If the voicemails were on the iPhone the last time it was backed up to a computer, they are very likely still in that backup. OpenExtract (free) opens the backup, lets you listen to each voicemail, and saves the audio to a folder you choose, along with a list of who called and when.
Take this at whatever pace you need. Opening the backup, listening and saving never change or delete it, so you can't break anything by looking. If you still have their phone, don't plug it into that computer or back it up with OpenExtract, Finder, iTunes or the Apple Devices app until the voicemails are saved. A new backup of the same phone can replace the old one. If listening is hard right now, you can save the voicemails first and play them another day.
You don't need the phone, and you don't need their Apple ID. You need the computer the phone was backed up to, or a copy of the backup folder. We wrote more about this in Recovering voicemails from people who have passed.
Usually the Mac or PC the phone was plugged into. On a Mac, backups are in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup. On Windows, look in %USERPROFILE%\Apple\MobileSync\Backup (the Apple Devices app, or iTunes from the Microsoft Store) or %APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup (iTunes downloaded from Apple's website). Please don't delete or tidy anything on that computer yet.
Free for Mac (Apple Silicon), Windows 10 and 11, and Linux. Download it here. No account, no trial, no card.
On OpenExtract's start screen, choose the option to open a backup that's already on your computer (not the one that makes a new backup), then pick the backup folder. If the folder holds more than one backup, it shows each one with the device name and date so you can choose. If the backup is encrypted, type the backup password (the one chosen when the backup was made). It stays on your computer.
Click Voicemail. You'll see each saved voicemail with who called, the date, and how long it is. Click one to open it, then press play to listen.
At the top right of the Voicemail screen, click Save all and choose a folder. OpenExtract saves an audio folder with one file per voicemail, named with the caller and the date, and a voicemails.csv list with the date, caller and length of each one. The dates in the file names and the list are in UTC, so a voicemail left in the evening can show the next day's date.
Copy the folder to an external drive, to a cloud folder you control, and to a family member. Drives fail and accounts close. Several copies mean the voices outlast any one of them.
.amr files. If your usual player won't open one, a free player such as VLC usually can. OpenExtract doesn't convert audio to other formats.Do I need their phone or their Apple ID? No. You need the backup folder. If the backup is encrypted, you also need the backup password.
Will listening or saving change the backup? No. OpenExtract only reads it. The backup stays exactly as it was.
Are the transcripts included? No. OpenExtract can't read the iPhone's voicemail transcripts, so the Transcript column in voicemails.csv stays empty. You still get the audio.
Can I copy the backup to my own computer first? Yes. Copy the whole backup folder, then on OpenExtract's start screen choose to open a backup folder and pick the copy.
Does anything get uploaded? No. OpenExtract reads the backup on your own computer and doesn't send it anywhere. It goes online only when you let it: to check for a new version, if you allow it (you can turn that off in Settings); to send a problem report or a thank-you, when you click Send; and on Windows, to install Apple's free Apple Devices app from Microsoft, if you ask it to, for backing up an iPhone. Nothing from inside your backup goes with any of them.
Is it really free? Yes. OpenExtract is open source under the MIT license, with no paid tier, no account and no strings attached. The code is on GitHub.
OpenExtract runs on your own computer and never uploads the backup.