When you join the over 200 million users that have downloaded the award-winning Kik Messenger app since its launch in 2009, you will soon come to depend on it most of your text conversations. Eventually, you will have conversations and receive information that you want to save. You may very well find yourself thinking one day, “I have to find out how to save my Kik messages.” That very thought may have brought you to this site today.
Kik Message Storage
By default, Kik Messenger saves the last 600 entries (sent and received) exchanged in the last 48 hours on an Android device and the last 1,000 messages (sent and received) from the last 48 hours on an iPhone. For older messages, Kik Messenger saves 200 entries on the Android and 500 on an iPhone.
This may sound like a lot of data, but when you consider that the average 18- to 24-year-old sends and receives 4,000 messages per month, and averages for users up to 44 years of age hold at around 1,500 messages per month, you can see how that very important chat you had a few weeks back can be gone for good before you realize it.
Kik Security Features
The developers of Kik Messenger have built features into the app to protect the privacy of its users. One of these is that there is no record of any Kik Messenger conversation on any of their servers. This means that no one can see your messages except for you, but it also means there is no way to retrieve your messages from or backup your messages into a Kik-managed system behind the app.
Other security features will delete all your message history when you:
- Access your account on another device, or
- Delete your Kik Messenger app.
The steps taken by the folks at Kik Messenger to protect our privacy are awesome, but with the freedom and protection all that security provides comes our responsibility to make a record of anything we want to keep while it is still available to us.
There are a couple of viable ways to save records from your Kik Messenger app. The method you choose to use will depend on the size of the message, the reason for wanting to save it, and, of course, your personal preference.
Read on to learn two easily accessible and recommended ways to save your Kik Messenger files, and one method you should probably never use.
Cut and Paste
The first way we have to save a Kik Messenger chat for posterity is by using a device’s basic copy and paste functions with a notepad or email app.
Go to your Kik Messenger. Open up a message stream and then click/press on a message. A pop-up greets you with the options copy and delete. You will, of course, choose to copy. Now, open your email or notepad app to paste this message, adding a tag to remind you who sent it. You can keep this file on your mobile device, or send it as an attachment via email to your computer.
The cut-and-paste method is a way that you can quickly save key message entries, like the quick details on a meeting or an assignment you missed, or a funny joke you want to remember and then share in a Kik to someone else.
Cut-and-paste is also a good approach to archive an entire message stream. It will take a little time and patience to do, especially if you were texting for an hour or more with more than 200 items sent and received on each side, but it can be done and you will be pleased to have it saved.
One technique to make that easier might be to leave out text entries with a simple “lol” or “yep” in there; same goes for emojis and such unless you feel it really adds to the conversation. Don’t forget that only the text of the message is copied. You have to tag each entry as to who sent it.
Screen Capture
Another quick and easy way to save your Kik messages is to use your device’s screen capture (screen shot) function.
On both iPhones and most Android devices, you can capture a snapshot of your screen to an image file. Do this by pressing the wake/sleep button and ‘home’ at the same time. Usually, you will hear the camera shutter snap, but not always. The screen shot is saved in your photo app. You can keep it on your device or share it to your computer.
This method seems especially well suited to the shorter entry. For example, if you have a personal debt in dispute, intend to take it before Judge Judy, and recall that, last night, the unreliable debtor send the message, “Yes, I owe you the money, but I’ll just say it was a gift and you can’t prove otherwise,” the screen capture method is probably best because it saves the entire screen whereas the copy/paste method could be created out of nothing.
However, if you want to save the entire chat stream of an extended conversation, this approach could be tedious. If you prefer to archive your Kik messages in this way, though, it is important to take care with your file name system. Include the date of the chat, the name of the person(s) in the chat with you, and then a number or letter to indicate where an image falls in the course of the message. For example, Eric-042516-1.jpg, Eric-042516-2.jpg, etc., or Annie-04May16-a.png, Annie-04May16-b.png, etc., for ease of reordering when needed.
Avoid the Apps
If you search online for ways to save message files on Kik Messenger, you are sure to pull results for several apps promising to make it easy for you to do it. Some are even available through reputable sources like Google Play or CNET.
Be careful with these apps. All of them require rooting (Android) or jailbreaking (Apple) your device. That means gaining access beyond the security features installed by the manufacturer and/or carrier that sold you the phone to make the changes to your data files that these apps require.
At the very least, this will present you with three serious issues to resolve:
- Problem: Rooting your device makes it highly vulnerable to viruses and spyware.
Solution: Several major security software developers have free and low-cost versions to protect your device. Even if you do not plan to root it, having one of the apps on board is always a good idea.
- Problem: Rooting your device violates any and all warranty protection through your manufacturer and/or carrier.
Solution: There is no workaround for this. Jailbreak your phone and it no longer exists to either the manufacturer or your service provider. This is why, unless you are a full-service mobile device repair person, you should not root your device.
- Problem: You multiply the ways your phone can turn into a brick. The process of rooting or jailbreaking your device can turn it into a brick. Installing an app that requires you first boot your phone can turn it into a brick.
Solution: If you violate your warranty, and then your phone becomes a brick, you can always use it to keep a door open or closed, as this is one of the things a single brick can do well.
The best advice on the downloading and backup apps touted as tools to help you save your Kiks is to avoid them. In fact, the only reason for mentioning them here is the strong need to send a warning to avoid any app that requires rooting or jail breaking your mobile device.
Don’t be caught without a plan
Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind. Lucius Annaeus Seneca
As more and more people use Kik Messenger as their primary text app, the opportunity to send and receive messages with information we want or even need to keep will increase accordingly. Because Kik Messenger respects and guards our privacy, the only way a record will be made of our messages is if we make it for own records. Be sure you have a plan to save your Kiks, and be sure it is a safe way that will not brick your device or violate your warranty.
The best ways to save Kik messages are the cut and paste method, where individual entries are pasted into a text or email document, and screen capture, where one or more screen shots are saved in an image format file.
Depending on the length of the chat stream and the method you choose to use, saving your Kik Messenger entries for later viewing could take a good bit of time. Practice archiving shorter files using the cut and paste or screen capture methods and have a system for storing them away before you get into a pinch. Don’t wait until a valued conversation is on the verge of being automatically deleted before asking the question, “Why did I wait so long to find out how to save my Kik messages?”
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