Readback

Open your Messenger JSON files and read the chats again

Facebook and Instagram hand over your messages as message_1.json files, with codes like \u00f0\u009f\u0098\u0082 where the emoji were and the newest message first. Choose the download here to read every chat in order, with its photos, reactions and calls.

Choose your download

Drop the ZIP from Facebook or Instagram here, its unzipped folder, or the message_1.json files. Several ZIP parts at once are fine, and so is Messenger's encrypted chats download.

: two made-up chats and a message request, with the encrypted part of one chat beside it.

Only have HTML pages? Those open in a browser by themselves. How to open each kind of file.

  • Every chat in order, oldest first, with photos, videos, voice messages, reactions and calls from the download.
  • Accents, letters like ñ and ş, and emoji repaired from the codes Meta writes.
  • Nothing is uploaded. The files are read in this tab, on your own computer.

Readback is an independent tool by Peak Apps Studio. Not affiliated with Meta. Facebook, Messenger and Instagram are trademarks of Meta Platforms.

Where the download comes from

Facebook and Instagram both use Accounts Center. On a computer or in the app:

  1. Open Accounts Center, then Your information and permissions.
  2. Choose Download your information and create a new export to your device.
  3. Pick Messages as the type of information, All time as the date range and JSON as the format.
  4. When the email arrives, download every ZIP part it offers and choose them here together.

Chats that moved to end-to-end encryption on Messenger are not in that export after the move. They have their own download under Message storage: how to get your encrypted chats.

What the files are, and why they look broken

Each chat is a folder with message_1.json, and message_2.json and more when it is long. The newest messages are in message_1, newest first. Photos, videos and voice messages sit beside them in photos, videos and audio folders.

Meta writes every character outside plain English as UTF-8 bytes, one code per byte: Café for Café. A text editor shows that as Café. Readback joins the bytes back into letters and emoji, puts the parts of a chat together and shows them oldest first.

The folders of a Messenger download, one by one

Free, and Pro for every chat at once

Free

  • Open as many downloads as you like, Facebook, Instagram and encrypted chats together.
  • Read every chat with its photos, videos, voice messages, reactions and calls.
  • Search across every message, then jump to the message in its chat.
  • Print one chat, or save it as a PDF from the print window, or as a text file.

Pro $8, paid once

  • Every chat in one ZIP, each as a page that opens offline with its photos, videos and voice messages beside the messages.
  • Every message of every chat in one spreadsheet (CSV): date, time, sender, text, attachments and reactions.
  • Every chat as a plain text file, and a contents page to find them.
Buy Pro for $8
An airmail envelope on a pale blue desk. A long folded paper of chat messages comes out of it, beside a photo print and a stamp.
A 3D illustration of the idea: your chats, out of the codes and back on paper you can read.

Guides for the step you are stuck on

Questions

How do I open a JSON file from Messenger?

Choose the ZIP that Facebook sent you, its unzipped folder, or the message_1.json files on this page. Readback reads them in your browser and shows each chat in order, oldest first, with the photos, videos and voice messages that are in the download. A text editor opens the file too, but shows codes instead of emoji and accents and lists the newest message first.

Why does my download show codes like \u00f0\u009f\u0098\u0082 or é instead of emoji and letters?

Meta writes every character outside plain English as its UTF-8 bytes, one code per byte, and most programs then read each byte as a separate character. Readback puts the bytes back together, so é, ñ, ş and emoji show as they were sent.

Why are my newest Messenger chats missing from the download?

Chats that moved to end-to-end encryption are not in Download your information after the move. Messenger has a separate download for them: on a computer, open your profile picture, Privacy and safety, End-to-end encrypted chats, Message storage, and download your secure storage data. Choose both downloads here together and each chat shows as one timeline. The steps, and what to do when it fails.

Are my messages uploaded?

No. The files are read by this page on your own computer. Nothing in them is sent anywhere, and closing the tab discards them. We count page visits with Cloudflare Web Analytics: no cookies, no personal data, and never your files. When you click a Pro button, a counter of our own adds one to a daily total for this tool, with the page and the kind of site that sent you: no cookies, no personal data, no IP address kept, and never your files.

Does it open Instagram messages?

Yes. Instagram's download in JSON has the same message_1.json files under your_instagram_activity/messages, and Readback opens them the same way. Choose the Instagram and Facebook downloads together if you have both.

What does Readback Pro add?

Pro costs $8, paid once. It saves every chat at once: one ZIP with each chat as a page that opens offline with its photos, videos and voice messages beside the messages, every message in one spreadsheet (CSV), and every chat as plain text. Reading, searching, printing and saving one chat at a time stay free.

Is Readback made by Meta?

No. Readback is an independent tool by Peak Apps Studio and is not affiliated with Meta. Facebook, Messenger and Instagram are trademarks of Meta Platforms, named here only to say which files the tool opens.