The Mail app comes already installed. If it somehow got deleted, I imagine all you have to do is go to the App Store and select the email app you want (Mail, Gmail, whatever) and download it.

Otherwise, it should be no big deal to simply sync your text messages between your phone and desktop so everything appears in both places—just like any other app.

The app is there. I just never set up accounts.

That might explain.

I will keep looking!

Quick.

1. Search for mail on the phone. It might show up. If so, try to move it to your home screen or dock.
Article below has pictures.

2. If it's gonzo, try reinstalling from the app store. I checked and it's there.

https://www.iphonelife.com/content/my-email-inbox-has-disappeared-my-iphone-how-do-i-get-it-back

https://thegadgetbuyer.com/restore-email-icon-on-iphone/

Do not reset the phone, as one article says as a desperate measure.

Or visit the genie bar (oops, I meant genius)
It's infinitely easier for a geek to fix things in person than by email or even a phone call or face time.
I try to "be there" when distance allows.

The messages sync across devices.

So I can just copy them on the computer from messages to email. Unfortunately, one at a time

I took a photo that I had on the computer and had messaged to the family.

Using the phone, I copied it to my phone's camera roll.

Opposite of you, but it works. Just not in bulk unless someone figures a way to automate it.

Easiest - relay them
- if the texts are not confidential, text them to a friend that does have email on their phone and ask them to email them to you

A bit harder ...
- get access to your email on your phone. Email on your desktop communicates with an email server (gmail, hotmail, yahoo, whatever). You can configure the mail app on your iPhone to talk with the same email service so you can also send (and read) email on your phone. The Mail.app is standard in iOS, you don't have to download it from the store!

Also a bit harder
- you didn't say what type of desktop system you have, but if it's a Macintosh, you can set it up to also receive (and send) text messages that are shared with the same texts that are on your phone.

Lots of other options
- You can install Signal (or Telegram or Whatsapp) on both your phone and desktop and copy/paste the texts to a message to yourself
- Lots of applications have shared files between iPhone/desktops

I have a Windows machine.

If you are a google docs user, you should be able to use Safari on your phone and just copy/paste the texts into a document there, and then access them again from your desktop browser.

Cheers!

Not sure how I would get that to work.

Well .. using google docs to do this if you're not familiar with it can be a bit daunting.

Basic steps would be:

On the phone:
- browse to docs.google.com on the phone (login if you need to)
- hit the big plus button (create new file)
- copy and paste the texts into the document
- optional: give the document a better name than Untitled or whatever it defaults to
(either by clicking on the name in the window or find the rename command in
the menus)

On your deskop
- browse to drive.google.com (not docs.google.com)
- see the list of files you own. most recent one should be the file you created on the phone
- click to open, copy and paste

But again, it can be confusing if you're not fluent in google docs.

I have an older iPhone and a PC.
You can access the internet on your phone, right? I am not sure why you don’t have your email on it. Hmmm.

What I would do, I think: From the browser on your phone, access google and set up a new gmail account, then select and copy your desired text messages (by pressing on them) and paste them into a a draft email and send that to your email address.

I don’t know how to select messages from more than one sender at a time, but you should be able to select a whole string from one conversation.

Does that make sense? If not, please ignore me and I will blame my insomnia brain. It’s 2:00 am.

Goodnight and good luck!

I will try pressing on the text messages and see if that works.

I appreciate your input, my dear Easterncedar!

Sometimes it takes a couple of tries for me, pressing a text message, or a picture, to get the option menu to appear that will allow me to select and copy the message.

I do hope you were able to solve the problem. Happy Sunday!

Sometime today, after breakfast and coffee, I will see if I can do this.

Happy Sunday to you as well, my dear Easterncedar!

It's a gorgeous day.

Last night was great. I helped a friend who is doing a naturalist certification program to dissect an owl pellet. Tiny tiny bones, very clean, packed in a tight oblong of fur, were still identifiable. Fascinating!