Granting Full Disk Access
macOS keeps your Messages database behind a permission called Full Disk Access. Until you grant it, KeepMyBubbles cannot read a single message — that restriction is the operating system’s, and there is no way for an app to work around it. This is the one fiddly part of the setup.
Open the permission screen
Launch KeepMyBubbles. If it cannot read your messages it shows a permission screen with an Open System Settings button that takes you straight to the right place.
Add the app to the list
In Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access, turn on the switch beside KeepMyBubbles. If it is not listed, use the + button and choose it from Applications.
Quit and reopen the app
This step is the one people miss. macOS decides what an app may read when it starts, so an app already running when you grant permission keeps the old answer. Quit KeepMyBubbles completely and open it again.
If it still says permission is missing
- Check the switch is on for the copy in your Applications folder, not a second copy left in Downloads or on the disk image.
- Open Messages on your Mac. If a conversation is missing there too, it has not synced to this Mac and no export tool can reach it.
- Still stuck? Email support@keepmybubbles.com and say which macOS version you are on.
What Full Disk Access does and doesn’t do
It lets KeepMyBubbles read files on your Mac, including the Messages database. It does not give anyone else access, and it does not send anything anywhere — KeepMyBubbles has no network features at all. You can switch it off again the moment you have finished exporting.