Extract text from Message backup files (VMSG)
To convert VMSG Message backups to another format, you need Google Messages or other Backup software.
To convert other file formats to the "Text Message Archive" file type, you need software like Google Messages or a similar tool.
A .vmsg file is primarily an SMS and MMS message backup created by Android OS or specific messaging apps like Google Messages. It is also historically used by Microsoft for Lumia phone text message backups.
These files are built for machine-to-machine transfer, not human readability. Because they rely on modified vMessage data standards, reading a raw .vmsg file in a standard text editor is a frustrating experience. The actual text messages are buried under lines of metadata, timestamps, sender IDs, and massive blocks of base64-encoded text used to store MMS media attachments like photos. You cannot easily search, print, or share individual threads without restoring them directly to a mobile device.
Users typically need to convert these files to print a message thread for legal documentation, search through an old conversation, or migrate data to a non-Android platform. The most practical conversion targets are CSV for spreadsheet analysis, TXT for plain text reading, or PDF for secure sharing. Note that converting to plain text usually means dropping the embedded multimedia attachments.
Because .vmsg is highly specific to the backup software that created it, it is notoriously difficult to open or convert correctly. Standard online converters fail to parse the intricate metadata headers. Often, only the original mobile app can accurately reconstruct the conversation threads. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your VMSG file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted VMG, XML, TXT, HBS, PMD, SMS, VCF, STD, RPMSG, BIN, PDF, MP4 and DMP files.
If you want to convert VMSG file to BAK, BACKUP, OLD, TMP, TEMP, ARC, ZIP, TAR, GZ, 7Z, RAR or ISO, you can use Google Messages or similar software from the "SMS/MMS Message Backup" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert SNAPSHOT, OLD, IMG, RESTORE, ISO, COPY, VMDK, TMP, VHD, BAK, ARCHIVE or BACKUP files to VMSG, try Google Messages or another comparable tool in the "SMS/MMS Message Backup" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our VMSG converter.