Every Snapchat backup starts with the same request — and most failed exports fail right here, on one toggle. This page walks the request slowly, on both the app route and the browser route, so the ZIP that arrives is the ZIP you actually wanted.
\u270D\uFE0F Technical Anshu\1F4F1 Snapchat\u23F1\uFE0F 5 minutes to request
\1F3A5 Watch the full process in the video — My Data export to finished download, step by step
The request itself takes five minutes. The waiting takes days, and a wrong setting takes a whole extra cycle to discover. So this page is deliberately boring and precise: what to tap, in what order, and which three choices decide everything — Export your Memories on, the JSON file included, and the date range set to All time. Get those right and the rest of the process is just patience.
The Email You Are Waiting For
Your Snapchat data is ready to download. Sign in to your account and open My Data to get your file. This link is available for a limited time.
Snapchat emails a link, not the file itself. The link leads back to your My Data page, and it expires — download the ZIP the day this email lands.
1
Before You Tap Submit
Two minutes of preparation saves a wasted week. The export is delivered by email to the address registered on the account — if that inbox is dead, everything downstream fails silently.
Confirm you are logged in to the correct account — the export only covers the account making the request
Check the email address on the account (Settings, then Email) and make sure you can open that inbox today
If the email is outdated, update it inside the app first and verify the new address before requesting
Make sure you will have a computer and some free disk space ready when the ZIP arrives
2
The App Route, Step By Step
This is the route the video uses. Menu wording shifts a little between app versions, but the path is stable.
Open Snapchat and tap your profile picture in the top corner
Tap the gear icon to open Settings
Scroll to My Data — it sits in the account and privacy area of the settings list
Log in again if Snapchat asks; this page is deliberately behind a fresh login
Turn on Export your Memories
Turn on the option to include the JSON file for the export — this produces memories.json, the index the bulk download runs on
Choose the date range — All time for a complete archive
Submit the request and look for the confirmation on screen
3
The Browser Route At accounts.snapchat.com
Phone broken, lost, or simply too small for this job? The same request exists on the web, and it is the route to use when you plan to do everything from a computer anyway.
Open accounts.snapchat.com in any desktop browser and log in to your account
Open My Data from the account page
Set the same three things: Export your Memories on, JSON file included, date range All time
Submit — the email and the download both happen from this same page later
Only ever type your Snapchat password on Snapchat's own app or on snapchat.com and accounts.snapchat.com. Any other page asking for it is a theft attempt, whatever it promises.
4
The Settings That Decide Everything
Everything else on the My Data page — chat history, account information, friends lists — is optional extra data. Three choices decide whether your Memories archive exists at all.
Export your Memories — ON. Without it, the export is account paperwork, not your photos and videos
JSON file included — ON. The JSON option gives you memories.json, the machine-readable index of every Memory and its download link
Date range — All time. A recent range quietly excludes your oldest Memories, which are usually the ones people want most
5
After Submitting — What Happens Next
Nothing dramatic, and that is normal. Your request joins Snapchat's queue; the package is prepared on their side; an email arrives when it is ready — often within a day or two, officially up to about a week for big libraries.
One request is enough — submitting again does not speed anything up and only adds confusion about which package is newest
Keep the account active and unchanged while you wait; do not deactivate it mid-request
When the email lands, treat it as urgent: the download link is time-limited
\1F534 The single most common failure: requesting the export with the wrong email on the account, then waiting a week for an email that went to an inbox nobody can open. Verify the address before submitting — it takes twenty seconds inside Settings.
\1F3A5 Watch The Full Video For The Complete Process
The complete flow on screen — requesting the export, finding memories.json, and downloading every Memory in one run.
There is no hard public limit that matters for normal use — you can request again whenever you need a fresh export, for example after a link expires or once a year to capture new Memories. Just let one request finish before starting another, so you always know which package you are working with.
Can I request the export from a computer without my phone
Yes. The My Data page at accounts.snapchat.com offers the same export, as long as you can log in to the account. This is the right route when your phone is lost or broken but your account is fine — and it keeps the whole job on the computer where the ZIP needs to end up anyway.
I submitted the request but no email came
Work through the boring causes in order: the package may still be preparing (allow up to about a week for large libraries), the email may be sitting in spam, or the address on the account may not be the inbox you are watching. Check all three before re-requesting — and if the address was wrong, fix it in the app first, then submit a fresh request.
This guide is based on the Snapchat Memories download video by Technical Anshu • Stuck on a step — ask in the video comments and you will get a reply \1F64F