Instagram's export now lives in Meta's Accounts Center and takes about eight taps. The reported wait runs from a few minutes for a small selection to several days for everything, Meta says a complete copy can take up to 30 days, and the finished download is reported to stay available for four days. Written 2026-08-24.
That request button opens Meta's Accounts Center, the page that handles Instagram and Facebook exports together, in a new tab. We never sit between you and them, never log in as you, and never ask for your password to any platform. When the file lands, the free Instagram Count opens it on your own device and prints the real numbers in about ten seconds. No account, no email field, and nothing is uploaded.
Your part of this is about two to four minutes. Everything after that is Instagram taking its time, and nothing you do speeds it up.
| What | How long reported |
|---|---|
| Reported typical wait | Minutes to a few hours for a narrow JSON selection at low media quality. |
| Reported for everything | Several days when you ask for all information with media. |
| Platform stated outer limit | Meta says a complete copy can take up to 30 days. |
| How long the file stays | Reported at four days once it is ready. |
| Your own time | About 3 minutes to request. |
A JSON selection at low media quality is usually tens of megabytes. All available information with original quality photos and videos runs to several gigabytes, and for a long running account it can be tens of gigabytes split across numbered parts. reported
Meta is reported to keep the finished download available for four days. If it expires you start the request over, which is a long wait to repeat for nothing.
Every wait window and every file size here is reported, not measured by us. It comes from the platform's own published help pages and from what people consistently say happens, and platforms change both without telling anyone. When we have a request we timed ourselves, this page will say measured and print the date the measurement was taken. Until then, treat these as the range to plan around rather than a promise.
Written 2026-08-24. Export screens move every few months. If a step here has gone stale, tell us and it gets fixed rather than quietly rotting.
When the file lands, you do not have to unzip it or understand it. Drop it into the free Instagram Count and read the real numbers in about ten seconds. It runs entirely in your browser, there is no account, no email field and no card, and nothing is uploaded.
The full Reading is 6.99 a week or 69.99 a year. No free trial. There is a Refund button in your dashboard for 7 days, one tap, no reason required. The Count stays free forever either way.
Reported at minutes to a few hours for a small JSON selection, several days for all information with media, and Meta states a complete copy can take up to 30 days. We have not measured this ourselves. When we do, this page will say measured and print the date.
In the ads_information folder of the download. Meta also lets you read them on screen in Accounts Center, under Ad preferences, where you can switch some of them off. Doing that inside Instagram is worth doing and it is not the same as having the file.
No. Set media quality to low and you get the data without the media, which is far faster and holds every ad topic and advertiser.
One page per file. Each is the same browser local tool scoped to a different export, and none of them ask for an email.
Same shape every time: the exact taps, the reported wait, the real size, what is inside, and what is missing.