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SocialPinterest
Updated May 30, 2026
Pinterest is a visual bookmarking service, and its export records what you saved and when far more thoroughly than it saves the things themselves. You get your pins, boards, sections and comments, plus the advertising profile Pinterest has built about you. The images are referenced rather than downloaded cleanly, so plan for that before treating the archive as the only copy of your boards.
What you'll get
Pins you created, with titles, descriptions, and source linksBoards and the sections within themPins you saved, with the board and section each was saved toComments and comment historyFollowing and follower listsAdvertising and interest data: the profile Pinterest inferred about you
Before you start
- Know which account you are exporting. Personal and business accounts are separate and each needs its own request
- Make sure the email address on the account is one you can actually open. Pinterest sends the download link there via SendSafely, and that link is time-limited
- Decide what you actually need before you request. The advertising and interest data is the most surprising part of the archive and the reason many people request it at all
- If you care about the images on your boards rather than the metadata, plan for a separate image download, because the native export is not designed to hand you your media files
How to download
- On desktop, log in and open Settings from the menu at the bottom left
- Select Privacy and data
- Under Request your data, click Start request
- On mobile instead: tap your profile picture, then your profile photo to reach settings (business accounts use the ••• menu at the top right instead)
- Confirm the request. Pinterest emails you a download link when the archive is ready
- Wait. Pinterest states the archive can take up to 48 hours to generate
- Open the email and follow the SendSafely link before it expires, then download the archive
Pro tip
Pinterest's own help page does not promise image files in the archive, and the export is widely reported to deliver metadata and source URLs rather than a tidy folder of media. Treat it as an archive of your account, not as a media backup.
After the download
- Verify you can open the archive before you rely on it. Only the account holder can access the data after Pinterest verifies your identity, so a link you cannot complete is not a backup
- Unzip and check which folders are actually populated: pin records and board structure are the reliable parts, media files are the questionable ones
- Read the advertising and interest data. It is a genuinely useful look at the profile Pinterest built about you, and one of the better reasons to run this export
- If you need the actual pin images, use a dedicated board-exporting browser extension alongside the native export. The two together give you a spreadsheet of every pin *and* the media
- Store the archive in your Takeout Day backup and re-request annually. Pinterest keeps this data on their side, and the export is a snapshot, not a live sync
- Not sure where to store your export? See our backup guide.