How to export your Instagram DMs

Instagram no longer keeps this option buried in a per-chat menu — it lives in the Accounts Center, the shared Meta hub for your Instagram and Facebook data. The request itself takes a couple of minutes; the file arrives by email a while later.

1. 1Open Instagram on your phone or at instagram.com, go to your profile, and open Settings and activity.
2. 2Tap Accounts Center — the shared Meta hub that manages the data for your Instagram and Facebook accounts.
3. 3Go to Your information and permissions, then Download your information.
4. 4Start a new download request and, when asked what to include, narrow it to Messages so the file stays small and arrives sooner.
5. 5Set the Format to JSON — not HTML. This single choice decides whether the export can be read at all.
6. 6Choose a date range (All time is fine), pick the account, and submit the request.
7. 7Wait for the email from Instagram, then open its link and download the ZIP file it points to.
8. 8Upload that ZIP — or the messages JSON inside it — to ReadBeneath.

Longer than an app export, and the wait is out of your hands. Instagram assembles the file on its servers and sends an email when it is ready — sometimes within minutes, sometimes a day or two later. Requesting only Messages (rather than your entire account) keeps the file small and the wait short. Start the request, then get on with your day; the email is your cue to come back.

The two formats carry the same conversation but in opposite shapes. HTML is a styled page for scrolling through in a browser; machine-readable JSON is a structured record where each message keeps its sender, time, and content as separate fields:

{
  "messages": [
    { "sender_name": "Aisha", "timestamp_ms": 1749766867000, "content": "did you see my last message?" },
    { "sender_name": "Ravi", "timestamp_ms": 1749766931000, "content": "just now — replying properly tonight" }
  ]
}

ReadBeneath reads the sender_name, timestamp, and content of every message, and treats shared photos and posts as attachments. Those fields exist only in the JSON export — the HTML version throws them away, which is why the format choice decides everything.

The ZIP is organized by conversation. Under your messages folder, each thread has its own subfolder — named for the other person — containing a message_1.json file (long histories continue into message_2.json and beyond). That JSON is the conversation: every message in order, each with a sender name and a timestamp, plus attachment entries for the photos, voice clips, and shared posts that passed through the chat.

No. You only need the messages JSON for the conversation you actually want to understand. Open the ZIP, find that thread’s folder, and upload its message_1.json — or, if it is easier, upload the whole ZIP and ReadBeneath will locate the conversation inside. Either way, only the thread you point it at is read; the rest of the archive is never touched.

• You requested HTML instead of JSON. An HTML download cannot be parsed. Start a fresh request and set the Format to JSON before submitting — the message_1.json inside the ZIP is the file that works.
• The email has not arrived yet. The file is not ready the moment you submit. Wait for Instagram’s email, or check the Download your information screen for a completed, downloadable request.
• You downloaded your whole account and cannot find the chat. Look under the messages folder; each conversation is a subfolder with its own message_1.json. Requesting only Messages next time makes this far quicker to navigate.
• The download is one-way. An exported JSON cannot be loaded back into Instagram. It is a copy for reading and analysis; your original DMs are untouched.

Once the messages JSON is uploaded, ReadBeneath reads it the way it reads every export: it surfaces per-person communication patterns and ties each observation to the specific messages behind it, pairs every one with a fair alternative reading, and refuses to reach a conclusion your sample is too thin to support. There is no single number and no confident verdict at the end — only observations you can trace back to the lines that produced them. The Instagram DM analyzer explains exactly what a read covers.