Short answer: copy the recordings off the phone as soon as you can, because voicemail kept by a phone company can be deleted after a while and a phone can stop working. Save each message as an audio file in at least two places, with a name and a date; if the phone will not give you the file, play it and record it on a second device.
Last updated: 3 November 2026. The facts about WhatsApp and the advice on keeping copies were checked on that day on the official pages; the sources are at the bottom.
After a death, a short message often becomes precious. "Call me back when you have a minute." A birthday song left on voicemail. A voice note about nothing in particular. These recordings are fragile in a way photos are not: they sit in an app, on a network or on one phone, and they are easy to lose by accident. This guide shows where to look, how to get them out, and how to keep them.
Where the voice of someone you lost may be
- Voicemail on your own phone: messages they left you, sometimes years ago.
- Voice notes in chats: WhatsApp and other messaging apps keep them inside the conversation.
- Their own phone: videos, voice memos, and the greeting on their own voicemail.
- Older media: answering machine tapes, camcorder tapes, a recorded speech at a party.
- Other people's phones: friends, grandchildren and colleagues often have a voice note or a video you have never heard.
Why it is worth doing this week
Voicemail is often stored by the phone company rather than on the phone itself, and every provider has its own rules on how long messages stay and what happens when a contract is closed. Phones break, get reset or are handed in. Chats get deleted to free up space. None of this is likely on any given day, but it only has to happen once. Copy first, then sort and listen at your own pace.
Ways to save the recordings
| Method | Good for | Quality | Not the best choice when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share or save option in the phone app | Voicemails, if your phone offers it on the message | The original recording | Your phone or provider does not offer the option |
| Export chat in WhatsApp, with media | Voice notes, photos and videos from one conversation | The original files, plus the chat as text | You only need one or two notes, which you can also forward or save one by one |
| Play it and record it with a second device | Any message that will not leave the phone | Good enough to keep the voice; some room sound | The original file can still be saved another way |
| Ask the provider | Voicemail kept on the network, or a contract that is ending | Depends on what they can offer | You have not yet copied what you can copy yourself |
| Audio transfer service for tapes | Answering machine tapes and cassettes | Depends on the tape and the service | You still have a working player and can record it yourself |
| The Memory Palace | Keeping the voice next to a photo and a story, shared with family | Stores the audio file you add | You need a tool that pulls voicemails off the phone for you: it does not |
Recording with a second device, step by step
- Pick a quiet room and close the window.
- Put the phone with the message on speaker, at a normal volume. Very loud playback distorts.
- Start a voice recorder on a second phone or a computer and hold it close to the speaker.
- Say nothing, play the whole message, and wait two seconds before you stop.
- Listen back once before you move on to the next message.
Name it, keep two copies
A file called "Recording 14" means nothing in ten years. Rename each file with the person, the date and a few words: "Mum, 2024-03-12, birthday song". For digital photos, the Library of Congress advises at least two copies in different places and a check once a year; the same works for sound. One copy on a computer and one in a cloud service or on a USB stick kept elsewhere is a good start.
Listening can be hard. Some people want to hear every message right away, others need months. Both are fine. The point of copying now is that you can choose later.
The Memory Palace, honestly
The Memory Palace is your own 3D memory palace: you hang photos, voice recordings, videos and written stories in rooms you walk through. For someone you lost, you can make a room or a wing and put each recording next to a photo from the same time, with a line about when it was left and why it matters. It is private by default. You invite family and friends and choose per person whether they can listen only or also add. With a collect link for a room, relatives and friends can add their own voice notes, photos and memories from the browser without an account.
- Voice next to the photo. The recording sits beside the picture and the story, not in a folder of numbered files.
- A book with the voice in it. You can print the book of a wing yourself or save it as PDF; each recording gets a QR code that plays the real voice.
- You can leave with everything. A full ZIP export on every plan, including the free plan with 1 GB.
What it lacks: it does not pull voicemails off a phone for you; you first save them as files. It is not a backup of a whole phone. It is encrypted in transit and at rest, but not end-to-end. And it is made by a small team in Leuven, Belgium.
A simple way to start
Today, make a list of every place a recording might be, on your phone and on the phones of the people closest to you. The free digital legacy checklist helps you go through accounts and devices one by one. Then save the three messages you would miss most, in two places.
If you want a quiet place for the voice and the photos together, you can start a palace and invite your family.
Read on: your photos and accounts after death, voice memos as a way to keep memories, your late parents' photos, and all guides on legacy.
Sources
- WhatsApp Help Center, how to export your chat history (Export chat, with or without media): faq.whatsapp.com/1180414079177245
- Library of Congress, Personal Digital Archiving, digital photos (at least two copies in different places; check them once a year; descriptive file names; tag people and subjects): digitalpreservation.gov/personalarchiving/photos.html