How to Download Your X (Twitter) Archive Before Deleting Old Posts

X offers a free, built-in data export that packages your entire account history — every post, direct message, media file, follower list, and like — into a single downloadable ZIP file. This archive is a snapshot of your account at the moment you request it, and once posts are deleted, they will not appear in any future archive request.

This article walks through the official archive download process, what the archive actually contains, common mistakes people make, and how to use the backup before and after bulk deletion.

What the X Data Archive Actually Contains

X's official help documentation describes the archive contents as follows:

"The data folder consists of machine-readable JSON files with a .js extension containing information associated with this account. We've included the information we believe is most relevant and useful, including profile information, Tweets, Direct Messages, Moments, images, videos and GIFs attached to Tweets, Direct Messages or Moments, followers, following, address book, Lists created, a member of, or subscribed to, interest and demographic information that we have inferred, information about ads seen or engaged with on Twitter, and more."

Source: X Help — How to download your X archive https://help.x.com/en/managing-your-account/how-to-download-your-x-archive (Verified: 2026-06-19)

Breaking this down into what is and isn't included:

• Included: All post text, timestamps, post IDs, media files (images, videos, GIFs), direct messages, follower/following lists, profile data, ad viewing history, liked posts
• Not included: Per-post engagement metrics (likes received, retweets, impressions), historical follower counts over time, deleted posts (anything already removed before the archive request), real-time analytics

The critical detail: deleted posts are not in the archive. If you delete a post today and request an archive tomorrow, that post will not appear. The archive captures what exists at request time — it is not a recovery tool for previously deleted content.

Step-by-Step: Requesting Your X Archive

On Desktop (Web Browser)

1. Log in to x.com and click the "More" icon in the left sidebar
2. Select "Settings and privacy" → "Your account"
3. Click "Download an archive of your data"
4. Enter your password and click "Confirm"
5. Click "Send code" and enter the verification code sent to your email or phone
6. After identity verification, click the "Request data" button
7. Wait for the email notification (typically 24–48 hours)
8. Click the download link in the email while logged into your X account
9. Save the ZIP file to your local disk

On Mobile (X App)

1. Open the X app and tap your profile icon
2. Tap "Settings and privacy" → "Account" → "Your X data"
3. Enter the verification code sent to your email or phone
4. Tap "Request data"
5. When the notification arrives, tap "Download archive"

X enforces a minimum 24-hour processing delay before the archive is ready. This is a deliberate security measure — it prevents an attacker who gains access to your account from immediately exfiltrating all your data.

"Please make sure your email address is confirmed prior to requesting your X archive and that you are logged into your X account on the same browser you are using to download your X archive."

Source: X Help — How to download your X archive https://help.x.com/en/managing-your-account/how-to-download-your-x-archive (Verified: 2026-06-19)

The download link expires after 7 days. If you miss that window, you must start the entire request process over and wait another 24–48 hours. Plan your archive download before scheduling any deletion work.

Archive File Structure: What You Get

Once you extract the ZIP file, you'll find an HTML renderer and a data folder containing JSON files. The HTML renderer lets you browse the archive in a browser, but it only works for archives under 50GB. For full access, navigate the JSON files in the data/ folder directly.

The key files for deletion planning are:

• tweets.js: Every post's full text, timestamp, post ID, reply targets, media URLs, hashtags, and mentions. This is the primary file for identifying what to delete
• account.js: Account creation date, username, display name, email, phone, country, and language settings
• direct-messages.js: All sent and received DMs with conversation metadata and timestamps
• like.js: Posts you've liked, with full text and the timestamp of when you liked them
• follower.js / following.js: Snapshot of your follower and following lists at archive creation time
• tweets_media/: The actual image, video, and GIF files attached to your posts

The tweets.js file is the most important for deletion planning. Open it in any text editor or JSON viewer, and you can search for specific keywords, filter by date range, and identify exactly which posts you want to remove.

Three Reasons to Archive Before Deleting

1. Deletion is irreversible — X cannot restore your posts

The X API deletes posts by ID, and once deleted, they are gone permanently. X Support does not restore user-deleted posts. The archive is the only record you will have of what those posts contained.

2. You may need posts as evidence or records

Past posts may serve as legal evidence, business records, or documentation of agreements made via DM. The archive's JSON format is machine-readable, making it easy to search, extract, and print specific entries if needed later.

3. The archive lets you make selective deletion decisions

Instead of blindly deleting everything, you can review the full post history in tweets.js and decide which posts to keep and which to remove. You can filter by date range, keyword, or content type to plan a phased deletion strategy. For guidance on phased deletion execution, see thepractical guide to bulk post deletion.

Common Mistakes That Leave You Without a Backup

• Starting deletion before archiving: The archive is a snapshot at request time. If you delete first and archive later, deleted posts won't be in the archive. Always archive first
• Missing the 7-day download window: The download link expires after 7 days. If you don't download in time, you must re-request and wait another 24–48 hours
• Not saving the ZIP locally: Don't rely on the email link alone. Save the ZIP to your local disk, an external drive, and a cloud storage service. Maintain at least two copies to avoid single points of failure
• Unconfirmed email address: If your X account's email address is not confirmed, you won't receive the archive-ready notification. Confirm your email before requesting the archive

The Recommended Workflow: Archive → Review → Delete

1. Request and download the archive — Wait 24–48 hours, then save the ZIP to at least two locations
2. Extract and review tweets.js — Identify posts to keep vs. posts to delete
3. Define your deletion date range — e.g., "before 2022," "college years," "the quarter around a specific event"
4. Run a deletion estimate — Check the number of target posts and expected processing time
5. Execute deletion in stages — Delete by date range, confirming progress after each stage
6. Verify completion — Check that your profile post count has decreased and deleted post URLs return 404

X Deleter lets you check the number of target posts before committing to payment. Combined with the archive review, this gives you a complete picture: you know what exists (from the archive), how many posts match your criteria (from the estimate), and can proceed with confidence. For a broader pre-deletion checklist, see theaccount deletion pre-checklist.

Using the Archive After Deletion

The archive remains useful long after deletion:

• Search past posts: Open tweets.js in a text editor and search for keywords to find specific past posts instantly
• Save media files: The tweets_media/ folder contains actual image, video, and GIF files from your posts
• Migrate to other platforms: Parse the JSON data to reference your post history when setting up profiles on Bluesky, Threads, or other platforms
• Quarterly backups: Since you can request a new archive every 24 hours, establishing a quarterly backup routine ensures your history is always preserved

"Start today: Request your first X archive. Download it when the email arrives 24-48 hours later. Store it somewhere safe. Repeat quarterly. This simple habit ensures that regardless of what happens to X, your Twitter account, or the platform itself, your digital history remains yours forever."

Source: businessho.com — How to Archive Tweets in 2026 https://businessho.com/how-to-archive-tweets/ (Verified: 2026-06-19)

For more on how X handles your data after account deletion, see theX data retention policy breakdown. Platform-side retention and your own backup are separate concerns — one does not replace the other.

Archive First, Delete Second — No Exceptions

Downloading your X archive before deleting posts is not optional — it is a prerequisite. Deletion is permanent, X Support will not restore deleted posts, and the archive only captures what exists at the time of request.

The process is free, takes 24–48 hours for preparation, and the download link is valid for 7 days. Understand these constraints, download the archive to local storage, verify its contents, and only then proceed with your deletion plan. The archive is your insurance policy — make sure you have it in hand before you start removing anything.