Facebook lets you download a copy of your profile information, including your friends list. This can be useful if you want to have a record of your Facebook connections or if you’re switching to another social media platform and want to find your Facebook friends there.
Why Would You Want to Export Your Facebook Friends List?
There are a few reasons why someone might want to export their Facebook friends list:
- To have a backup of your connections. Facebook is notorious for deleting accounts or removing features, so having your own copy of your friends list can serve as a backup.
- To easily add friends when switching platforms. If you decide to try a new social media site, having a list of your Facebook friends makes it easy to find and connect with them again.
- To analyze your friend demographics. You may be curious to see the breakdown of your friends by location, gender, age etc. Exporting the list allows you to analyze this data.
- To import into another app or service. Some third party apps may allow you to import your Facebook friends to use their services.
- To find lost connections. You can use the list to search for friends you’ve lost touch with over the years.
How to Download Your Facebook Friends List
Exporting your Facebook friends list is a simple process:
- Go to your Facebook settings and click on “Your Facebook Information” in the left sidebar.
- Under the Connections heading, click on “Friends.”
- Change the date range if needed, then click on the blue “Create File” button.
- Facebook will prepare a download of your info. This usually takes less than a minute.
- When ready, you’ll see the “Download” button appear. Click it.
- The file will download to your computer as a .ZIP folder containing your friends list in .HTML format.
What’s Included in the Downloaded Friends List File
The downloaded .ZIP folder contains an index.html file that opens your friends list in a web browser format. It includes the following information for each friend:
- Profile photo
- Name
- Current city (if shared on their profile)
- Mutual friend count
- Birthday (if shared on their profile)
The list is organized chronologically, with your newest friends at the top and oldest friends at the bottom. You can scroll through or search for specific friends.
Limitations of the Facebook Friends List Download
While downloading your Facebook friends list can be useful, there are some limitations to consider:
- No contact info – It only includes info your friends have shared on their public Facebook profiles. No email addresses, phone numbers, etc.
- Only current friends – It doesn’t include people you used to be connected to on Facebook who you are no longer friends with.
- Basic information – Details like the date you became friends, your communication history, etc. are not included.
- Static file – Any changes to your friends list are not automatically updated in the downloaded file.
Turning Your Facebook Friends List into a Spreadsheet
The downloaded HTML file provides a nice way to browse your connections, but it’s not very flexible. To better analyze or work with your Facebook friends list, you’ll likely want to convert it into a spreadsheet.
Here are two ways to turn your Facebook friends HTML file into a .CSV or Excel spreadsheet:
Method 1: Using Excel
- Open Excel on your computer.
- Go to the Data tab and click “From Web” in the Get & Transform Data section.
- Copy the URL path of the index.html file on your computer and paste it into Excel’s dialog box.
- Ensure “Table 0” is selected and click OK. The HTML table will load into Excel.
- Click the Download button, then “CSV UTF-8 (comma delimited).”
- Save the downloaded CSV file to your desired location.
Method 2: Using Google Sheets
- Open a new Google Sheet.
- Go to File > Import and upload your Facebook friends HTML file.
- In the preview screen, deselect any unnecessary columns, like photo thumbnails.
- Click Import. The table will load into Google Sheets with each friend in a row.
- Go to File > Download > Comma separated values to convert and download as a .CSV file.
Once converted to a spreadsheet, you can easily sort, filter, analyze, and work with your Facebook friends list data.
Alternative Method: Using Third-Party Apps
If you don’t want to download your Facebook data directly, there are third-party apps that provide an easier way to export your Facebook friends list:
- Social Book Post Manager – Browser extension and app that exports your friends list to CSV/XLSX. Has handy friend filtering/management options.
- Rephrase – SEO and social media managing app that exports a spreadsheet of your Facebook friends with one click. Also grabs friends from LinkedIn.
- SocialExporter – Simple web app for exporting FB friends list to Excel. Has options to filter low-mutual friends.
The advantage of using these apps is convenience. The direct Facebook download method provides more information but requires a few more steps.
What Can You Do with the Data?
Once you’ve downloaded and converted your Facebook friends list to a spreadsheet, what can you do with that data? Here are a few potential uses:
Analyze Friend Demographics
Create pivot tables in Excel to analyze the makeup of your friend list by location, gender, age range, etc. You can see how diverse and widespread your connections are.
Find Lost Contacts
Sort by the mutual friends column to jog your memory about old connections you may have forgotten about over the years. Reach out and reconnect.
Manage Your Contacts
Add the info to your address book or CRM software like Salesforce. Tag friends to segment by school, workplace, close friends, etc.
Create a Backup
Save the file in a safe place as a backup friend list in case anything happens to your Facebook account. Useful for recovering lost connections.
Sync with Other Social Networks
Use the list to search for friends on other platforms like Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn, and send connection requests.
Segment for Targeted Outreach
Filter the list by location, age, interests etc. to create custom audiences for promoting business/personal projects.
Privacy Considerations
If you plan to analyze or share data from your downloaded Facebook friends list, be mindful of your friends’ privacy. Here are some tips:
– Remove any private information like email addresses or phone numbers not publicly available on Facebook.
– Don’t share the full list publicly without consent. You can produce aggregated statistics.
– Be thoughtful about filtering by sensitive attributes like political views. Don’t make assumptions.
– Delete the data when finished to minimize the risk of an unauthorized release if your computer is compromised.
– Comply with Facebook’s terms of service. Don’t use data for spamming.
Conclusion
Exporting your Facebook friends list is simple to do directly from Facebook or using third party tools. The resulting spreadsheet of your connections can be useful for backups, analysis, finding lost contacts, targeted outreach, and other purposes. However, be careful not to misuse the data or violate your friends’ privacy. With appropriate use, the friends list export can give valuable insights into your social circles.