How to open a JSON file from Messenger
Facebook sends your messages as a ZIP of folders, one per chat, each with a message_1.json file. Opened in a text editor it is a wall of brackets and codes, newest message first. Here is what is inside and the quickest way to read it.
The short answer
Choose the ZIP from Facebook, or the folder you unzipped, in Readback. It reads every message_N.json in your browser, puts each chat in order from the first message, repairs accents and emoji, and shows the photos, videos and voice messages that are in the download. Nothing is uploaded. If you only want to glance at one file, any text editor or browser opens it, but you will be reading code.
Where your chats are in the download
Newer downloads put messages under your_facebook_activity/messages/; older ones under messages/ at the top. Inside, each folder is one chat, named after the person or group with a number, for example luciafernandez_10158.
| Folder | What it holds |
|---|---|
inbox | Your ordinary chats, one folder each. |
e2ee_cutover | Chats that moved to end-to-end encryption, up to the day they moved. What came after is in the separate encrypted chats download. |
message_requests | Messages from people you never accepted. |
archived_threads | Chats you archived. |
filtered_threads | Requests Messenger filtered as likely spam. |
photos, videos, audio, gifs, files inside a chat folder | The attachments of that chat, named by number. |
message_1.json, message_2.json: which part is which
A long chat is split into several files. message_1.json holds the newest messages, and inside every file the newest message comes first. To read a chat from the start you read the highest number from the bottom up. Readback joins the parts and turns the order around for you.
Why the text looks garbled
Meta writes every character outside plain English as its UTF-8 bytes, one \u00XX code per byte. Programs that read the file then take each byte as a character of its own.
| In the JSON file | In a text editor | What was sent |
|---|---|---|
Caf\u00c3\u00a9 | Café | Café |
Luc\u00c3\u00ada | LucÃa | Lucía |
Ba\u00c5\u009f | BaÅŸ | Baş |
\u00f0\u009f\u0098\u0082 | four odd characters | the laughing-with-tears emoji |
The words are all there; only the letters are split. Readback puts the bytes back together before it shows anything.
Every way to open it
| Way | What you see | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Readback, in the browser | The chat in order, with photos, reactions and calls, letters and emoji repaired | Reading, searching, printing, saving |
| A browser (drag the file in) | The raw data, sometimes folded into a tree | Checking a file opens |
| Notepad, TextEdit, VS Code | The raw data, codes and all, newest first | Finding one word quickly |
| Download again in HTML | Pages you open by double-clicking message_1.html | Reading without any tool; no search across chats |
When a photo or a chat is missing
- Newer messages are missing: the chat moved to end-to-end encryption, and Download your information stops at the move. Get the encrypted chats download and choose both together.
- Some photos are missing: large downloads come in several ZIP parts, and a chat's photos can sit in a different part than its messages. Choose every part at once. A date range on the export also leaves out attachments from outside it.
- No messages at all: Messages was not ticked when you made the export, or you chose HTML. Make a new export with Messages and JSON.
Have a Facebook download in JSON? Open it here and read every chat in order. Nothing is uploaded.
Open your download in ReadbackReadback Pro, $8 paid once: every chat in one ZIP as pages that open offline with their photos, every message in one spreadsheet, and every chat as text. Get Pro on Gumroad or see what is free.
Questions
Can I open message_1.json in Excel?
Excel's Power Query can load JSON, but you get one row per message with the codes still in the text and no photos. For a spreadsheet with readable text, Readback Pro saves every message of every chat as one CSV file; for reading, open the download in Readback.
Why are the dates in the file numbers like 1701374220000?
They are timestamps in milliseconds since 1 January 1970, in UTC. Readback shows them as dates and times in your own time zone.
Is it safe to open my messages on a website?
Readback does not upload anything: the page reads the files on your computer, the same way a program would, and closing the tab discards them. Converters that ask you to upload the ZIP do send your chats to their servers.
Sources
- Facebook Help Center: Download a copy of your information. Accounts Center steps, HTML or JSON, media quality and date range
- Lauri-Nomme/fbarchive on GitHub. An open source importer that documents both file formats: message_N.json in the regular download, Name_N.json with a media folder in the encrypted one
- Meta: End-to-end encryption on Messenger explained (March 2024). Secure storage and chat history
Last checked: October 29, 2026.