Instagram Chat History: How to Download Your DMs

How to export your Instagram messages

To back up your Direct Messages cleanly, request a data file from Meta's Accounts Center. You can do this directly from the Instagram app on your smartphone.

1

Open the Instagram app. Go to your profile and tap the three horizontal lines (menu) at the top right to open Settings.

2

At the top of Settings, tap the Meta Accounts Center.

3

Under Account settings, select Your information and permissions.

4

Tap Download your information, then choose Download or transfer information on the next screen.

5

Select your Instagram account from the profile list (this step only appears if multiple accounts are linked).

6

Choose « Specific types of information ». Do not pick « All available information » - the file would be too large.

7

Scroll the list and check only « Messages ». Tap Next, then select Download to device.

8

Crucial settings: pick your date range. Under Format, you must select JSON (not HTML). Under Media quality, choose Low for faster processing. Finally, tap « Create files ».

Print your Instagram chat as a book

Your Instagram archive is now saved as a .zip on your device. Raw JSON is hard to read - MonLivreSMS rebuilds the conversation visually and turns it into a printed book or PDF.

1

Go to MonLivreSMS, create an account and click the Instagram icon on the import page.

2

Click Select a file and upload the ZIP archive from Meta. Do not unzip it.

3

The platform reads the archive and lists your conversations. Pick the chat you want to print - your preview is generated next.

JSON or HTML: which one to request

In Accounts Center, Meta often offers JSON or HTML. HTML opens in a browser, which is handy if you only want to read a thread on screen. JSON is structured: dates, senders, attachments. That is the file MonLivreSMS reads to rebuild the bubbles.

Request messages only, not the whole account, if Meta lets you choose. The ZIP arrives by email or in the app. The book steps are in turn Instagram DMs into a book.

Where the thread sits in the ZIP

Unzip a copy to look, and keep the original intact. The path looks like your_instagram_activity/messages/inbox/, then one folder per conversation. Inside, message_1.json (sometimes message_2.json if the thread is very long). The folder name is a handle, not always a first name.

You do not have to guess for the book: add the ZIP, the thread list appears, you keep one. To put WhatsApp in the same book, see combine chats into one book.

Emoji and accents look broken

Instagram's JSON sometimes stores emoji and accented letters in an encoding that looks wrong in a text editor. The file is not empty. It is being read badly. A proper tool repairs that on import. Do not « fix » the JSON by hand. You would break the dates.