they build themselves.

Your own device history doesn't depend on their cooperation. Every message they sent you is already logged on your phone, in its backup, and on a synced Mac — and every call they made, missed, or declined is logged on the phone and on a synced Mac (an unencrypted backup carries the messages; encrypt the backup and it carries the call log too). So you can document the past — and the present, as long as you keep backing up — without them installing or agreeing to anything. If a court has ordered the platform, keep using it exactly as ordered and tell your attorney about the non-participation; your own export documents the very problem the order was meant to fix.

Do This Before Switching Apps, Too

The same day-zero problem appears at the other end. Two of the big three retired their free plans in 2026 — AppClose in January, TalkingParents in March (checked September 2026; see our comparison for current pricing) — and records and export features are often tied to paid tiers, so the history you built on one app can be expensive or awkward to get out when you leave.

Two habits cover it: export the platform's own records before you cancel, while you still have access, and keep a device-based record running in parallel. A local iPhone backup every month or two costs nothing, takes a few minutes, and captures every message sent outside the app in between. If calls matter to your case, tick "Encrypt local backup" so the call log comes along — an unencrypted backup doesn't carry it — or add a Mac export on the same schedule, since the Mac's call-history window is a rolling ~18 months.

What to Keep

• The original device. Don't wipe, trade in, or hand down the phone until the case is over; it's the primary source if anyone questions the export.
• The backup. Copy the backup folder to an external drive — it's the exact data the PDF came from, and it doesn't change.
• The export date and settings. Note when you exported and which contacts and date range you included, so you can reproduce or explain the document under oath.
• The platform's own records. Once you're on an app, export its records periodically too.

As always: this is documentation guidance, not legal advice. Whether a record is admitted, how it should be introduced, and whether to attach it inside a court-ordered platform are your attorney's calls — rules vary by state and by judge.

FAQ

Does OurFamilyWizard show messages from before I signed up?

No. OFW records only communication that happens on its platform, starting when both parents have accounts. You can attach a file to a message or upload files to MyFiles, but that's an upload of something you create — not an import — and OFW's help pages say a file attached to a message can't be removed, while a file uploaded directly to MyFiles can be deleted. The pre-signup messages live on your iPhone and in a backup of it; the pre-signup call history lives on the phone, inside an encrypted backup of it, and on a Mac that syncs with it.

Can I upload screenshots of texts to TalkingParents?

A screenshot is a file like any other, and TalkingParents has a Vault for files and a Journal for dated notes (check which your plan includes). The limitation is the screenshot: no full date and time on most messages, easy to accuse of cropping, and a year of texts becomes hundreds of images. For anything longer than a single exchange, export the whole thread as one dated PDF and upload that instead.

Is there a co-parenting app that imports iMessage history?

Not among OurFamilyWizard, TalkingParents, or AppClose. A few smaller tools, such as Truece and CustodyComms, advertise importing conversations exported from other messengers, and CustodyComms says its processing happens on your own computer. Check each tool's current claims about where your data goes, and its current pricing, before you upload anything (checked September 2026). Another route is to generate the record yourself from an iPhone backup with a tool that keeps the data on your own computer.

Does attaching old texts to the app make them "unalterable records"?

Not in the sense the apps mean. The unalterable-record claim covers messages created on the platform; an uploaded file can be shown to have been uploaded on a certain date and left unchanged since, but the platform can't vouch for what happened before that — the original phone, the backup, and your testimony do that work. How much weight a judge gives an attached file varies by state and courtroom, so ask your attorney how to present it.

Do I need the other parent's permission to attach old texts?

In practice, most parents keep the messages they received and share them with their own attorney; that's normally treated as your own record rather than a recording of the other parent, but it's a legal question and we can't answer it for your state. Attaching them to a shared platform is different: the other parent sees them immediately and permanently. Consent and recording laws vary by state, a court order governing your communication controls, and an attorney should tell you which rules apply before you upload anything you can't take back.

Does OurFamilyWizard record phone calls?

It logs calls made through its own calling feature, where your plan includes it — check OFW's current plan details. Ordinary cellular calls and FaceTime calls placed outside the app are invisible to it. Those live in your iPhone's own call history, including missed and declined calls. A Mac synced to the same Apple ID typically retains around 18 months of that history. Apple's support page lists call history among the data only an encryptediPhone backup includes, so an unencrypted local backup will not carry the call log — tick "Encrypt local backup" and Exhibit A's browser app will open the backup with your password and read the call log out of it.