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Guide

How to save your Snapchat data before deleting your account

By Rinor · Published · Updated

To save your Snapchat data before deleting your account, request a full export from My Data with Memories and chat media included and the date range set to all time, download every ZIP part when it arrives, and open it to check it's complete before you delete anything. Snapchat's help page says you still have 30 days after deactivating or deleting to download your data, but it's far safer to have a verified copy first: once the account is gone, nothing that's missing from your export can be requested again.

What deletion does

From Snapchat's help page on deleting an account, checked October 2026:

  • Deleting first deactivates the account for 30 days, during which it can still be reactivated.
  • After that period the account is permanently deleted.
  • After you deactivate or delete, you have 30 days to download your data. If you don't log in or download it in that window, Snapchat says the data is permanently deleted after 60 days.
  • The timings are longer for accounts in India.

Read the page yourself before you start; Snapchat updates it.

The checklist

1. Request everything you care about

Steps checked October 2026, from Snapchat's download page:

  1. Sign in at accounts.snapchat.com, or open Settings, then My Data in the app.
  2. Turn on the categories you want. For keepsakes, that's at least Memories, your saved chat history and the chat media. If JSON files are offered, include them; apps like Lidly use them to work out who sent what.
  3. Turn the date range off, or choose all time, so nothing is cut off.
  4. Confirm your email and submit.

Which toggles to choose goes through each option.

2. Wait for it, and download every part

Snapchat aims to deliver within seven days. Large exports come as several numbered ZIP files; you need all of them. Download them as soon as the email arrives, since third-party guides report the link stops working after about a week. See multi-part exports.

3. Open it and check it

This is the step people skip. A ZIP that downloaded is not the same as a backup that works.

  • Are the media folders there? Look for memories/ and chat_media/. If you asked for Memories and there is no memories/ folder, something went wrong.
  • Do the numbers look right? Compare the number of Memories you see with what you remember having.
  • Do the files open? Pick a few photos and videos from different years.
  • Are all the parts present? Part numbers should run without gaps.

The quickest way to check on an iPhone is to open the export in Lidly: import every part at once, then look at your conversations and the Memories timeline. If a part is missing, Lidly tells you which one. Opening an export on iPhone covers the alternatives.

4. Keep a copy somewhere other than your phone

An export only on your phone is one lost phone away from gone. Copy the ZIPs to a computer, an external drive or a cloud storage service you trust. Keep the original ZIPs, not just extracted photos: they contain the JSON files that hold the dates, locations and who-sent-what.

5. Save the moments you want in your camera roll

Many people want their Memories in Photos, at the right dates. With Lidly you can save any photo or video to your camera roll with its original date and, for Memories, the location Snapchat recorded. Captions stay on saved photos. Restoring date and location explains how.

6. Then delete

Only once the copy is checked and stored safely.

What you won't get back

  • Unsaved chats. Snapchat's export only includes messages that were saved.
  • Snaps in snap_history.json. That file is a log of snaps sent and received, not the snaps themselves.
  • Anything after deletion beyond the download window Snapchat describes.

Does Lidly need my Snapchat account?

No. Lidly never asks for your Snapchat login and never connects to Snapchat. It reads only the export files you downloaded, so it keeps working after your account is gone. It's free to import and read your archive. The most recent twelve months of media and your first ten saves are free too, and a one-time purchase unlocks the rest; there's no subscription.

Thinking about the Memories storage changes instead of deleting? See the Memories storage limit, explained.

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