Snapchat sent several ZIP files. What do I do?
Download every one of them and keep them as they are. Big exports are split across several ZIP files, and you need all of them, because each one holds a different part of your Memories.
Why there’s more than one
Snapchat splits big exports into several files rather than sending one enormous one. A small library usually fits in a single ZIP, often named something like mydata~1234567890.zip. A big one comes as a set, and the photos and videos are spread across all of them.
What’s inside
In the exports we’ve looked at, you’ll find:
- a
memoriesfolder with your photos and videos, named by date and a long code (2021-07-14_…-main.jpg) - files ending in
-overlay.pngnext to some of them, which are the captions, stickers and drawings - a list of every memory with its date and place, in
json/memories_history.jsonandhtml/memories_history.html - a
chat_mediafolder, if you asked for your chat photos and videos too
There’s more about what’s in memories_history.json and .html if you’re curious.
Opening them yourself
Every phone and computer can open a ZIP file. On an iPhone, tap it in the Files app. On Android, open your Files app and choose “Extract”. On a Mac, double-click it, and on Windows, right-click and choose “Extract All”.
But what you get inside isn’t ready for a photo app. The photos have no date, so they all land on the day you downloaded them, and the captions sit next to the photos instead of on them. You’d also have to merge the memories folders from every ZIP by hand.
Letting BackupMemories handle them
Add all the ZIP files as they are, in any order. There’s no unzipping and no merging. We read them together, put the dates, places and captions back, join the split videos and give you one tidy set of memories.
If one of them won’t download
Get that one again from the same “See exports” page on accounts.snapchat.com. You need the whole set, because each file has memories the others don’t. If it keeps failing, see what to try when the download isn’t working.