Patent ID: 7831674

Claim:
A method for saving instant messages, comprising: receiving, by a server, at least two session saving policies which are determined by a terminal from the terminal before beginning an instant message session; saving, by the server, the session saving policies sent from the terminal and a corresponding client identifier; determining, by the server, that the server has saved the session saving policies corresponding to the terminal which begins the instant message session in accordance with the client identifier when beginning the instant message session, and determining whether the terminal which begins the instant message session has designated one of the at least two session saving policies; if the server has saved the session saving policies corresponding to the terminal which begins the instant message session and the terminal has designated one of the at least two session saving policies, saving, by the server, instant messages in the instant message session in accordance with the designated session saving policy; otherwise, selecting, by the server, in accordance with a selection rule one of the at least two session saving policies which correspond to the terminal which begins the instant message session and which are saved in the server, and saving the instant messages in the instant message session in accordance with the selected session saving policy; wherein the selection rule for selecting one of the at least two session saving policies is preset in the server.