What is memories_history.json in the Snapchat export?
Pick your ZIPs and the tool sorts your Memories into a folder on this phone.
No export yet? The 4-step guide
Updated November 12, 2026 · Not affiliated with Snapchat.
By GetMemoriesOut. We wrote these guides from a real Snapchat export that we opened and counted, with Memories from 2016 to 2026. When something couldn't be checked, the guide says so.
What one line holds
The file holds a single list, “Saved Media”, with one entry per Memory. Every entry has the same five fields.
- Date: the day and time of the Memory, in UTC.
- Media Type: Image for a photo, Video for a video.
- Location: latitude and longitude, or two zeros if there is none.
- Download Link and Media Download Url: two links, explained below.
More detail
A date looks like 2026-01-17 19:30:32 UTC. In older exports the UTC label is missing, as in 2016-03-03 18:07:12.
A location looks like Latitude, Longitude: 48.8584, 2.2945.
Where to find it, open it and count your Memories
- Open the first ZIP of your export, usually the one whose name doesn't end in a number. The other ZIPs don't have this file.
- Go to the json folder and open memories_history.json in a text editor or in your browser.
- If it's in none of your ZIPs, the export was requested without it. Request it again with the export guide.
The rest of the export, photos and videos included, is covered in the ZIP guide.
The number of lines is the number of Memories Snapchat listed. If your export has fewer than you expected, read the missing Memories guide.
The archive checker reads only this file, on your computer, and counts how many of your Memories will be over a year old on January 1, 2027.
Why the time is off
Every time in the file is in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), label or not. In New York, subtract five hours in winter and four in summer. A Memory listed as 2026-01-17 19:30:32 UTC was taken at 2:30 PM there.
The day can change. 2:00 UTC on a summer night is 10 PM the previous day in New York. A tool that copies the time as is shifts your Memories by hours, and some land on the wrong day.
The download links
Download Link and Media Download Url are web addresses, one pair per Memory. Scripts use them to download your Memories from Snapchat one by one.
The instructions of a well-known script on GitHub warn that “links will expire over time” and ask for a fresh export. Snapchat's help gives no time frame.
GetMemoriesOut doesn't use them. It reads the photos and videos already in your ZIPs, so you can use it on an old export, as long as you have all its ZIPs.
If your export has only this file, with no photos or videos, the “Export your Memories” option was probably off. The guide to an export with no photos says what to do.
Why it doesn't say which file goes with which line
Since 2026, the export no longer links a file to its line in the list. The only clue is the file's time in the ZIP, accurate to 2 seconds, with no time zone.
To tell which line goes with which file, you have to compare times. Two Memories taken within the same 2 seconds look the same, and the ZIP time can be several hours off from the time in the list.
Reading it by hand, for a few Memories
- Open memories_history.json in a text editor or in your browser.
- Find the day you want, written YYYY-MM-DD at the start of the Date field.
- Apply your time zone offset to the time: in New York, subtract five hours in winter and four in summer.
- For the location, paste the two numbers from Location into an online map. If they're 0, there's no location.
To put the date back into the photo itself, the date and location guide shows where to change it on Windows and on a Mac. Past a few dozen files, expect it to take hours.
What GetMemoriesOut does with it
Drop all your ZIPs into GetMemoriesOut. It reads memories_history.json and the files in the ZIPs on your computer, then looks for one offset in whole hours between the files' time and the list's time, for the whole export.
It dates a file only if exactly one line falls within 2 seconds. It then writes the date, time and location into the file, in the time zone of that location.
It also puts captions and stickers back on the photos, then sorts everything by year.
A file without a sure date goes into the “Unsorted” folder. It keeps its name and never gets a made-up date.
The recap is free and shows how many Memories the tool found before you pay anything. Your whole library costs €9.90, one time, no account, and you get a refund within 14 days if the tool didn't work on your export.The recap is free and shows how many Memories the tool found before you pay anything. Your whole library costs $9.99, one time, no account, and you get a refund within 14 days if the tool didn't work on your export.
What it doesn't do:
- When two different dates in the list fall within 2 seconds of the same file, it doesn't pick one. The file goes into “Unsorted”.
- If no offset in whole hours lines up the ZIP times with the times in the list, the files go into “Unsorted”.
- It runs on a computer, in Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox.
FAQ
- What is memories_history.json?
- The list of your Snapchat Memories, one line per Memory: date and time in UTC, photo or video, location. You use it to redate your files and put the location back.
- Where is memories_history.json?
- In the json folder of the first ZIP in your export, usually the one whose name doesn't end in a number. The other ZIPs don't have it.
- Why is the time in memories_history.json off?
- It's in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), even when the UTC label is missing. Add or subtract the offset for wherever you were.
- Do the links in memories_history.json still work?
- The instructions of a script that uses them warn that they expire over time. GetMemoriesOut doesn't need them: it reads the files in your ZIPs.
- Does memories_history.json say which file goes with which Memory?
- No. Since 2026, the export no longer links a file to its line. The only clue is the file's time in the ZIP, accurate to 2 seconds.