How to Export Instagram Messages and Back Up Your Chat History?
Instagram DMs consist of more than just small talk. There may be order confirmations from a small business, a design request from one of your clients, years of conversations with a friend, or even messages that back up a customer service dispute. However, the Instagram app does not give you an option to “Export chat” within a conversation, and the act of browsing through a long conversation only loads a few messages at a time.
The good news is, there is an official way to export Instagram messages (and it includes everything in your chat history). This guide covers how to do it on mobile/desktop, which file format to select, what gets put where in the downloaded file, and how to convert those files to a nicely formatted PDF, Word, or Excel document that is human-readable.
Is There Any Way to Export Instagram Messages?
Instagram via Meta’s Accounts Centre lets you do that; you can even export your messages exclusively. The app will compile a ZIP archive with all your DM conversations, complete with text, timestamps, senders, photos, and videos, and notify you when it’s done.
A few notes before jumping in:
- You can’t export a single conversation — you have to select all messages, then look for the conversation you want to save.
- It’s not instant. It depends on the size of your account — smaller accounts are often ready in a few minutes, but larger ones can take up to a couple of days.
- You can choose between HTML and JSON formats.
How to Export Instagram Chat History on iPhone or Android?
The steps are the same for iOS and Android. The names of the menu items may vary slightly depending on the version of the application, so if you see the option ‘Download your information’ instead of ‘Export your information’, these are the same actions.
- Open the Instagram application and go to your profile.
- Click on the menu (three lines) in the top right corner.
- Then, at the top of the settings list, select Accounts Centre.
- In the next step, you need to select Your information and permissions.
- Next, select Export your information (or Download your information) and then tap Create export.
- Select the Instagram account you want to export from.
- Then select Export to device.
- Tap Customise information, deselect all options, select Messages, choose Date range, Format (JSON or HTML), and Media quality, and tap Start export.
- If prompted, enter your password.
After that, Instagram will notify you and send you an email when your file is ready.
How to Export Instagram Messages on PC or Mac
Another way is to request an export from a computer, as it might be easier to download and unzip the file.
- Go to instagram.com in your browser and log in.
- Click on More and then Settings.
- Go to Accounts Centre, then Your information and permissions.
- Click Export your information and then Create export.
- Select Instagram profile and click Export to device.
- Under Customise information, click on only Messages.
- Click on the date range, JSON or HTML format, as well as the media quality.
- Click on Start export.
How to Download Instagram Messages and Find the Chats
When your export is available,
- Go back to Accounts Centre → Your information and permissions → Export your information.
- Click or tap Download and enter your password.
- Save the ZIP file to your computer and extract its contents (double-click it to open on a Mac; right-click → Extract All on Windows).
Open your_instagram_activity → messages → inbox: inside each conversation (each will have a folder name beginning with another user’s username), you will find:
- message_1.json (or message_1.html) plus message_2, message_3, etc. for longer conversations
- photos, videos, or audio subfolders if any media was shared within that conversation
Group chats will appear as separate folders too.
Note: The download link will only remain active for a limited time, so download your file as soon as you receive the notification; otherwise, you will need to request a new export.
How to Export Instagram Messages in a Readable Format?
The export is your backup, but it is not very user-friendly in either format. HTML exports create the entire conversation on a single web page, while JSON exports are practically unreadable to humans. If you want something you can actually open and read years from now, or print, or send to a lawyer, or easily open in Excel, you need to convert the JSON files to something more standard. MacUncle Chat Converter can convert JSON and JSONL chat exports, including those from Instagram, to PDF, HTML, DOCX, CSV, XLSX, PNG, and other formats, with 22 different output formats available for Windows and Mac users.
FAQs
Q) How long does it take to export Instagram messages?
A) The export time varies depending on how much information your account contains, from several minutes to about two days.
Q) Does the other person know that I have exported our conversation?
A) No, since you are exporting your information, which is private information.
Q) Can I export Instagram messages to PDF?
A) First, you need to export the messages and story files in JSON format. Then, you can use MacUncle Chat Converter to convert the message file to PDF. You can also print an HTML export to PDF, but you will have to print each conversation individually.
Q) Will my photos and videos be exported?
A) The photos, videos, or audio messages sent in a conversation are stored in their respective photos, video or sound folders in the conversation.
Conclusion
Is it possible to use an online converter for my DMs? For security reasons, you should not use online converters to export Instagram messages. This method requires sending private information to a remote server, which is not secure. A safer solution is to download an application to work with the data on the computer, for example, MacUncle Chat Converter. In this case, all files will be on your computer, which will not be available to hackers.