How to Download Your Facebook Data

If you would like to download all the information Facebook has about you, you can do it with a few easy steps. Nowadays, if you would like to know your Facebook data such as when you logged in, the device you used to log in, the ads you clicked, conversation history, places you’ve checked in, topics that you seem interested in, etc. you can just download it from Facebook. However, you will have to request the data file from Facebook and after the information is processed, Facebook will contact you to download your data in a zip file. The process of downloading your Facebook data involves requesting Facebook for the data, downloading and unzipping the file. These are the steps you should follow:

Find out what Facebook knows about you!

1. Using a web browser, navigate to Facebook.com and then log in using your username and password.
2. In the upper right corner of your screen, click the down-pointing arrow in the menu. You will see a drop-down menu with a list of options. Click on ‘Settings’ and you will land on General Account Settings screen.
3. On your list of options (on the left side), select ‘General’.
4. You will see numerous options but you are required to click on ‘Download a Copy’. You will be redirected to a Download Your Information screen where you are supposed to click the green button ‘Start My Archive’. Verify you are the owner of the account by re-entering your password and then tapping ‘Submit’. A message will be displayed informing you that it might take a while to gather your information.
5. After about 12 hours, you will receive an email from Facebook with a subject line Your Facebook Download is Ready. Scroll down to the bottom of the email and click on the link to start downloading. You will be redirected automatically to the Download Your Information Screen on the Facebook.com website.
6. Click the ‘Download Archive’ (green button) and you will be prompted to re-enter your password again. Just enter your password and then click the ‘Continue’ button to save the file.
7. Since you are using a laptop or a desktop, navigate to the location you want to save the file at and then proceed to download. You will download a zip file, the amount of time needed to complete the download can be determined by the size of the file and your internet speed. After successfully downloading the file on your computer, all you need to do is open/unzip the file.