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I have a Samsung GT-S5610 phone and I would like to backup my SMS messages on the computer. How do I do this?

I have a USB cable and I have connected the phone to the computer. In the folder structure on my phone I can see videos, photos, sounds, MMS, etc. and can easily transfer them from the phone to the computer and vice versa, but for some reason I cannot access the SMS messages, which appear to be stored in some different way.

Is there a way to access the SMS messages and transfer them to my computer?

Applications like Samsung Kies, etc. are either not supported or do not support transferring text messages. (Specifically, Kies is supported but doesn't offer me any text message related option.) It almost seems like the SMSs weren't meant to be transfered, which surprises me as they seem to be more basic than e.g. videos.

Edit: here is the folder structure, as requested:

folder structure

Most of these folders appear to be empty. Apart from my pictures, sounds and videos, there are a few other small files, but they do not seem to contain useful information as regards my question. Most are of size at most 1 KB and do not seem helpful. In each of the "Account[number]" folders there is a file named "Uidl" of size 73 KB, which I presume contains account information. Opened in notepad, it appears as whitespace. The largest file is contained in the "mms/temp" folder. It is 295 KB in size and called "placeholder". Opened in notepad, it appears to consist mostly of Korean characters.

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  • This question is not about computer hardware or software, within the scope defined in the help center. Especially: SuperUser is nota about electronic devices, media players, cell phones or smart phones, except insofar as they interface with your computer,
    – LPChip
    Commented Jul 26, 2015 at 10:30
  • @LPChip: thanks for the comment. I was unsure whether the question was appropriate, but then I decided to post it anyway, since I thought transfering data to a computer is a form of interfacing with the computer. Is this not the case? (If not, I apologize and will delete the question.)
    – Dejan Govc
    Commented Jul 26, 2015 at 10:45
  • @DejanGovc, what makes you say Samsung Kies is not supported ? I have used Samsung Kies to backup my Phone data to computer including text messages.
    – clhy
    Commented Jul 26, 2015 at 11:30
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    @LPChip "insofar as they interface with your computer". I see this question as on-topic as he is trying to transfer from the phone to a computer via a USB interface ...
    – DavidPostill ♦
    Commented Jul 27, 2015 at 11:52
  • 1
    this may suit better on Android Enthusiasts
    – phuclv
    Commented Nov 2, 2018 at 7:49

3 Answers 3

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+50

Not sure if this will work on your model, but try:

/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/mmssms.db

EDIT: Well, that's embarassing.

Since it's not an Android phone, have you tried Samsung PC Studio (not Kies)?

EDIT #2:

It would appear that SMSes are stored on the SIM card on a lot of phones. Which would explain why you can't find them in the folder structure.

I don't know a lot about phone recovery, but visit this site for some possibly useful technobabble (that supports the theory that you have to search the sim card, not the phone):

https://www.dekart.com/howto/howto_sim_reader/how_to_recover_a_deleted_sms/

The same company offers a 30-day trial of a sim recovery program (link is further down on that page). I am not sure whether it will work through cable, though they also mention a cabled connection in one context. They specifically do mention that it should work with a smart-card reader.

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  • 1
    that's not an android phone...
    – smali
    Commented Jul 29, 2015 at 8:48
  • I have tried Samsung New PC Studio. It doesn't work. When I try to "Import data from mobile phone to PC", I get the message that "No devices supporting message manager are currently connected".
    – Dejan Govc
    Commented Jul 29, 2015 at 19:26
  • Is there any way you can show us the full folder structure?
    – Vegard
    Commented Jul 30, 2015 at 9:00
  • @vsoraas: I have added the folder structure as I see it on my computer.
    – Dejan Govc
    Commented Jul 30, 2015 at 10:48
  • @DejanGovc See updated answer.
    – Vegard
    Commented Jul 30, 2015 at 11:16
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You can transfer messages with sumsung pc studio . Or you can backup them with kies go to backup then select messages. Edit:

1:try message mirror for backup your SMS messages.

2:Try bluetooth them to you pc (you can use a laptop then copy them to your pc).

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  • I have tried Samsung New PC Studio and it doesn't work. When I open the Message Manager and try to "Import data from mobile phone to PC", it says "No devices supporting message manager are currently connected". The device is connected, since I can access files from the PC Studio, so it seems I have to conclude that it is not supported. Kies also doesn't work. In the backup menu there is no "select messages" option at all.
    – Dejan Govc
    Commented Jul 29, 2015 at 19:24
  • Thanks for the suggestions. I've tried them, but they don't appear to work. Bluetooth doesn't show me any text message option. I presume Message Mirror is an application for my phone, so it needs to be installed on it? I've tried transferring it to my phone and running it, but the phone says this file type is not supported.
    – Dejan Govc
    Commented Aug 1, 2015 at 10:37
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If it's possible for you to copy the messages to your Sim card, do it and then put you sim card into a Sim Card Reader and connect it to your computer and then probably it's possible for you to copy your messages to your computer.

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  • Thanks for the suggestion, it's always good to know my options. If everything else fails, I might try it, but it seems very time consuming. I'd have to transfer each message separately to the SIM card, and then 20 messages at a time to the computer, taking the SIM card in and out around 20 times. I'd also have to buy a SIM card reader.
    – Dejan Govc
    Commented Aug 1, 2015 at 11:06

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