If your Snapchat export looks empty, incomplete, or is giving you trouble when you try to process it, the cause is almost always one of a few specific things. Snapchat’s export now ships your actual photos and videos along with the JSON metadata file, so the problem usually isn’t a broken export. It’s a missed setting, a partial download, or a folder that isn’t set up the way a repair tool expects.
There are two different situations people run into, and they need different fixes.
The first is Snapchat’s own website showing “Empty export” with no download link at all. This means Snapchat did not include any memories in the package it built for you.
The second is getting a real download, but the result looks incomplete once you try to use it. This usually comes down to a missed ZIP file, a folder that wasn’t extracted, or a folder structure that doesn’t match what a local repair tool needs. Work through the checks below in order.
When you request your data at Snapchat’s My Data page, you choose which categories to include. If “Export your Memories” was not checked, Snapchat builds an export with no memories in it at all, and the site shows “Empty export” instead of a download link.
Go back to My Data, make sure “Export your Memories” and “Export JSON Files” are both checked, and submit a new request.
Snapchat processes each request on its own schedule, and how long that takes depends on your account and library size. If the request has not finished processing yet, there is no complete package to download regardless of what you selected.
Check the export status on Snapchat’s My Data page before assuming anything is wrong. If it still shows as in progress, wait for it to complete rather than requesting a new export on top of it.
Larger libraries are often split across more than one ZIP file. Snapchat will list every file it generated for you on the download page. If you only grab the first one and stop there, you are working with a fraction of your actual data.
This is easy to miss because Snapchat’s download page can look complete even when several files are listed. Go back to the export page and count how many files are actually offered. If it lists three files and you only downloaded one, the other two still need to come down before you do anything else.
Do not point a repair tool at a ZIP file, and do not try to browse memories from inside the compressed archive. Extract every ZIP fully to your computer first. Tools that read your export need actual folders and files on disk, not a compressed container.
Once everything is extracted, you should end up with a primary folder structured like this:
primary My Data folder json (contains memories_history.json) memories (main and overlay media files) memories 1 (optional, from a second ZIP) html (optional, not required)
The json folder and memories_history.json must sit directly inside the primary folder, not nested inside another subfolder. Media files must sit directly inside their matching memories folder in the same way. If either of these is buried a level deeper than expected, a local repair tool will not find it.
When Snapchat splits your export across multiple ZIPs, each one extracts into its own separate folder, and each of those will have its own memories folder inside it. Keep the folder that contains json as your primary folder. Then move every additional memories folder so it sits as a sibling next to the original, directly inside that same primary folder.
Give any duplicate folder names a unique suffix, such as memories 1 or memories 2, instead of replacing the original. Do not rename or move individual media files, and do not combine files from different memories folders into one folder.
Select only the primary folder, the one that directly contains both json and memories, when you open FixMyExport. Do not select a ZIP file, the Downloads folder, or memories_history.json on its own. Only one My Data folder can be processed at a time, and there is currently no option to select a date range or individual items from inside the app.
If Snapchat’s own export keeps coming back empty or incomplete even after confirming your settings and waiting for it to finish, that part of the process sits entirely on Snapchat’s side. Submit a fresh request through My Data and confirm your account settings are correct before requesting again. A repair tool can only work with what Snapchat actually included in the package it gave you.
The most common reason is that “Export your Memories” was not selected when the request was submitted. Go back to Snapchat’s My Data page, check both “Export your Memories” and “Export JSON Files,” and submit a new request.
A ZIP that downloads successfully can still leave you with an incomplete result if it was not extracted fully, if only one of several ZIP parts was downloaded, or if the extracted folders were not combined correctly before processing.
Yes. When your library is large, Snapchat splits the export across more than one ZIP file. Each one needs to be downloaded and extracted, and every resulting memories folder needs to end up as a sibling folder inside your primary My Data folder.
This usually means the selected folder does not directly contain both json and memories, memories_history.json is missing or damaged, or an additional memories folder from a second ZIP is still sitting inside its own separate export folder instead of being moved next to the original.
No. The full primary folder is required so the JSON entries can be matched to the actual media files sitting in the memories folder next to it.
Check the export status on Snapchat’s own My Data page first. If Snapchat shows the export as complete and you have downloaded every file it listed, any remaining issue is almost always in how the folders were extracted and and arranged rather than in Snapchat’s export itself.
