Import your Messages from your Mac

A tiny Mac helper reads your Apple Messages history locally and hands it straight to your iPhone over your Wi-Fi — frequency and last-contacted only, never the message text. It ranks the friends you message most so Dunbar can help you sort them into circles.

Local-first, private by design.

Everything runs on your Mac and your phone. Only message frequency and last-contacted dates are shared with your iPhone — never the message text. Nothing is uploaded to a Dunbar server, and no files change hands.

  1. 1

    On your Mac, open Terminal and run:

    npx dunbar-app
  2. 2

    It finds and ranks the friends you message most frequently.

  3. 3

    Scan the QR code with your iPhone (both devices on the same Wi-Fi) to import automatically. No AirDrop, no files.

What you'll need

  • A Mac with the Messages app and Terminal.
  • Your iPhone running Dunbar, with both devices on the same Wi-Fi network.

Prefer to do it by hand?

Spreadsheet import still works as a manual fallback — export a CSV and use Connect → Spreadsheet inside Dunbar.

Questions?

Something not working, or want to know more about how the importer handles your data? Email support@thedunbar.app.