{"id":31514,"date":"2013-01-30T23:07:35","date_gmt":"2013-01-30T17:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=31514"},"modified":"2026-10-13T13:41:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T08:11:37","slug":"how-to-download-all-your-facebook-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/01\/how-to-download-all-your-facebook-data\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Download Facebook Data: Photos, Posts and Messages (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Did you know you can download Facebook data, including all your photos, videos, posts, comments and messages, and save a copy on your computer? Facebook has kept a record of your activity since the day you joined, and it lets you download everything for free. The menus have moved into Meta&#8217;s Accounts Center, so here is how to <strong>download Facebook data<\/strong> step by step in 2026.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-59150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/download-facebook-data-1-1024x496.png\" alt=\"download facebook data\" width=\"760\" height=\"368\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/download-facebook-data-1-1024x496.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/download-facebook-data-1-300x145.png 300w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/download-facebook-data-1-150x73.png 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/download-facebook-data-1-768x372.png 768w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/download-facebook-data-1-1536x745.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/download-facebook-data-1.png 1640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> Go to Facebook <strong>Settings &amp; privacy &gt; Settings &gt; Accounts Center &gt; Your information and permissions &gt; Download your information<\/strong>. Choose your Facebook profile, pick &#8220;All available information&#8221; or specific types, set the date range, format (HTML to browse, JSON to import elsewhere) and media quality, then create the file. Facebook notifies you when it is ready to download, usually within a few hours to a day.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ae8633702647\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ae8633702647\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/01\/how-to-download-all-your-facebook-data\/#How_to_download_your_Facebook_data\" >How to download your Facebook data<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/01\/how-to-download-all-your-facebook-data\/#What_is_included\" >What is included?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/01\/how-to-download-all-your-facebook-data\/#HTML_or_JSON_which_format\" >HTML or JSON: which format?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/01\/how-to-download-all-your-facebook-data\/#Transfer_photos_directly_to_another_service\" >Transfer photos directly to another service<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/01\/how-to-download-all-your-facebook-data\/#Keep_your_Facebook_data_safe\" >Keep your Facebook data safe<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/01\/how-to-download-all-your-facebook-data\/#Why_download_your_data\" >Why download your data?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/01\/how-to-download-all-your-facebook-data\/#FAQ\" >FAQ<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/01\/how-to-download-all-your-facebook-data\/#How_long_does_it_take_to_download_Facebook_data\" >How long does it take to download Facebook data?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/01\/how-to-download-all-your-facebook-data\/#Is_downloading_Facebook_data_free\" >Is downloading Facebook data free?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/01\/how-to-download-all-your-facebook-data\/#Can_I_download_data_from_a_deleted_Facebook_account\" >Can I download data from a deleted Facebook account?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_download_your_Facebook_data\"><\/span>How to download your Facebook data<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Log in to Facebook on a computer and click your profile picture at the top right.<\/li>\n<li>Choose <strong>Settings &amp; privacy &gt; Settings<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Open <strong>Accounts Center<\/strong>, then <strong>Your information and permissions<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Click <strong>Download your information<\/strong>, then <strong>Download or transfer information<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Select your Facebook profile (and Instagram, if linked and you want both).<\/li>\n<li>Choose <strong>Available information<\/strong> for everything, or <strong>Specific types of information<\/strong> such as just photos or messages.<\/li>\n<li>Pick <strong>Download to device<\/strong>, then set the <strong>date range<\/strong>, <strong>format<\/strong> (HTML or JSON) and <strong>media quality<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Click <strong>Create files<\/strong>. You get a notification and email when your download is ready.<\/li>\n<li>Return to the same page, click <strong>Download<\/strong>, and re-enter your password. The file is available for a few days.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_included\"><\/span>What is included?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Posts, photos and videos you shared<\/li>\n<li>Comments, reactions and friends list<\/li>\n<li>Messenger conversations (end-to-end encrypted chats may need a separate download from Messenger&#8217;s secure storage)<\/li>\n<li>Profile information, groups, pages and events<\/li>\n<li>Ads information and logged activity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"HTML_or_JSON_which_format\"><\/span>HTML or JSON: which format?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>HTML:<\/strong> open index.html in a browser and click through your data like a mini website. Best for most people.<\/li>\n<li><strong>JSON:<\/strong> a data format for importing into other apps or analysing with code.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Transfer_photos_directly_to_another_service\"><\/span>Transfer photos directly to another service<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Instead of downloading, you can choose <strong>Transfer to destination<\/strong> and send photos, videos or posts straight to Google Photos, Dropbox and other supported services.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Keep_your_Facebook_data_safe\"><\/span>Keep your Facebook data safe<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The file contains private messages and personal details. Store it on an encrypted drive or in secure cloud storage.<\/li>\n<li>Do not download it on a shared computer.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure your account is secure first; see how to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2011\/05\/secure-facebook-browsing\/\">secure your Facebook account<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_download_your_data\"><\/span>Why download your data?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>A personal backup of years of photos and memories.<\/li>\n<li>Before deleting or deactivating your account. See how to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/01\/delete-online-persona\/\">delete your online persona<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>To see what Facebook knows about you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Back up other networks too: here is how to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/08\/download-all-twitter-tweets\/\">download all your Twitter (X) posts<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_long_does_it_take_to_download_Facebook_data\"><\/span>How long does it take to download Facebook data?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Small requests can be ready in minutes; large accounts with many photos and videos can take a day or more.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_downloading_Facebook_data_free\"><\/span>Is downloading Facebook data free?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes, completely free.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_I_download_data_from_a_deleted_Facebook_account\"><\/span>Can I download data from a deleted Facebook account?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. Download your information before you delete the account.<\/p>\n<p>Have you downloaded your Facebook archive? Tell us what surprised you in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Did you know you can download Facebook data, including all your photos, videos, posts, comments and messages, and save a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":59150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[48,111],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-31514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-downloads","category-social-media","tag-tutorials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31514"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65470,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31514\/revisions\/65470"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}