No computer
Can I fix my Snapchat export on Android?
Updated
It should, entirely on the phone: it's the same website in Chrome, with the same email and a different Files app. One honest note: it has been tested on iPhone, Mac and Windows, but not yet on an Android phone, so start with the free 500 files and see how yours copes. And if you have a laptop or desktop, use that for anything bigger than a small library.
The whole thing, on Android
- 1. In Snapchat: Settings → Privacy Controls → My Data. Tick Export your Memories and Export JSON Files, choose All Time, submit.
- 2. When the email lands, open the link in Chrome and download every part. They go to your Downloads folder. Don't unzip them.
- 3. Open www.keepmysnaps.com in Chrome, tap Choose ZIP, and pick the ZIP from Downloads. If Snapchat sent several, select all of them.
- 4. Keep the screen on and Chrome in front while it works.
- 5. When it's done, keepmysnaps.zip lands in Downloads. Open it in your Files app and extract it.
- 6. To get them into Google Photos, turn on backup for that folder in Google Photos' backup settings.
Honestly, a laptop or desktop is better
A laptop or desktop handles this better. A big export is several gigabytes the browser has to hold in memory while it works, and a laptop or desktop has far more room than a phone. It finishes sooner and doesn't pause the tab when the screen switches off. The phone is great for trying the free 500 files, or if it's all you have. If you do have a Windows PC, there's a guide for that too.
The two things that go wrong
The screen turning off, or switching apps. Android can pause a tab that isn't on screen, and a paused tab stops working through your archive. Make the screen timeout longer in Settings → Display for the duration, and resist checking Snapchat while it runs.
Memory. If Chrome reloads the page partway through, the phone ran out of room. Close other apps and try again. If it keeps happening, run smaller batches, but every batch needs part one of a split export, because only part one holds the JSON with your dates in it: run part one with part two, then part one with part three, and skip the repeats of part one's own memories. None of this is needed on a laptop or desktop in Chrome or Edge, where every ZIP goes in at once and a stopped run carries on by itself.
Storage, before you start
On a laptop or desktop running Chrome or Edge, the fixed photos go straight into a folder you pick. You need room for your export twice while it runs, the original ZIPs plus the fixed photos, and there's nothing to unzip afterwards. Once it's done the ZIPs can go. Everywhere else, including a phone, the fixed copy comes out as a ZIP, which needs at least that much, and more again when you unzip it on the same device. Check your free space first, because running out halfway is a wasted hour.
Captions on videos
Captioned videos are re-encoded with your phone's own video encoder, which Chrome lets the page use. If your phone can't encode a particular video, the caption isn't lost. It's saved as a PNG in a captions folder beside the videos.
Where to put them afterwards
Android follows real folders, so the fixed memories can live in a folder of their own that Google Photos lists separately, instead of merging into the middle of everything else.
Try it with 500 files first
The first 500 files are free, which on a phone is the useful part: you find out whether yours can handle the work before committing to the whole library. Nothing is uploaded either way.