RSMF export for eDiscovery
Export a conversation in the format review platforms read, with senders, threading, reactions, and attachments intact, so a legal review team can load it directly.
The short version
RSMF is the file format eDiscovery review platforms (Relativity and others) use for chat and text data. A .rsmf export loads your messages into one of those platforms as a conversation, not a flat spreadsheet. It is for getting the data into a review tool. If your goal is to prove a record is unaltered, that is a verified export instead.
What RSMF is
RSMF stands for Relativity Short Message Format. It is the standard way chat and text messages are brought into eDiscovery review, because a review platform needs more than rows in a table: it needs to know who said what, when, in reply to what, with which reactions and attachments. A CSV flattens all of that away; RSMF keeps it.
A Text2Store RSMF export is a .rsmf file (technically an email-format wrapper around a small package that holds the structured conversation and its attachment files). Your review vendor or platform ingests it and rebuilds the conversation: participants, message order, replies, reactions, read receipts, and the attachments themselves.
It is included in a Text2Store subscription. To make one, open a conversation, choose Export, then RSMF for eDiscovery review. To export a whole backup at once, use Export All Conversations… and pick the RSMF format; each conversation becomes its own .rsmf file in a folder named for the device and backup.
What it keeps
- Senders and participants, resolved to the same names you see in the app.
- Threading: inline replies point back to the message they answer.
- Reactions (tapbacks), attached to the message they reacted to.
- Read and delivery times, where your phone recorded them.
- Attachments, carried inside the package as their original files.
- Deleted-on-device messages that the backup still had, clearly marked as deleted. This is different from CSV, text, and PDF exports, which leave deleted messages out. In a review platform the reviewer decides what is relevant, so the record is kept complete and flagged rather than dropped.
RSMF or verified export?
Both are meant for legal and records work, but they do different jobs for different recipients, and it is worth being clear which you need. They are not rivals: you can hand over both.
| Verified export (.zip) | RSMF export (.rsmf) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is for | Proving the record has not been altered | Loading the conversation into an eDiscovery review platform |
| Who it is for | A court or opposing party who must trust it without trusting you | A review vendor or platform (Relativity and others) |
| Integrity | Tamper-evident: a fingerprint of every file plus an independent trusted timestamp; attachments verifiable against the backup | None claimed. It is a format for moving data, not a proof |
| How it's checked | Standard tools and the included instructions, no Text2Store needed; or the built-in verifier | Loaded into the review platform, which validates it against the RSMF spec |
| What's inside | A readable transcript, the messages as data, hashed attachments, a certificate, and a trusted timestamp | The structured conversation (participants, threading, reactions, receipts) and its attachments |
| Time | Attests when the export, and for a certified backup the capture, existed | No time attestation |
The plain version: a verified export proves it, an RSMF export loads it. If a review team needs the conversation in their platform, send RSMF. If someone needs to be sure it hasn't been changed, send a verified export. If both matter, hand over both files.
What we do and don't claim
An RSMF export is a faithful conversion of what your backup held. We are careful not to oversell it:
- It is an interchange format, not a proof. It carries no tamper-evidence and no trusted timestamp. If those matter, that is what a verified export is for.
- We never invent data. If a message was edited, iOS records that it was edited but not the earlier wording, so the export says an edit happened without inventing the old text. If a sender can't be identified from the backup, they appear as unknown rather than being given a made-up identity.
- It can only include what your phone still had when you backed up. Messages purged before the backup are simply not there to export.
Not legal advice
This page is general information, not legal advice, and using Text2Store does not create any professional relationship. How to produce and use message exports in a legal matter depends on your jurisdiction and your situation. For anything headed to a proceeding, talk to a qualified lawyer or your review vendor about the exact format they need.
Questions?
Email hello@text2store.com and we'll help.