How to backup your Snapchat Memories
Download a copy of all your Memories with Snapchat's data export, put the dates and places back, then keep them somewhere other than Snapchat. Google Photos or your phone's photo library is the easiest for most people, and a copy on a computer or hard drive makes a good second backup.
Step by step
- Download all your Memories Ask Snapchat for a copy of your data. Our guide shows which switches to turn on.
- Fix the dates, places and captions Add the files to BackupMemories as they are. You get them back ready for a photo app.
- Choose where they live Send them to Google Photos, Google Drive or Dropbox, save them to your phone, or download them to a computer.
Where to keep them
| Where | Good for | Keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| Google Photos | Seeing them on any device, searching by place and date | Uses your Google storage |
| iPhone Photos | Having them with the rest of your photos | Needs iCloud space if iCloud Photos is on |
| Android gallery | Having them on your phone | Only on that phone unless it backs up |
| Google Drive or Dropbox | A tidy archive in year and month folders | It’s file storage, not a photo app |
| Computer or hard drive | A copy that doesn’t cost anything each month | One physical copy can be lost or broken |
Why fix them first
The files in Snapchat’s export aren’t ready for a photo app. Photos have no date in them, captions come as separate files and long videos are cut into 10-second clips. So if you backup the raw files, they’ll all show up on the day you downloaded them. Fixing them first means your backup looks like your Memories did.
Two copies are better than one
Any single place can go wrong: a lost phone, a broken drive, an account you get locked out of. So the safest setup is two copies in two different places, like Google Photos plus a hard drive. It sounds like a lot of effort, but it’s one extra download.
Isn’t Snapchat’s “Smart Backup” enough?
That setting is about backing up your Memories to Snapchat (and whether it can use mobile data to do it). It doesn’t give you a copy of your own. And from January 2027, memories above your free 5GB in Snapchat get archived unless you pay, which is covered in is Snapchat deleting Memories?