What is the VMG file format?
.vmg (vMessage) is a file format used by Nokia and Samsung phones. .vmg files store by default sent and received SMS messages. A single .vmg file contains the actual text of an SMS message and related metadata, such as the sender's details and the date sent or received.
Defined by the IrMC vMessage specification (related to the .VCF family), each file is plain text starting with BEGIN:VMSG, wrapping a BEGIN:VCARD sender block and a BEGIN:VBODY message block, ending with END:VMSG. MIME type: text/x-vmessage.
.vmg files are used for storing structured text data encoded in UTF-8 or UTF-16 and can easily be viewed using any text editor. They can serve as a backup copy of messages by synchronizing a phone with a computer via Nokia Suite. The alternate extension .vmsg is used interchangeably by some devices.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWA VMG is inert text - it cannot run code, so opening one is safe. The real concern is privacy: these files contain personal message content, phone numbers and timestamps, so handle and share them carefully. Be wary of uploading sensitive private messages to unknown online converters; for confidential content, decode locally in a text editor or an offline tool instead.
Format details
in a nutshellPrograms that open VMG files
Windows2 apps
Nokia Suite
Free Historical only - Nokia Suite/PC Suite could import and display VMG, but both are discontinued and the download links are dead. Not recommended for new use. 
Notepad++ (or any text editor)
Open-source Open the .vmg directly to read the raw text; set encoding to UTF-8/UTF-16 if characters look garbled. 
macOS1 app
TextEdit / any text editor
Built-in Open the .vmg as plain text to read sender, date and body inline.
Online VMG-to-TXT/CSV converters
Free Upload the .vmg (or a batch) and download readable TXT/CSV/PDF; useful when the old phone software is gone. Technical details
deep spec| File identification | Plain text only; identified by `BEGIN:VMSG` at byte offset 0 - no binary magic bytes exist |
| MIME type | `text/x-vmessage` |
| Character encoding | UTF-8 or UTF-16; ASCII subset sufficient for Latin-script SMS content |
| Root envelope | `BEGIN:VMSG` … `END:VMSG` wrapper containing all sub-blocks for one message |
| Contact sub-block | `BEGIN:VCARD` … `END:VCARD` - stores sender or recipient name and phone number in vCard syntax |
| Message body sub-block | `BEGIN:VBODY` … `END:VBODY` - holds the raw SMS or MMS text content |
| Message status property | `X-IRMC-STATUS` field carries one of: `READ`, `UNREAD`, `SENT`, or `RECEIVED` |
| Supported message types | SMS (short text) and basic MMS; one message per `.vmg` file |
| Metadata captured | Date and time (`Date:` property), sender phone number, message direction (sent/received) |
| Line-ending convention | CRLF (`\r\n`) per the IrMC specification, consistent with vCard and iCalendar line endings |
| Governing standard | IrMC (Infrared Mobile Communications) vMessage spec, modelled on vCard 2.1/3.0 property syntax |
| Alternate extension | `.vmsg` - functionally identical format, used by some Samsung models and third-party converters |
| Primary backup tool | Nokia PC Suite and Nokia Suite (Windows); exports one `.vmg` file per message during phone synchronization |
| Device origin | Nokia Series 40 and Series 60 handsets; later adopted by Samsung feature phones |
| Released | Early 2000s (Nokia PC Suite era; based on the IrMC vMessage spec) |
| Open standard | Yes · royalty-free |
| Specification | en.wikipedia.org |
VMG conversions
Community Q&A
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