What do I get when I download my Facebook ?

December 6, 2018 12:56 PM

My favorite four kitten and science groups on FB have started banning users they think are using fake names, and FB itself is asking for PG rated material only (suiciding like Tumblr). Is my ten year download of content just going to be unreadable crap like my old AOL mail?
posted by tilde to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

Best answer: If you're looking for suggestions about downloading your photographs, this recent explainer from ResearchBuzz is very helpful.
posted by arco at 2:24 PM on December 6, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: No, it won't. When you download your Facebook archive, you'll get a zip file with a bunch of folders inside. My download, for example, contains these folders:
- html
- messages
- photos
- videos

The HTML folder contains items such as your contact list (along with their phone numbers and/or email addresses), your Facebook timeline, active Facebook sessions, events that you've responded to, and Messenger conversations.
posted by Roger Pittman at 3:24 PM on December 6, 2018

Is there a reason that you haven't just downloaded the backup yourself to see?
posted by chrisamiller at 7:00 PM on December 6, 2018

I was shocked at how comprehensive and readable all my FB data was. Go for it!
posted by agregoli at 8:59 AM on December 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Been running 2900 mph with no access to a real computer; trying to see if budgeting time to do it rather than file / save as was faster. Thanks.
posted by tilde at 6:23 PM on December 10, 2018