For many of us, Facebook has become the family photo album, where we’ve shared vacations, birthdays, graduations, weddings, holiday gatherings, and thousands of everyday moments. However, if you ever lose access to your Facebook account, getting it back isn’t always easy. That’s why it’s a good idea to create a backup of everything you’ve shared.
How to Download Your Facebook Data
Facebook lets every user download a copy of their account information. On Facebook, open Settings, then choose Your Facebook Information and select Download Your Information. You can choose exactly what you want to save, or simply download everything, including photos, videos, posts, messages, comments, friend lists, and profile information.
When Facebook asks which format you’d like, you’ll see two choices: HTML and JSON. HTML creates files that are easy to browse on your computer, while JSON is a machine-readable archive that preserves all of your data.
Depending on how much you’ve shared over the years, Facebook may need several minutes—or even a few hours—to prepare your archive. When it’s ready, you’ll receive a notification and an email with a link to download it. Note that the download link expires after a few days, so be sure to download it promptly.
Your downloaded archive is a backup, not a restore. Facebook does not allow you to import those files into a new account or restore an old one. However, you’ll still have your photos, videos, posts, and memories safely stored on your own computer instead of existing only on Facebook.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
