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I just got a new 4K, which I'm pretty thrilled about. So many pixels! Faster machine! Thunderbolt at last! The one downside: I set it up as a new machine to get started quickly, but lost most of my Messages history in the process. When you set your computer up as new, you can associate your Apple ID, which syncs quite a lot of data and settings over to your new Mac—but the vast majority of your Messages history stays where it is on your old computer for security reasons. (This is the same story if you try to set up an iPhone as new rather than restoring from backup, too.) Lucky for me, I know my way around a few hidden folders that helped me get my iMessage history to my new Mac.

Nov 30, 2012 - Chat history is saved on your Mac HD in the folder ~/Library/Messages/Archive. If you've never messed around with the Library folder you might. Need to view the iMessage history on your iPhone? Specifically, I would like to find a list of phone number that I have texted with iMessage before. Obviously they are not on my phone bill because they are sent using data instead of the carrier's service like SMS texts.

This trick is also really helpful if you simply want to reference an older conversation or quickly find an attachment from your conversation history. How to find your iMessage archive • In the Messages app, go to Messages > Preferences. • Check the 'Save history when conversations are closed' box. • In the Finder, head to the Go menu and select Go to Folder. • Type in ~/Library/Messages.

• You should see two folders: Archive and Attachments along with a file database labeled 'chat.db'. Archive holds all your past messages from conversations that you've closed or saved; Attachments holds all the images and video from those conversations. The chat.db holds all the information from your active message history. Archived conversations are labeled pretty clearly: They're all in folders labeled by date closed, and individual files give you the name of the participant along with the date and time. Open one, and you'll see the conversation pop up in Messages. You can't edit, search, or export conversations to a different format, but you can copy and paste sentences. The Attachments archive is another story: It's designed primarily as a backup for Messages, not for users to really go snooping around, so it's labeled with incomprehensible numerics.

You can find archived photo and video in here, but prepare to do some digging. How to transfer your Messages history to a new Mac • Turn on both your old and new Macs. Make sure the Messages app is closed on both. • Open the AirDrop window on the new and old Macs. (If isn't working, you can also use.) • Open the ~/Library/Messages folder on your old Mac and new Mac using the method above. • Drag the Messages folder from your old Mac to AirDrop. • If you've already been using the Messages app on your new Mac, make a copy of this folder and save it to your desktop.