This guide walks you through searching for, selecting, and sharing specific conversation threads from your phone backup. You can search by contact name, phone number, or keyword.
Step 1: Search for conversations
Use the search bar to find conversations. Select a search method — Contact name, Phone Number, or Keywords — then enter your search term and click Search.
Contact name
Search by the contact's name as it appears on the phone. The Hearsay Extractor uses fuzzy matching, so similar names may appear as you type.
Phone number
Search by phone number. This is an exact match.
Keywords
Search for conversations that contain a specific word or phrase. When you select a conversation found by keyword search, the entire conversation thread is uploaded — not just the message containing the keyword.
You can enter multiple keywords. After typing a keyword, press Enter, then continue adding more. Keywords are linked by "or," so any conversation containing any of the keywords will appear. Use the Select Dates option to limit when the keyword was used — this does not limit the date range of the conversation once it is selected and uploaded.
Step 2: Select conversations to share
Click the checkbox next to each conversation you want to share, or click Select All to select every result.
After selecting conversations, you can click Clear Search to clear your search term and search for additional conversations. Clearing the search does not remove any conversations you have already selected. All selected threads will be uploaded together in the next step.
Step 3: Share selected conversations
When you have finished selecting conversations, click the Share button in the bottom right corner. The button shows the number of conversations you have selected.
Only the conversations you select will be uploaded. No other data from your phone is shared.
Keep the application open
A Sharing in Progress notification will appear. Click Okay and keep the Hearsay Extractor open. Do not close the application until the upload is complete.
When you see Conversations Shared Successfully, the upload is finished. You can click Share more conversations to upload additional threads, or Go to Dashboard to return to the main screen.
Next steps
If your attorney sent you the extraction code:
You're done. They'll receive an email once the upload is complete.
Wait for their feedback before deleting the backup (unless you want to keep a copy).
When you're ready to delete the backup, follow this guide.
If you're the account holder:
Want to review the conversations that were uploaded? See How to review uploaded text messages and How to export phone data.