Facebook knows everything there’s to know about you and everyone else you interact with since the first day you joined the social network. The company collects everything, including the times you’ve logged in, locations, network addresses, facial recognition data, advertisements you’ve clicked, identifiable personal information, check-ins, credit card info, and much more. If you’re using the Facebook app on your phone, the company even collects your SMS and call logs (if you have previously given your consent).
Facebook uses this data to learn more about you to improve the service and grow its business. However, when other people get a hold of this data, they can also learn more about you as well and use it in malicious way, as we’ve seen with the Cambridge Analytica fiasco.
In the case that you want to see in more details the information Facebook has been collecting about you, there’s a way to request and download a copy of all your data.
In this guide, you’ll learn the easy steps to create and download an archive of all your Facebook data.
How to download a copy of your Facebook data history
You can download an archive of all your data if you want to see the information that Facebook knows about you, or if you’re planning to delete your account and keep a record of your history in the social network. Here’s how:
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Open Facebook settings page.
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Under “General Account Settings,” click the Download a copy link.
Facebook settings page -
In the “Download Your Information” page, click the Start My Archive button.
Download your information Facebook page -
Confirm your Facebook password, and click the Submit button.
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Click the Start My Archive button.
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Click the Okay button to confirm.
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Once you get confirmation email, go back to the “Download Your Information” page, and click the Download Archive button.
Download archive from Facebook -
Confirm your Facebook password, and click the Submit button.
Once you’ve completed the steps, you’ll end up with a .zip file, simply extract the files using a zip software, or if you’re running on Windows 10, just right-click file and select Extract all.
After extracting the files, double-click the index.htm file to explore your information. You’ll also notice a few folders, which you can also browse to get to your photos, videos, and messages.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows expert and the Editor-in-Chief who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He is also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 12 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows, software, and related technologies, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.