Photos, videos and voicemails
Saving the digital things before they vanish.
Most of us now keep the people we love in our phones — in photos, videos, voice memos and old voicemails. These digital traces are surprisingly fragile. A few small steps can protect them for good.
Back it up
Photos and videos living only on a phone are one dropped device away from gone. Back them up to iCloud, Google Photos, a hard drive, or all of the above. Do this for the person who has died, too — if you have access to their phone, copy everything off before passwords change or accounts close.
Old voicemails are precious — save them now
Voicemails often feel trivial in the moment and unbearably precious later. If you still have any saved messages from the person who has died, screenshot or record the voicemail onto a separate device. Phone carriers can delete them after 30 days.
- Open the voicemail in your phone
- Play it out loud while recording on a second device (voice memos, another phone)
- Save that file with a clear name and date
- Back it up somewhere safe
Screenshot the messages
Text messages, WhatsApp chats, emails — these casual everyday exchanges are often where the person most sounds like themselves. Screenshot the ones you want to keep, or export a chat thread to a PDF. Do it before phones are wiped or accounts closed.
Don’t try to sort it all at once
Sorting 8,000 photos in one weekend is how people burn out on memory keeping. Instead, do 10 photos a week. Make a small album of favourites as you go. Leave the rest in the cloud, where they’ll keep.
See all 64 guides in Grief & healing →
From bluetulipco.com/library/grief/digital-archive — printed 1 October 2026.
General information only — not a substitute for legal, medical, financial, or therapeutic advice. Read the full disclaimer.
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