Updated Sep 28, 2026
The TikTok export does not contain your videos. It has the metadata, the URLs, the likes and the DMs, and not one MP4. Most people find this out after they have already downloaded the ZIP and opened it up, so it is worth reading this first. The good news is the URLs are in there, and there are reliable ways to pull the actual files from them.
Top-level structure of the export. Each entry is a file or directory with its format badge and what it contains.
Your Profile/JSONYour Activity/VideoBrowsingHistoryJSONYour Activity/SearchHistoryJSONYour Activity/LikesJSONYour Activity/CommentsJSONYour Activity/SharesJSONYour Activity/Followers and FollowingJSONYour Activity/Messages/JSONYour Activity/LoginHistoryJSONYour Activity/FavoriteEffects, FavoriteSounds, SavedHashtagsJSONYour Activity/PurchasesJSONYour Activity/AdInteractionsJSONYour App Settings/JSONThis is the part that catches everyone. The export carries metadata about your videos and links to where they live. The video files themselves are not in the ZIP.
You can get them, but it is a second job with a separate set of tools, and it is much easier to do while the URLs are fresh than in a year when you are trying to work out what went wrong.
You can do this on the web or in the app. The web is better, because the archive is a ZIP and unpacking a ZIP on a phone is a worse afternoon than it needs to be.
TXT is smaller and you can read it in a text editor. It also throws away most of the activity history, which is the part anyone actually wants.
Choose JSON unless you are certain you only want a summary you will read once.
When the archive is ready, the link expires four days later. After that the file is gone and you have to request the whole thing again, and wait again.
This is the single most common way people lose a TikTok export, and it is the same trap Facebook sets. Put a reminder on the day the request goes in rather than the day the email lands, so you are not relying on remembering.
One ZIP. Three top-level folders: Your Profile, Your Activity, and Your App Settings.
DMs are in the export, and they include some conversations you deleted from the app. That surprises people. The deletion was on your side; the message still existed on theirs.
The DM media is the catch. Photos and videos in conversations are referenced by URL or path rather than embedded, so you get a pointer to a file you still have to go and fetch.
The archive has URLs pointing at TikTok. yt-dlp fetches them at the best available quality.
The in-app watch history only goes back 180 days. The export goes back to when you made the account.
If you need anything older, the export is the only place it exists.
There is a second route: the TikTok Data Portability API, documented for developers. It is aimed at people building tools that read TikTok exports programmatically, so it is not what you want for a personal backup. The web download covers the same ground.
If you want the short checklist instead of the full guide, use the service page.
On the web, go to tiktok.com/settings/privacy, then Privacy and safety, then Personalization and data, then Download your data. Pick your categories, choose JSON, and request the file. You get an email when it is ready, usually within a few days, and the link lasts four days.
Because the export gives you metadata and URLs rather than the MP4 files. The URLs point at TikTok, and you can fetch them with yt-dlp or gallery-dl. This is a design choice rather than a bug.
Four days from when the email arrives. Miss it and the file is gone; you have to request the whole export again. This catches a lot of people.
Yes. The request works on the web at tiktok.com/settings/privacy as well as in the app, and the web is the better place to do it because unpacking a ZIP is easier on a computer.
JSON. TXT is more readable but drops most of the activity history, and the history is the reason to export in the first place.
Yes, including some conversations you deleted from the app. The text is there. Photos and videos inside DMs are only referenced by URL, not embedded, so you would still need to fetch those yourself.
Usually a few days. TikTok allows up to 30 for large or complicated requests.
Much further. The in-app watch history stops at 180 days. The export goes back to your account creation, so it is the only source for anything older.
yt-dlp. Free, open source, actively maintained, and it fetches the best quality available. Use a nightly build if the normal release is failing. Gallery-dl works too.
No. There is no Reposts file and reposts are not preserved anywhere in the archive.
No, the flow is the same. But creator analytics are not in it: view counts over time, audience demographics and revenue live in TikTok Studio and Ads Manager, and you need to request those separately.
No. It makes a copy and leaves your account alone.
Last verified: Sep 28, 2026. Steps checked against www.tiktok.com. Report an outdated step →