Guide
Which Snapchat data should you download? Memories, chat media and JSON explained
If you want to look back through your Snapchat history, request Memories, your saved chat history, and the chat media that goes with it, with the date range set to all time, and include the JSON files if you're offered them. Memories gives you the photos and videos you saved to Memories. Saved chat history and chat media give you the snaps and messages saved in conversations. The JSON files are what tie everything together: who sent what, and when. Most other categories, like login history or search history, are small records you can skip unless you want them.
What Snapchat's page confirms
Snapchat's help page, checked October 2026, lists categories including:
- Login History and Account Information
- Public Profiles
- Snap History
- Saved Chat History
- Memories
- Purchase and Shop History
- Support History
- Friends
- Location
- Search History
- Bitmoji
It also describes a Memories-only route: turn on Export your Memories, then choose Request Only Memories.
Options other guides mention
The request screen has changed over time, and third-party guides describe extra switches that Snapchat's page doesn't list. Redact describes Export your Memories, Export Chat Media, Export Shared Stories and Export JSON Files. TechCrunch's October 2025 guide tells readers to select Memories plus HTML and JSON files, and "All Time" for the date range. Check what your own screen shows; the names may differ.
What each choice gets you
| Choice | What ends up in the ZIP | Do you need it? |
|---|---|---|
| Memories | memories/ with photos and videos, and memories_history.json with dates and locations | Yes, if you have Memories |
| Saved Chat History | chat_history.json: saved messages, who sent them, when | Yes, for conversations |
| Chat media | chat_media/: the photos and videos saved in chats | Yes; without it chats have no pictures |
| Friends | friends.json: maps usernames to display names | Useful; it puts real names on conversations |
| Snap History | snap_history.json: a log of snaps sent and received, no images | Optional |
| JSON files | Machine-readable versions of everything | Yes, if you'll use an app to read the export |
| HTML files | Snapchat's index.html viewer pages | Optional; for browsing on a computer |
| Shared Stories | Media from shared stories | Optional |
The two common mistakes
Leaving out chat media. You get chat_history.json saying a photo was saved, but not the photo. If your saved chat snaps are what you care about, chat media is the most important switch on the page.
Choosing a date range. A narrow range is faster, but anything outside it is simply not in the export. For a keepsake, use all time and accept the wait. How long it takes explains what to expect.
Memories-only or everything?
| Memories-only | Everything | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Smaller | Larger, often several parts |
| Saved chats and chat snaps | No | Yes |
| Speed | Usually faster | Slower |
| Good for | Getting your Memories out, for example ahead of the storage changes | Looking back through conversations |
Both arrive as the same kind of ZIP, and Lidly opens either. If you request Memories-only now and want chats later, you can make a second request; just keep the two exports separate, since each has its own ID.
What Lidly needs
Lidly reads the JSON files in your export to place each saved snap in the right conversation and attach the sender's name, and reads memories_history.json for Memories' dates and locations. So for the full experience:
- Saved chat history and chat media, for conversations.
- Memories, for the Memories timeline.
- Friends, for display names.
- JSON files, if your screen offers the choice.
If the JSON is missing or something can't be placed confidently, the media still opens in Lidly, in an Unsorted view by date. Nothing is guessed into the wrong chat. See viewing chats by person.
Common questions
Can I add a category later?
Not to an existing export. Requests can't be changed or canceled; you'd make a new request.
Is the Location category the same as Memories' locations?
No. Memories' locations come with the Memories data, in memories_history.json. The Location category is a separate category on the request page, and you don't need it for your Memories' locations.
Does more data mean more risk?
The export is your data, delivered to you. What matters is where it goes next. Lidly keeps it on your phone and makes no network requests; see are memories downloaders safe?