How To Export Your Old Messages From Social Media

The latest controversy around WhatsApp’s privacy policy has once again raised a question about whether or not we should let Facebook and other tech firms keep track of our data. In this post, however, we will show you how to export your conversations into a readable format, which is different from moving Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp to another device.

WhatsApp

The platform allows for exporting your conversation threads as a plain text file, which you can do before leaving the app. However, you can export only one conversation at a time and the whole process will take a lot of time. But this also means you can skip unimportant conversations and export only those you really need.

For Android users, you need to open the conversation meant to be exported then tap on the three-dot icon in the top-right corner. Next, tap on More > Export Chat. You can choose to either keep the photos and videos or just the text. Then, you will receive a standard Android share sheet, which you can email to yourself, save to cloud storage, or any place you like.

For those using an iOS device, you also need to first go to the conversation you want to export and tap on the header. Tap on Export Chat and select whether to include media files or not. After that, you will receive an iOS share sheet that you can send to your own email or save to the Cloud.

Facebook Messenger

To export your conversations from Facebook Messenger, you need to first visit the main Facebook hub through a web browser.

Log into your account and go to the settings page and click on Your Facebook information > Download your information > View. Tick on Messages and other data that you want to download. Then, from the drop-down menus, click on Date range > All of my data, click on Format > HTML, and click on Media quality > High.

After that, click on Create File and wait for a while until you receive an email and a notification saying that your download is ready. You can save the data in any place you like. For Facebook Messenger, media files are included by default.

Instagram

Like with Facebook Messenger, you have to export your conversation using the web version of the platform. Log into your account and go to the Settings page, then click on Privacy and Security > Data Download > Request Download.

Next, you need to provide an email address to receive the archive, enter your Instagram, password again, and click Request Download. It may take 48 hours for the file to be ready for download.

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