Request your messages in Meta’s Accounts Center under Your information and permissions. Select the Instagram profile, export to your device, choose Messages and JSON, and set the date range you need. When the download is ready, save the ZIP and keep every file belonging to the conversation.
By Layne Weant
Published
Updated
Meta changes menu labels across app versions. The control may say Export your information or Download your information. Both belong in Accounts Center; you do not need to give Grey Mirror your Instagram password.
Folder names differ between export versions. Look for the messages area and then the conversation’s folder. A long thread may have message_1.json, message_2.json and more. The number is a file part, not a quality score or a separate relationship.
Keep every part of the selected thread. Uploading only the first JSON file can cut off older history. Leave the archive structure intact when uploading a ZIP so the conversation picker can keep unrelated threads separate.
Check which Instagram profile you selected and whether the request included Messages. Check the date range next. A download limited to a recent month cannot show what happened earlier, even if the ZIP is large.
If you requested HTML, you may have a readable archive, but JSON preserves the message records more directly. Request JSON again if an HTML copy loses sender boundaries or is difficult to import. Avoid copying the page into Notes or a word processor; that can join names and messages together.
If Meta says the download has expired, request another copy. Downloading your information does not recover messages that Meta no longer makes available, including content already deleted or unsent.
Keep the JSON parts together when choosing your file. If the archive contains several conversations, select the intended thread and confirm the participants before analysis. Check the recovered date range against your download request. The initial analysis is completely free, with no card required, and you can choose a full report after the preview.
Choose JSON for this workflow. It keeps structured message records. HTML is convenient to read, but copying its displayed text into another app can lose the boundaries between senders and messages.
Meta can split a long conversation into multiple files. Keep all the files for the intended thread so the upload can reconstruct the available history.
It is a copy of information Meta makes available for export, not a recovery tool. Do not expect deleted or unsent messages to reappear.
No. Request and download the file directly from Meta, then upload the saved archive. Grey Mirror does not need your Instagram password.
Read the layers
Visual guide updated
Choose the Instagram profile that actually contains the conversation you want.
Find the intended participants among the threads in the downloaded archive.
Keep every JSON part of that thread, including files after message_1.json.
A correct account can still contain the wrong thread, and the right thread can span several files. Check all three levels before starting the analysis.