Facebook allows users to download a copy of their account information, including their entire chat history. This can be useful if you want to save a record of your Facebook conversations or if you’re planning to delete your account. Downloading your chat history is easy to do, but there are a few things to keep in mind.
Why Download Your Facebook Chat History?
Here are some common reasons why people download their Facebook chat history:
- You’re closing your Facebook account and want a record of your conversations.
- You want to view conversations that have been deleted or lost.
- You need to retrieve old messages for personal or legal reasons.
- You want to move your conversations to another platform.
- You want to analyze your messaging patterns and habits.
Facebook stores all your chats by default, so downloading them just gives you a copy. Your conversations still remain intact on Facebook servers.
What’s Included in Your Facebook Chat History
Your downloaded chat history contains:
- A complete record of your 1-on-1 chats with friends.
- Group conversations you’ve participated in.
- Photos and files you’ve sent/received.
- Voice and video calls you’ve made.
- Your messages, as well as any messages you’ve deleted.
Your chat history goes back to the beginning of your account. All messages, even from years ago, will be included.
How to Download Facebook Chat History
Downloading your entire chat history only takes a few minutes. Just follow these steps:
- Open Facebook and click on the down arrow in the top right. Select “Settings & Privacy”.
- In the left menu, click “Your Facebook Information”.
- On the page that opens, click “View”.
- Scroll down and click “Download your Information”.
- Deselect all categories except “Messages”.
- Click “Create File”. Facebook will start compiling your chat history.
- You’ll get a notification when your download file is ready. This can take a few minutes up to a few hours depending on how much chat history you have.
- When it’s ready, reload the page. Click “Available Copies” to download your chat history.
- Your chats will download as a ZIP file. Extract it to view your chat history as HTML files.
And that’s all there is to it! As long as you select the Messages category, the entire contents of your chats from Facebook will download in an easy to view format.
What Format is the Chat History In?
Facebook provides your chat history as a collection of HTML and JSON files:
- An index.html file lets you browse through your chats by friend.
- Individual .html files contain your full message history with each person.
- .json files store metadata like timestamps and participants.
- Media you’ve sent like photos and videos will also be included.
The HTML format allows you to view your chats in a browser just like you would on Facebook. You can open the index file locally or upload it somewhere to view all your conversations. It’s organized neatly by contact.
How Far Back Does Facebook Chat History Go?
Facebook will provide your complete chat history going back to the creation of your account. So if you’ve had your profile for 10 years, you’ll get all your chats for that entire period.
There is no limit on how far back Facebook stores your messages. As long as you’ve used chat, your entire message history will be available to download.
Does Downloaded Chat History Include Deleted Messages?
Yes, even messages you’ve deleted will be included in your downloaded Facebook chat history. This is because Facebook still retains deleted chats on their servers.
So if you or your chat partners have deleted messages, they’ll still appear when you download your chat archive. Keep this in mind if you want to permanently remove certain conversations.
Are Group Chats Included?
Along with your 1-on-1 conversations, group chats you’ve participated in will also download as part of your chat history.
Facebook chat downloads include:
- Groups you created.
- Groups you’ve been added to.
- All messages in those groups sent while you were a member.
Your chat history only covers periods when you were actively in a group. If you left and rejoined, only the periods when you participated will download.
Do Voice and Video Calls Download Too?
Your chat history download includes records of voice and video calls made through Facebook Messenger. However, it does not include the actual call recordings.
For voice and video calls, your downloaded chat history will contain:
- Timestamps for when calls occurred.
- Which users participated in the call.
- The duration of calls.
- Any messages exchanged during the call.
But the audio or video content itself is not included. The history serves as a log of your call activity but doesn’t let you replay calls.
Can I Download Chats From Messenger Too?
Yes, your Facebook chat history download includes all chats done through Facebook Messenger as well. It pulls down your full message history across both Facebook and Messenger.
So any 1-on-1 or group chats via Messenger will be in your downloaded chat archive. This includes chats with friends who aren’t on Facebook itself.
Tips for Downloading Your Chat History
Here are some useful tips to ensure your Facebook chat download goes smoothly:
- Free up space – Chat history files can be large, so clear up space on your device before downloading.
- Use desktop – Request desktop site on mobile to ensure the full download option is available.
- Try downloading again – If your download fails, wait a few hours and try again.
- Extract all files – Be sure to extract the full ZIP file to view your chats.
- Back up files – Keep copies of your downloaded chats in multiple places.
Why Can’t I Open My Chat History HTML Files?
If you’re having trouble viewing your downloaded Facebook chat history in a browser, a few things could be going wrong:
- Make sure you’ve extracted all files from the ZIP folder.
- Open the index.html file specifically, not individual chat files.
- Copy the HTML files to a separate folder like your desktop.
- Try a different browser if files won’t open.
- Double check that you’ve saved the files completely.
The most likely culprit is that the files haven’t fully extracted or saved. Extract everything and reload the files until you can get the index page to open properly.
Are My Chats Still on Facebook If I Download Them?
Downloading your chat history does not remove the messages from Facebook’s servers. It merely creates a copy of your chats that Facebook sends to you.
Your conversations remain intact in your account even once you’ve downloaded them. So your chat history exists in two places:
- On Facebook’s servers
- In the files you’ve downloaded
You’ll continue to be able to view past chats within Facebook. Downloading them simply lets you store them locally too.
How Can I Save My Chats Permanently?
If you want to preserve your chat history forever, downloading it is the key first step. But you also need to make sure you keep backup copies of the files.
To save your chats permanently:
- Download your Facebook chat history.
- Copy the files to multiple devices so you have backups.
- Consider printing out conversations you want to preserve.
- Save copies to external drives or cloud storage.
- Set calendar reminders to download an updated copy annually.
As long as you maintain multiple copies in different locations, you can keep your chat history forever. Just be mindful of privacy if the chats contain sensitive information.
Conclusion
Downloading your Facebook chat history gives you a convenient record of all your past conversations. The full archive downloads in HTML format for easy browsing. It contains your messages with friends, groups, and over Messenger going back to when you first started using Facebook.
To download your chats, go to Your Facebook Information and select just the Messages category. Facebook will compile your history which you can then extract and view offline. Be sure to save copies in multiple places if you want to preserve your chats permanently.