How can we help?

Install and first run

1. Open Textlore.dmg and drag Textlore to your Applications folder.
2. Open Textlore from Applications. The welcome screen shows what it does; click Continue.
3. Switch on Full Disk Access, so Textlore can read your Messages history:
   1. Click Open Settings below.
   2. Switch on Textlore in the Full Disk Access list.
   3. Come back here. Textlore notices on its own, no restart needed.
4. Wait for the first import. A ring forms for each year of your history while the count rolls up. About 100,000 messages take under a minute.

Recs and Promises take longer. On a long history, the first full scan can take hours. It runs in the background while you use Textlore, and this year is ready first.

Your 14 free days start when the first import finishes. There is no account and no email.

Texts from your iPhone and iPad: Textlore reads the Messages history on your Mac. Switch on Messages in iCloud on your iPhone, iPad and Mac (on the Mac: Messages > Settings > iMessage > Enable Messages in iCloud), and their conversations are on your Mac too. You never need to plug your iPhone in.

WhatsApp: Textlore imports your chats from WhatsApp for Mac too. See WhatsApp.

Recs

Recs (⌘5) lists every book, show, film, restaurant, place, podcast, song, app and thing to buy that friends told you to try, in iMessage and WhatsApp.

• Who, when and what they said: click a rec to see each person who recommended it, the day they said it and their exact words. Open in conversation takes you to the message.
• Most recommended first: things more than one person told you about sit at the top. Use Sort to change the order, the chips to show one kind, such as Books or Food and drink, or Search recs.
• Mark as tried: tick it off once you've read it, watched it or been there.
• Not a rec: removes something that isn't really a recommendation.

Apple's on-device model finds recs on your Mac, and nothing leaves it. Recs needs a Mac with Apple Intelligence.

Promises

Promises (⌘6) lists every time you said you would do something for someone, with the day you said it and how many days late it is. Promises with a day that has passed come first, then the ones where you didn't say a day.

• Looks done: when a later message suggests you kept a promise, Textlore tells you, so you can check it off.
• I kept this: moves it to Kept. Switch between Open, Kept and All at the top.
• Remind me and Open in Messages help you follow up. Show in conversation opens it in Textlore.
• Not a promise: removes something that isn't really a promise.

Promises is read only. Textlore never sends a message, so you keep every promise yourself. Like Recs, it uses Apple's on-device model, nothing leaves your Mac, and it needs a Mac with Apple Intelligence.

WhatsApp

Textlore imports your chats from WhatsApp for Mac alongside iMessage. Each conversation carries a badge showing where it came from, and the Sources filter shows iMessage, WhatsApp or both.

Search, Recs, Promises, Ask AI and export all cover WhatsApp chats too. As with Messages, Textlore only reads: it never sends, edits or deletes a WhatsApp message, and nothing leaves your Mac.

Settings > Sources

Open Textlore > Settings > Sources to see the places Textlore imports chats from, iMessage and WhatsApp for Mac, and to set them up.

Searching

Press ⌘F and start typing. Results narrow with every letter, and the words you typed are lit up in amber. Use ↑ and ↓ to move through the results and Return to open the conversation at that message. Inside a conversation, ⌘G goes to the next match and ⇧⌘G to the one before.

Add search words to narrow it down. Each one turns into a token in the search bar.

If nothing matches, Textlore suggests a spelling it did find.

Quick search

Press ⌥Space in any app. A small search bar floats over whatever you're doing. Type, use the arrow keys to pick a result, and press Return: Textlore opens at that message. Photos show as small thumbnails in the results.

To use a different shortcut, open Textlore > Settings > Quick Search and record a new one. If another app already uses it, Textlore tells you so you can pick another.

Archive

Textlore keeps its own copy of every message, and of every photo, video and file the moment it is on your Mac. When your Mac runs low on space, Messages in iCloud removes its local copies, but Textlore's copies stay.

• Where: ~/Library/Application Support/Textlore. Settings > Archive shows its size, a running count and a Show in Finder button.
• Turning it off: switch off Keep a local archive in Settings > Archive. Messages already saved stay in Textlore.
• Low on space: when your Mac is short of space, a banner in Settings > Archive and on the Attachments page shows how much is free and how many attachments are only in iCloud.
• One-time codes: if Messages is set to delete verification codes after use, Textlore never archives those messages, and they leave Textlore when Messages deletes them.

Files that were already gone from your Mac and from iCloud before you installed Textlore can't be brought back.

Photos and files kept in iCloud

With Messages in iCloud switched on, macOS removes the copies of older photos and files from your Mac when it needs space. The originals stay in iCloud, and Messages keeps a small preview on your Mac.

For those, Textlore shows the preview with Kept in iCloud. Open in Messages to view it. The Open in Messages button opens that conversation in Messages, which can download the original. Textlore never downloads from iCloud itself. From the day you install it, the archive saves each new photo while it is on your Mac.

Export

Export a whole conversation with ⇧⌘E, or click Select, pick messages (Shift-click picks everything in between, or use Select this day) and press ⌘E. You can also export a date range.

Formats: PDF, HTML, plain text, Markdown, CSV, and an image of the selected snippet.

Options:

• Timestamps on or off, and date headings on or off.
• Names in full, as initials, or hidden.
• Phone numbers and emails hidden, unless you switch them on.
• Photos full size, small, or left out.
• Tapbacks on or off.
• Bubbles or a plain transcript, light or dark.

A live preview shows exactly what you'll get. When it's done, Textlore shows the file with buttons to Share, Show in Finder or Open it.

Your Lore

Your Lore shows your texting life as tree rings, one ring for every year, with the thickest year in amber. Hover a ring to see its count, or click a ring or a year to see just that year. Play my story (Return) plays it full screen; ← and → step through it and Esc closes it.

Make share cards (⇧⌘L) opens the share studio:

• Years: all time, or one year, such as "Your 2024".
• Looks: Indigo, Amber, Midnight, Paper and Glass.
• Sizes: 9:16 for Stories, Reels and TikTok, 4:5 for Instagram feed and carousels, 1:1 for square posts, 16:9 for X, LinkedIn and YouTube.
• Names: hidden by default, so people show as Person 1 to 5. You can show initials or first names.
• Export: one image, a carousel of images, or a silent video (add your own music in Instagram or TikTok).

No message text, phone numbers, emails or file names ever appear on a card. Bank codes, delivery alerts and other business texts are left out of every people stat.

Ask AI

Ask AI answers questions about your messages with Apple Intelligence, on your Mac. Nothing is sent anywhere.

What it needs: a Mac with Apple silicon and Apple Intelligence switched on in System Settings. On other Macs, Ask AI is hidden and everything else works. The first time, Textlore builds an index of your messages in the background; Settings > AI shows its progress.

Try asking:

• When did we book the cabin?
• What did Mom say about the wedding?
• Where did Jordan want to eat last summer?
• Who sent me the wifi password?

Every answer lists the messages it used; click one to open it. Follow-up chips such as "What happened next?" ask the next question for you.

Why it can say it couldn't find something: Ask AI only answers from messages it finds, so it would rather say so than guess. Very short messages (under 3 words) aren't in its index, and while the index is still building it can't see everything yet. Try other words, a name or a date, or use search.

Licence

• Entering a key: after you buy, click the link in your Gumroad receipt on your Mac and Textlore fills in the key for you; press Activate. Or choose Textlore > Enter Licence Key… and paste the key.
• 2 Macs: one licence works on 2 Macs, such as a MacBook and an iMac. Every 1.x update is included.
• Moving to a new Mac: on the old Mac, choose Settings > Licence > Deactivate This Mac. If both places are taken, ask support and Raja frees one.
• After the trial: Textlore asks for a licence and opens to a calm locked screen with Buy and Enter Licence Key. Your archive keeps saving in the background while you decide, so nothing is lost.

Textlore checks your licence with Gumroad about once a month, and keeps working offline in between.

Updates

Textlore checks for updates once a day and asks before installing one. It sends nothing but its version number. To check now, choose Textlore > Check for Updates…. You can always download the latest version from textlore.app.

Fixes

Full Disk Access was switched off

Textlore shows "Full Disk Access was switched off." Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access and switch Textlore back on. It notices within a few seconds.

New messages aren't showing

Textlore shows what Messages has on this Mac and updates within a few seconds of a change. If Messages itself is missing messages, open Messages > Settings > iMessage, check that Enable Messages in iCloud is on, and click Sync Now. Do the same on your iPhone in Settings > Apps > Messages.

Low disk space

When your Mac is low on space, macOS removes Messages' copies of photos and files, and the archive needs room to save new ones. Free some space; the banner in Settings > Archive shows how much is free.

Removing Textlore and its data

1. Open Settings > Privacy and click Delete All App Data. This removes Textlore's archive, index and settings from this Mac.
2. Quit Textlore and move it from Applications to the Bin.

Your licence and trial dates are kept in your keychain, so reinstalling picks up where you left off. Your Messages history is never touched.

Keyboard shortcuts

In the app, press ⌘/ to see this list.

Still stuck? Ask for help.