How to Get Archive of X Direct Messages

Let’s be honest: The platform formerly known as Twitter isn’t exactly the most stable place on the internet right now.

Maybe you are deleting your account because you’re tired of the drama. Maybe you are worried your account might get randomly suspended (it happens to the best of us). Or maybe you just have a really sentimental conversation from 2018 with a friend that you don’t want to lose if the servers go dark.

Whatever the reason, you’ve probably realized that X doesn’t make it easy. Unlike WhatsApp, where you can just hit “Export Chat,” X hides your data behind a maze of menus and wait times.

I tried to back up my own DMs last week, and it was… an experience. Here is the actual, no-nonsense guide on how to get your message history off the app and onto your hard drive.

Method 1: The “Official” Way (The Twitter Archive)

This is the safest method because you aren’t giving your password to some sketchy third-party app. However, it is also the slowest. X treats your data request like you are applying for a visa it takes time.

Step 1: Request the Download

Open X (App or Desktop) and go to Settings & Support.
Click Settings and privacy.
Click Your account.
Select Download an archive of your data.
You will have to type your password and probably enter a code sent to your email. (Security is tight here, which is good).
Click the blue “Request Archive” button.

Step 2: The Waiting Game Now, you wait. The screen will say it takes “24 hours or longer.” When I did this, it took about 36 hours. Don’t sit by your computer. They will send you a push notification and an email when it’s ready.

Step 3: Unzipping the Mess When the file finally arrives, it’s a giant .zip folder.

Don’t panic: You don’t need to know how to code.
Open it: Extract the folder. Inside, you’ll see a file called Your archive.html or a folder called Data.
The trick: Open the HTML file in your web browser (Chrome/Edge). It creates a little offline “mini-website” of your Twitter history. You can click on the “Direct Messages” tab, and boom there are all your chats, viewable just like a webpage.

The Downside: It’s great for viewing, but hard to print. You can’t easily turn just one conversation into a PDF without a lot of copy-pasting.

Method 2: The “Chrome Extension” Way (Faster, But Be Careful)

If you don’t want to download your entire history (tweets, likes, blocked list, etc.) and just want to save one specific conversation as a PDF, the official archive is overkill.

For this, browser extensions are your friend. I’ve used a few “Message Saver” tools from the Chrome Web Store.

How they work: You open the DM conversation on your desktop browser. You click the extension button. It “scrolls” through the chat automatically, capturing every message, and stitches it into a clean PDF or JPEG.

WARNING: Be extremely careful here. Never use a tool that asks for your X login password. Only use extensions that work as a “screen scraper” (meaning they just look at what is currently on your screen). Always check the reviews. If an extension has 5 stars but only 2 reviews, run away.

Method 3: The “Desperate” Manual Scroll

If you only need to save a few screenshots for “receipts” (maybe to prove someone said something), don’t overcomplicate it.

Trying to screenshot a long conversation on a phone is a nightmare. You end up with 50 separate images and you lose track of the order. Do it on a computer instead.

Open the chat on x.com.
Download a free “Full Page Screen Capture” extension (like GoFullPage).
These tools can take a scrolling screenshot. It will capture the entire long conversation in one single, tall image.

A Note on “Deleted” Messages

I get asked this a lot: “If I download my archive, will it show messages the other person deleted?”

No. X syncs the archive to the current state of your inbox.

If you deleted the conversation: It’s gone. It won’t be in the archive.
If they deleted their account: The messages usually remain, but their name might change to “Twitter User.”
If they blocked you: You can still download the chat history (thankfully). Being blocked stops new messages, but it doesn’t erase the past.

The Bottom Line

If you care about your chats, do not trust the cloud. We used to think MySpace was forever. We used to think Orkut was forever. Platforms die. Accounts get banned for no reason.

Go request your Archive today. It costs nothing but a few clicks, and having that backup file on your laptop gives you a peace of mind that no billionaire owner can take away.

Go do it. Right now. Settings > Your Account > Download. Go.