How to Export iPhone Call History on a Windows PC (No Mac Required)

Step 1: Make an Encrypted Backup

Apple Devices app. Install it free from the Microsoft Store and open it. Connect your iPhone with a cable; if the phone asks, tap Trust and enter your passcode. Select the iPhone in the sidebar, select General, choose "Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this computer," tick "Encrypt local backup," set a password, then select Backup Now.

iTunes. Apple's article on encrypted backups says to use iTunes if your PC doesn't have the Apple Devices app. Click the Device button near the top left, then Summary. Under Backups choose This Computer, tick "Encrypt local backup," type a password and click Set Password, then click Back Up Now. In iTunes, Edit > Preferences > Devices lists your backups, with a lock icon on encrypted ones.

Write the password down and keep it with the backup. Apple offers no way to recover it, and you can't restore an encrypted backup without it. If it's lost, Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset All Settings removes it without erasing your data (it resets settings such as wallpaper), so you can make a new encrypted backup. Backups made with the old password stay locked. See our guide to a forgotten backup password.

If an older backup of this phone holds calls you need, archive it first so the new backup doesn't replace it: in Apple Devices, General > Manage Backups, right-click the backup, Archive. Let the new backup finish before you unplug. If the phone doesn't show up or the backup stalls, see our Windows backup guide.

Step 2: Find the Backup Folder (Apple Devices vs. iTunes)

Apple's instructions: press Windows key + R, type %USERPROFILE%\Apple\MobileSync\Backup and press Enter. If that folder doesn't open, type %AppData%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup instead. Which one you have depends on the program that made the backup:

Apple doesn't say which program uses which path; the split above is how Wide Angle Software, which makes iBackup Extractor, describes it. To check, open Apple Devices, go to General > Manage Backups, right-click the backup and choose Show in Explorer. Inside the Backup folder is one folder per backup, named with a long string of letters and numbers. You can choose the Backup folder itself; the app looks inside.

If your backup is in AppData: Chrome and Edge won't let any website open folders inside AppData; the rule is built into the browser. Copy the whole Backup folder into your Downloads folder and choose the copy. Don't put it in a Desktop or Documents folder that syncs to OneDrive, or the copy will be uploaded to Microsoft's cloud. More on this in where iPhone backups are stored on Windows.

Then open getexhibita.com/app, click Choose my backup folder, select the folder and allow the browser to view its files. Type the backup password when asked. It's used on your PC to unlock the backup and isn't stored or sent anywhere.

If the backup isn't encrypted, the app says so and builds a messages-only exhibit; make a fresh encrypted backup and choose that one. If a password you're sure of fails, check that it's the backup password you set in Apple Devices or iTunes, not your Apple Account password or the phone's passcode. Still stuck? Write to support@getexhibita.com.

Step 3: Export the PDF, and What It Contains

The app lists the numbers it found with a call count beside each. Pick one; an exhibit covers one number at a time. Click Export PDF and your browser's print dialog opens: choose Save as PDF for a file you can send your attorney, or a printer. The PDF contains:

• A header, "Exhibit ___: Communication Log," with a blank for the exhibit number and a line saying it was prepared with Exhibit A.
• The date range the data covers.
• Totals: calls, connected, denied or missed, total talk time and average length.
• A color-coded calendar, month by month, with a one-line summary under each month and any days you marked.
• A table of every call: date, time, direction, duration, type (Phone or FaceTime) and status.
• On the following pages, the messages with that number and a day-by-day summary of calls and messages, if the backup has them.
• A footer naming the source databases and saying the document isn't legal advice.

Exhibit A marks a call Connected when iOS recorded it as answered or it lasted 90 seconds or more, Missed when an incoming call never connected, and Denied when an outgoing call never connected.

Denied is our label, not something iOS records. The phone stores whether a call was answered and how long it lasted, so a call that rang out and one that was declined look the same from your side; describe it that way if you're asked. Some calls, FaceTime ones especially, are stored without the answered flag. When such a call lasted 90 seconds or more, Exhibit A counts it as connected and subtracts an estimated 15 seconds of ring time, so read those durations as close, not exact. The flip side: such a call that lasted under 90 seconds shows as Denied or Missed even if it did connect, so check any short ones against your phone before you rely on them.

The free export has a watermark on every page; any paid plan removes it and lets you limit the exhibit to a date range. What it can't do: play voicemail, or bring back calls the phone had already dropped before you backed up. The export is only as complete as the backup behind it. You can see the layout in this sample exhibit (PDF).

How Far Back the Calls Go

As far back as the phone's call log reached on the day you made the backup. Apple doesn't publish a limit; Wide Angle Software, which makes TouchCopy, says the log holds 2,000 entries on iOS 17 and later, and 100 before that. Older calls are overwritten as new ones come in, so back up before the ones you need age out. An older backup or a synced Mac may hold calls the phone no longer has; see how long an iPhone keeps call history. On iOS 26 and later you can also scroll one person's calls on the phone itself, with no export; see how to see all calls with one contact.

Other Apps and Your Carrier

Installed programs such as iMazing, TouchCopy and iBackup Extractor can also export a call log. iMazing's own guide says it needs an encrypted backup for call history too, and exports Excel or CSV. Decipher TextMessage is for messages; Decipher's call-history tool is Backup Browser. Our comparison of the best apps to export an iPhone call log for court has formats and prices.

Your carrier keeps its own records of cellular calls; how far back you can see them depends on the carrier (see call logs from Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile). They won't show FaceTime, which runs over Wi-Fi or mobile data, so they're a cross-check on cellular calls, not a replacement for the phone's log. More in FaceTime call history for court.

Before You File

• Keep the phone. The PDF is a copy, and you may be asked where it came from.
• Keep the backup and its password together. Copy the Backup folder to a USB drive. Without the password, even you can't reopen an encrypted backup later.
• Back up again if the window matters. The phone's call log is rolling, and the calls you need today can age out before a hearing date.
• Ask your attorney what your court expects. A signed declaration, the native file, the phone in the courtroom: it varies by state and by judge.

This is a workflow guide, not legal advice. Exhibit A isn't a law firm, and no export from any tool is guaranteed to be accepted as evidence; what your court accepts is your attorney's call. If the calls are for a custody case, our guide to documenting phone calls for custody covers what to log and how to annotate it.

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