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A step-by-step guide to downloading your Facebook messages
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Do you want to save your important Facebook Messenger conversations? Luckily, it's easy to download messages from Facebook so you can keep them forever. While you can't export individual messages or conversations to text files, you can download all your messages (or just messages you've sent and received within a certain timeframe) and sort through them easily. If you only need part of a single conversation, you can simply take a screenshot . This wikiHow article will teach you how to export Facebook Messenger chats so you can review them offline on your computer, Android, iPhone, or iPad.
Things You Should Know
- You can request a download of all your messages within a specific time period on any device.
- When downloading, you can specify a date range to export, or export all messages at once.
- While you can't choose which messages to export, the messages you download will be sorted by conversation and easy to browse.
Steps
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Open the Facebook app on your Android, iPhone, or iPad. The easiest way to export messages is to request a download in the Facebook app. You'll be able to export chats from a specific time period, which you can then view easily in your web browser.
- Once your messages are ready to download, you can use your computer , phone, or tablet to download them.
- It will be easiest to browse and read your exported chats using a computer, as the downloaded file will be saved as a ZIP file .
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Tap the menu icon ☰ . You'll see these three horizontal lines at the bottom-right corner of the Facebook app.Advertisement
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Tap the gear icon. It's at the top-right corner of the menu.
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Scroll down and tap Download your information . This option is in the "Your information" area toward the bottom of the menu.
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Tap Deselect all . It's the blue text to the right of "Your activity across Facebook."
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Select Messages . When you do this, the circle will fill with a checkmark to indicate that your Facebook Messages will be exported in the download.
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Scroll down and select a date range. By default, you'll be downloading all of your Facebook messages. If you'd rather only download messages from a particular timeframe, scroll all the way to the bottom and tap the drop-down next to "Date range: All of my data." Tap Date range to choose your preferred starting and ending dates.
- Tap each date to open a calendar from which you can pick a new date. Repeat for the ending date.
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Choose a format and quality. If HTML is already selected, you can leave this menu alone. If not, tap Format and select HTML so you can easily read your exported Facebook messages in your web browser, organized by conversation.
- If you want to see the pictures and videos in the same quality in which you received them, make sure "High" is selected for the Quality choice.
- The higher the quality setting, the larger your download file size will be.
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Tap Create File . You'll see a message that you've requested a file download.
- You're free to leave your phone or use a different app while the file download request is processed. This can take minutes to hours, depending on how much data you requested.
- You'll get an email that lets you know when you can download the file. Either tap the link in the email ( Available Files ) or you can return to the Messenger window and navigate to Account settings > Download profile information .
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Download your messages when they're ready. Once you receive a notification and/or email message from Facebook confirming that your download is ready, you can save the exported messages to your phone, tablet, or computer. First, you'll need to download the messages, which are saved as a ZIP file:
- On a phone or tablet, return to the Facebook app, tap the menu, tap the gear icon, then go to Download Your Information . Tap AVAILABLE COPIES and select your requested file to download.
- On a computer, open the email from Facebook, click the Available Files link in the message, then click Download . This saves a ZIP file to your computer.
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Extract the messages. Once your exported messages are saved to your device, you'll need to extract them so you can read them.
- On a Mac , just double-click the ZIP file to extract it.
- On Windows , double-click the ZIP file, click Extract all , then click Extract .
- On an iPhone or iPad, open the Files app, navigate to the ZIP file, then tap it to extract the files. [1] X Research source
- On an Android, open the Files by Google or My Files app, depending on your model, navigate to the ZIP file, then tap to select it. When prompted, tap Extract . [2] X Research source
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Read your exported Facebook messages. Here's how to get there:
- Open the extracted folder, which has the same name as your Facebook username .
- Tap or double-click the file called index.html . This opens the index page in your default web browser.
- Tap Your messages to display all of your conversations.
- Tap or click the name of a conversation to read it. The files are organized by the name of the people you've chatted with.
- You can save the conversation as a PDF to make it easier to read on any device.
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Sign in to your Facebook account at https://www.facebook.com . If you're using a computer, you can export your Facebook messages from the Facebook website.
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Click your profile photo at the top-right. A menu will expand.
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Click Settings & Privacy and then Settings . This displays the Facebook Settings page. [3] X Research source
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Click Your Facebook information . You'll see this in the left panel.
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Click View next to "Download profile information". It's the third option.
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Select a date range and format.
- By default, your Facebook Messages will export in the HTML format, which is the best way to read your messages. If you want to import them into a particular app that requires JSON files, you can select JSON from the "Format" menu. If not, leave HTML selected.
- Click the Date range menu to choose which messages to download. If you want to download all of your messages, select All time . Alternatively, you can click Custom to select a specific start and end date, or choose one of the other options.
- Your messages will be organized by conversation, so it'll be easy to find specific chats.
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Click Deselect All . You'll see this at the top-right corner of the "Select information to download" section. This removes the checkmarks from all selected options.
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Check the box next to "Messages." You'll want to keep this option selected while deselecting the others.
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Scroll down and click Request a download . Facebook will now prepare your messages for export and send you an email when they're ready to download.
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Download your messages when they're ready. Once you receive a notification and/or email message from Facebook confirming that your download is ready, you can save the exported messages to your phone, tablet, or computer. First, you'll need to download the messages, which are saved as a ZIP file:
- Click the Available Files link in the message, then click Download . This saves a ZIP file to your computer.
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Extract the messages. Once your exported messages are saved to your device, you'll need to extract them so you can read them.
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Read your exported Facebook messages. Here's how to get there:
- Open the extracted folder, which has the same name as your Facebook username.
- Double-click the file called index.html to open it in your default web browser.
- Click Your messages to display all of your conversations.
- Click the name of a conversation to read it. The files are organized by the name of the people you've chatted with.
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Open the Facebook Messenger app. It’s the blue chat bubble icon with a lightning bolt inside. Since there is no way to export an individual Facebook conversation, it might be easier to take screenshots of the chat than exporting all of your chats at once.
- Take screenshots of a conversation if you want to keep picture-proof of your chat.
- This isn't a good method to use if you have a lengthy conversation, but it works well for a shorter chat.
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Tap a conversation you want to save. It'll open in a new window.
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Scroll to the part of the conversation you want to save.
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Take a screenshot. The steps to do this are different depending on your device, but it's very easy:
- Android : Not all Androids are the same, but you can typically take a screenshot by pressing the power and volume down buttons simultaneously. This saves the screenshot to your gallery.
- iPhone/iPad : If your iPhone or iPad has Face ID, press the side and volume up buttons at the same time, then quickly release the buttons. If you have Touch ID, press and hold the side button and the Home button at the same time, then quickly release the buttons. [4] X Research source Your screenshot will be saved to your camera roll.
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