Chats are the new letters. Here’s how to preserve them accordingly.

Text conversations seem unimportant in the moment. They’re a jumpy collection of short sentences and single words, inside jokes, a smattering of emojis, maybe a GIF here and there. At a glance, they don’t seem nearly as worth preserving as a thought-out letter or personal email.

But a long text conversation with a family member, partner or friend can be a priceless memory later on. They document our relationships going back years, and scrolling through one can be like hopping in a time machine or hearing someone’s voice again. Because the exchanges are spontaneous, they can be a more genuine refection of what a person is like.