Elon Musk’s recent strange moves, like removing employees overseeing critical systems and then sending an ultimatum email that reportedly caused hundreds of employees to quithave put Twitter under strain and many people are wondering if the popular social media service could be broken.
If Twitter shuts down unexpectedly, all your tweets, direct messages, and other information could be gone forever — unless you download them now.
Fortunately, Twitter makes it easy to download a complete archive of your account that includes all of your previous tweets and direct messages.
All you have to do is request the information from Twitter, and then a file will be sent to you, which you can download to view all your data from Twitter – forever. Here’s everything you need to know about requesting and viewing your Twitter archive.
Look at this:
Twitter Blue: What is it?
3:37
How to request a copy of your Twitter data
The process of searching your archive can only be done through the Twitter website, so I would suggest doing it on your desktop, but it can also be easily done on your phone or tablet. We’ll cover both options below.
If you’re on a mobile device, open the Twitter app and tap your profile picture in the top left to bring up the side menu. Next, scroll down and go to Settings and Privacy > your account > Download an archive of your data. This will launch an in-app browser, redirecting you to the Twitter website. Sign in to the Twitter account you want your data from and tap on Request archive.
On desktop, the process is very similar. Go to Twitter, tap More and then go to Settings and Privacy > your account > Download an archive of your own data. Enter your password as required and click Request archive.
go to Settings and Privacy > your account > Download an archive of your data.
Nelson Aguilar/CNET
After you verify your account, the request will be processed and you will see a message saying that it may take up to 24 hours for Twitter to process it. However, some users on Twitter they are claiming that they have requested their archive but have not received a download even after 24 hours.
What to do after your Twitter Archive is ready
Twitter will send you a push notification through the Twitter app as well as an email notifying you when your data is ready to download. Follow the link in the email or alert, which will direct you back to the settings page on the Twitter website. Download your archive and open the zipped file.
Inside the folder you will find a file titled Your archive. It’s an HTML file, so it should open a new tab in your default browser. It’s not actually loading a web page. Instead, it’s giving you an easy way to view your Twitter account. Everything on the site should be interactive.
For example, if you click on Tweets, you’ll be taken to a Twitter-like view of your posts. There is a search tool on the side of the page that will make it easier to find a specific post.
Otherwise, you can open Data folder where you’ll find media folders containing photos, videos, and GIFs you’ve sent or received on Twitter, Moments, direct messages, or Fleets.
Your Twitter archive is organized in a way that resembles the Twitter website.
Image by Jason Cipriani/CNET
A friendly warning: You’ll find yourself taking a trip down memory lane once you get a copy of your archive. Writing this story took me twice as long as it should because I kept going back and looking at old DMs and posts.
Now that you’ve spent too much time searching through old messages, be sure to check out our handy guides to guide you downloading your data from Google AND Facebook. Looking for ways to increase the privacy of your Twitter account? We’ve got your back.
